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[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:00:00.00] Text, L.L. Bean Presents.

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[00:00:06.15] It's like an energy rush.

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[00:00:08.13] Sawdust flies through the air as a man planes the top of a wood plank with a router.

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[00:00:13.15] It feels like you're going 100 miles an hour.

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[00:00:14.86] He stands at a window.

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[00:00:16.57] You're just seeing these flashes as you fly by.

[00:00:19.15] [CHEERING]

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[00:00:19.50] A crowd cheers. A drill drills a hole in a wooden slat.

[00:00:23.54] Workers stain the wood with a brush.

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[00:00:26.69] There's no other race in the world like it.

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[00:00:29.24] The lights turn on to reveal a wooden toboggan which sits in the workshop on a pair of sawhorses. Text, Fire on Ice.

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[00:00:34.36] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:00:37.28] Camden, Maine.

[00:00:38.34] We move towards Camden over water.

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[00:00:41.33] You have as much as a quarter inch space between you.

[00:00:43.66] The fire crew here at Rockport Fire Department is made up of 29 amazing volunteers. For me, as the fire chief, I'm trying to gain a team effort, team camaraderie. This is a job that involves a lot of stress. Being able to let some steam off with your crew, it's good. It's team building.

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[00:01:01.52] U.S. National Toboggan Championships.

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[00:01:04.20] Good morning, racers. We'd like to welcome everyone here to the 30th US National Toboggan Championships. It is an incredible day for tobogganing. The weather's--

[00:01:16.02] It all started about four years ago. One of my lieutenants, David Leighton, was diagnosed with colon cancer.

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[00:01:21.87] David Leighton, Fire Lieutenant.

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[00:01:24.31] We knew, as a department, we had to do something for him and his family to help them out. So, over a month, we put together a large spaghetti dinner with auction.

[00:01:32.85] We raised nearly $20,000 for him and his family. And one of the items that happened to be up for auction was a toboggan.

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[00:01:39.37] They carry a toboggan.

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[00:01:41.58] We ended up winning the toboggan that brought us here today.

[00:01:45.69] We'll be taking the top 25% for twos, top 25%. Threes, it is your fastest run.

[00:01:52.05] The National Toboggan Championships are a weekend event held in the beginning of February here in Camden, Maine. It's a competition of toboggan races between two-man, three-man and four-man teams that race down a chute to determine who has the top best three times of the day in each division.

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[00:02:10.46] Black and white toboggan team photo.

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[00:02:12.98] The chute itself was first built in the fall of 1936 to help the ski area financially.

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[00:02:19.69] A toboggan run.

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[00:02:20.97] It's 420 feet long, made of wood.

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[00:02:24.06] Toboggan track.

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[00:02:25.11] When I pull my lever, the teams on their toboggans are dropped into the chute and travel 40 to 45 miles an hour onto a frozen lake.

[00:02:33.62] Whoa!

[00:02:34.32] Here they come, frogs on a log-- two.

[00:02:37.09] You better get your--

[00:02:37.67] Need four frogs on a log.

[00:02:40.20] 36 miles an hour.

[00:02:42.31] It's a little hair-raising at first because you don't get to see what you're doing. You're laying on your back, and you're going 40 miles an hour down this icy chute on this little piece of wood.

[00:02:50.19] All right, here we go!

[00:02:51.87] You're just holding on as tight as you can.

[00:02:53.90] Here we go!

[00:02:55.32] You don't see much, just blurs going back and forth.

[00:02:58.07] Dumb and Dumber, 98, Dumb and Dumber.

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[00:03:02.58] A toboggan speeds down the run.

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[00:03:02.95] [CHEERING]

[00:03:05.15] That's not going to look good on film.

[00:03:06.86] It's a competitive sport all the way around.

[00:03:09.07] Whoa!

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[00:03:09.81] A crash.

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[00:03:10.94] We're going to do everything we can to win.

[00:03:12.68] Somebody's got clean up in aisle two if someone can get that.

[00:03:16.04] Residual wax. We're trying to get rid of the residual.

[00:03:18.67] [LAUGHS]

[00:03:19.34] What do you think it's going to do for you?

[00:03:21.02] Absolutely nothing.

[00:03:22.04] Nothing.

[00:03:22.37] But it makes us feel better.

[00:03:24.56] The Rockport Fire Department is coming up. They're getting better and better every year. And they're starting to break the ice to get into the big bracket.

