A crowd of around 5,000 watched the Scottish Coal Carrying Championships in Kelty – the first in five years – with music from East 17. Picture by Steve Brown.

East 17 brought the curtain down on the first Scottish Coal Carrying Championships in five years.

The ’90s favourites took to the stage in the car park at Kelty Community Centre where they belted out their best-known chart hits.

The trio topped off a fantastic day, which saw around 5,000 people take to the streets to watch the bizarre but gruelling event.

They even joked to the crowd that they’d consider taking part next year.

However, they’d better start training soon – as the event sees men carry a 50kg bag of coal over a one kilometre, uphill course.

Some people are even known to collapse along the way.

But there was no such concern for this year’s winner, 22-year-old Wallace Nelson.

He breezed the course in under five minutes then declared he was off to play rugby in the afternoon.

Wallace even won a second prize for his “supreme effort” on what’s known as Hell Hill – the steepest part of Kelty’s main street.

“It was really hard, much harder than training,” he said.

“My heart and my head were pounding. It’s some distance.”

Women carry a lighter bag of 25kg but even that requires tremendous strength.

Caroline Leck, 45, from Carnock fell to the ground after finishing ahead of the pack.

“I can’t believe I did it,” she said.

“The bag was slipping down my back but I just kept going slow and steady and I did it!”

The Scottish Coal Carrying Championship is one of only two coal races in the world.

And it involves the whole family, with children taking part with smaller bags.

There’s also a mascots’ race, which this year saw Fife Flyers mascot Geordie

Munro beat off stiff competition from the likes of Spider-Man, Buzz Lightyear and Scooby Doo.

There was even a former prime minister on hand as Gordon Brown took to the main stage to congratulate the winners on their “strength and endurance”.

“It’s great to see so many people out,” he said.

“It’s probably a release from all the tensions of the last year.”

Singers, dancers, jugglers and a pipe band added to the party atmosphere, before the community centre concert at teatime.

Organiser Michael Boyle said it had been a marvellous event.

“It’s been amazing and Wallace, in particular, absolutely pummelled the race.”

“It was really hard, much harder than training

Coronavirus lockdowns put paid to many of the events we once took for granted.

Against such a backdrop it is a pleasure to see a return to something approaching normality.

There were great scenes in Fife over the weekend as the Scottish Coal Carrying Championships were held. Around 5,000 people took to the streets, with ’90s charttoppers East 17 providing a musical accompaniment.

Once taken for granted, such community get-togethers are all the sweeter this year.