Pulling planes is no big thing for Keith Morrison.

Not when the Cook County sheriff's deputy practices by tossing around 450-pound tractor tires in a dark, dingy, six-car garage.

Morrison and his teammates, dubbed Team Cook County Wide, were on hand to compete in Saturday's plane pull at DuPage Airport.

There's no air-conditioning at their gym. No fancy sound system. And definitely no girls on aerobic machines.

Just a bunch of hulking teammates sweating alongside each other, weighing in at a combined 2,000 pounds.

It's the kind of weight that would give a heart doctor cold sweats. But the blubber beneath these men can move mountains - or at least a few homemade weighted sleds.

"We don't lose," Morrison said. "We won this event last year, and we're going to win it this year."

It's just the second year for the event, which is organized by Special Olympics Illinois. Six teams of 10 people spent the morning pulling a 75,000-pound Gulfstream jet 15 feet.

Of course, for many participants, winning meant nothing more than the satisfaction of knowing the $500 team registration fee will aid Illinois Special Olympics.

At least that's the point Addison Police Officer Scott Clark and his colleagues who make up the Addison Hernias team, wanted to get across.

"As a department, we're really proactive in doing what we can to help out the Special Olympics," he said.

From the moment the three Cook County teams rumbled onto the airstrip, Clark and his crew knew they were in for a battle.

"Okay, it'll be on my count," the referee announced to Team Cook County Wide I. "Ready? Three ... two ... one ..."

As the horn blared, correctional officer Tyrone Everhart hollered, "DIG, DIG, DIG!" as he pulled away at the rope.

His crew followed the chorus line of super-sized men stomping their feet in sync as they pulled.

Their final time: 12.06 seconds.

"These are definitely the champs," Addison Officer Stefan Bjes said, a bit half-heartedly, as he readied the Hernias for their pull. "We've got to step it up. We really need to step into this one."

"Three ... two ... one ..."

The Hernias silently pulled away. But something seemed off. The officers stood at different heights as they leaned against the massive weight. One teammate almost slipped.

In the end, they finished more than two seconds behind the leader.

The Addison team fared no better in the second round. This year, it would be all three Cook County groups moving into the finals.

"It's a little irritating," Clark admitted. "We got beat on our home turf. But it's OK. We've already talked it over, and we're all on board for next year. We're planning on hooking up with a few firefighters and getting them to let us pull their fire trucks."