[00:03:31.88] Neil, Darren. You're with us, Clint.

[00:03:35.99] Do you think they're going to win?

[00:03:37.46] They're going to try to win.

[00:03:39.07] It's 2020, guys. This is our year. Let's stay focused, stay tight, stay skinny, and let's go win this. Come on. Rockport Fire on 3. 1, 2, 3.

[00:03:49.07] Rockport Fire!

[00:03:50.51] All right, let's go do it.

[00:03:52.09] The stay skinny part is impossible.

[00:03:54.54] We've only been doing this for four or five years. There are some teams that have been doing this for 25 years that have got the toboggans down. And we're trying to get there.

[00:04:01.74] You got to be kidding me. That's a good time. 939.

[00:04:05.87] We don't have any special tricks up our sleeve. We are still working on trying to find that special recipe, the formula that will get us down the bottom and get us a trophy.

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[00:04:16.39] Smiles.

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[00:04:17.19] All right.

[00:04:18.33] Come on, boys. Let's go.

[00:04:19.53] Here we go. Here we go.

[00:04:20.72] Here we go.

[00:04:21.29] The number one strategy is to have fun.

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[00:04:23.66] The toboggan launches down the run.

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[00:04:26.43] Yeehoo!

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[00:04:27.56] We ride in the toboggan as it slides down the run towards the end at the bottom of the hill as spectators stand to the left.

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[00:04:34.14] Time of 977.

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[00:04:36.49] The toboggan drifts to a stop.

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[00:04:38.66] Wow, they drive like they're from New Jersey.

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[00:04:41.68] They crash into a hay bale and tumble out of the toboggan.

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[00:04:42.61] [LAUGHTER]

[00:04:45.99] How did we end up over there?

[00:04:48.42] They're going to have to go into the next race with a little bit of strategy. Let's see what they can do coming into the final.

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[00:04:54.48] The runtime of 9.77 advances the team.

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[00:04:57.57] So the fastest right now is 93.

[00:04:59.91] I guess we weren't the slowest.

[00:05:01.78] So we definitely got--

[00:05:02.76] We have room for improvement, to--

[00:05:03.75] We got work to do.

[00:05:04.17] --say the least.

[00:05:05.00] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:05:05.48] Pinning a race number.

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[00:05:07.35] Hands in one more time. Rockport Fire on 3. 1, 2, 3!

[00:05:12.06] Rockport Fire!

[00:05:13.42] Woo!

[00:05:14.28] You got this, David.

[00:05:15.45] [CHEERING]

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[00:05:15.81] The team smiles as they head for the starting line.

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[00:05:16.90] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:05:20.27] They carry the toboggan beneath the bright winter sun.

[00:05:23.78] They carry the toboggan up the wooden stairs to the top of the run.

[00:05:27.16] The crowd looks on as the team approaches.

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[00:05:31.16] Hold on.

[00:05:31.52] [INAUDIBLE]

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[00:05:33.04] A boy hangs on rope railing.

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[00:05:34.76] Hold on tight there, Neil.

[00:05:36.08] Hold on tight. Go.

[00:05:38.36] 364, this is Rockport Fire. Let's hear it for our firemen.

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[00:05:43.88] The toboggan speeds down the run past the crowd of spectators on the left side of the track.

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[00:05:49.13] [CHEERING]

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[00:05:49.39] The crowd cheers as the toboggan speeds by.

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[00:05:53.61] Oh, that run was not on fire. Looks like they got squeezed out with some hose there.

[00:05:59.79] It was a little disappointing from the end results.

[00:06:01.47] Nice, yeah!

[00:06:02.15] 965. They're going to need a little work to get into the finals.

[00:06:04.95] However, it builds team camaraderie.

[00:06:07.68] 1, 2, 3, next year. 1, 2, 3.

[00:06:10.05] Next year!

[00:06:10.89] People work better together, understand each other better. And when it comes down to it, it's building a team and a friendship.

[00:06:16.98] Yeah, if you kneel down, that'd be perfect. Then he looks like he's on your back.

[00:06:20.67] [LAUGHTER]

[00:06:21.54] At the end of the day, if you don't win, it's not a big deal. What else are you going to do in Maine in the winter? Might as well go out and play in the cold.

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[00:06:30.53] Text, Over 70% of firefighters in the United States are volunteers. L.L. Bean thanks all first responders for their selfless service.

[00:06:38.57] Logo, L.L. Bean. Be an Outsider.