Published: July 06, 2008 01:07 am      

Woman to pull train

Cancer survivor will be at Canal Place Saturday for annual Special Olympics benefit train pull

Few people would state confidently that they intend to pull a 250-ton steam locomotive and will do it alone.

Mary Jacobson, though, is no ordinary individual and her remarkable fight to live involves a story that can’t be imagined.

She’ll be a one-woman team come Saturday when she pulls the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad’s steam engine as part of the 11th annual CanalFest/RailFest.

“Once I get it moving, I can do it,” Jacobson, who will move to Fairfax, Va., soon to be closer to work, said.

Sponsored by the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office, she hopes to draw a crowd to the event that benefits the Allegany County Special Olympics. Teams will begin pulling at 9 a.m. at the Western Maryland Railway Station.

“I’m not a big he-man woman,” Jacobson, who at 52 is the oldest competitor in the World’s Strongest Woman competition, said. “I’m small and old.”

She learned of the train pull through a man she met and he helped get her in touch with the correct people.

Such a feat also was next on her to-do list. She was even more convinced after looking at pictures from last year’s pull and calculating how much one team of young women weighed.

“I thought, ‘I can do this,’ ” she said. “I’m stronger than all of them. Technique is the key. I’m going to do it because I want to do it.”

She also has an easy idea on how to train.

“Right now I’m doing any kind of pull,” she said, adding she uses a harness and chain. “If it’s in my way, I pull it out of my way.”

Blessed with a strong back, she started out pulling vehicles and trucks. Then she moved on to fire trucks.

“Now, it’s like no big thing,” she said of those engines.

She isn’t concerned about a locomotive either. And once she’s achieved that, she’s on to airplanes, as in 747s. Her next goal is competing in the Senior Olympics.

“It’s inside me,” Jacobson said of her ability to pull. “I know what I struggled with in the past and I know the kids and people need help (now). ... I got a second chance and I’m willing to do anything to help others.”

A little more than 10 years ago, she was told she would probably die.

Told by doctors she had a rare form of cancer with an 11 percent chance of survival, Jacobson had no choice but to give her daughter to a friend to raise after her husband left them.

“I was told to go buy my coffin, buy a suit and say good-bye to my daughter,” she said. “I gave her to someone I loved like a sister.”

When she went into surgery, she weighed about 165 pounds, and had no idea whether or not she’d ever see her daughter again.

Comatose for two years, Jacobson said she awoke only to find herself at more than 300 pounds.

It was her daughter, though, who inspired her and told her if the cancer didn’t kill her, the weight would.

At 5-foot, 4-inches and a little more than 300 pounds, she had no doubt her daughter, now 22 and in law school in California, was correct. She’s also the one who dubbed her Strongest Mary.

That was the beginning of her road to becoming the strongest woman.

In 2000, she entered her first Strongwoman event and was the oldest in the competition then. Four years later, the volunteer firefighter in Loudon County traveled to 22 states and competed in 22 meets. Her goal, though, is to raise funds for those in need, especially children.

It’s a reason why she’ll be here for Saturday’s event.

In addition to the train pull, several activities are slated for the festival that will be held from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Canal Place Heritage Area.

For more information, call (301) 724-3655 or visit www.canalplace.org.

Contact Maria Smith at msmith@times-news.com.