Moffat County and the city of Craig participated in healthy competition at a United Way barbecue Thursday, where city and county employees teamed up against each other to race tricycles to the finish line.

It was the first big event leading up to Moffat County United Way’s 2015 campaign to raise funds for local nonprofits, which officially starts Sept. 14.

Moffat County and the city of Craig are United Way’s pacesetters this year, kicking off the campaign with a barbecue, live music, a raffle and a hilarious race where adults rode kid tricycles through an obstacle course.

Moffat County had a team of five, as did the city, and they took turns pedaling the tricycles through the course with their hands and feet.

In the end, the city won against the county.

“It was inevitable that we’d beat the county on this. It was inevitable. It was in the stars,” joked Dave Pike, director for Craig Parks & Recreation.

Moffat County Sheriff KC Hume was a good sport despite the loss.

“It’s not about winning or losing — it’s about United Way,” Hume said.

United Way collects funds each year from individual and company donations, allocating the money to local nonprofits in need of financial support.

Perhaps the best part of donating to United Way is the money stays within the county, said United Way’s campaign chair Joel Sheridan.

“I’ve always been a United Way supporter,” Sheridan said. “You know who’s collecting the money and who’s allocating the money. It’s not some person 1,000 miles away doing something with your (donated) money.”

In 2014, Moffat County United Way raised $420,000 to allocate to nonprofits in the community, and in 2013 it raised $430,000.

Moffat County United Way Director Amanda Arnold hopes to top that figure for 2015.

“Our campaign theme this year is ‘Invest in Your Community,’” Arnold said. “This is where we work, this is where we live, this is where we raise our families. We want the community to invest in this place.”

The campaign runs from Sept. 14 to Nov. 20.