Snail racing is a form of humorous entertainment that involves the racing of two or more air-breathing

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...

s. Usually the common garden snail species '' Cornu aspersum'' is used. This species is native to Europe, but has been accidentally introduced to many countries all over the world. There are numerous snail racing events that take place in different places around the world, though the majority take place in the United Kingdom. Melb cup 07 041

Snail races usually take place on a circular track with the snails starting in the middle and racing to the perimeter. The track usually takes the form of a damp cloth atop a table.11 January 2006
World Snail Racing Championships: Press release 2
. Accessed 5 August 2007. The radius is traditionally set at 13 or 14 inches. Racing numbers are painted on the shells or small stickers or tags are placed on them to distinguish each competitor.

Competitions

The annual "World Snail Racing Championships" started in Congham, Norfolk in the 1960s after founder Tom Elwes witnessed a snail racing event in France. The 1995 race saw the setting of the benchmark time of two minutes by a snail named Archie. The 2007 event had to be cancelled when the course was waterlogged by a prolonged period of heavy rain, only days after the death of Elwes.Lynn News. 23 July 2007.
Snail racing cancelled
. Accessed 5 August 2007. The 2008 World Championships was won by Heikki Kovalainen, a snail named after the Formula One racing driver, in a time of three minutes, two seconds. The 2010 World Championship was won by a snail called Sidney in a time of three minutes and 41 seconds. The first official competitive live snail race in London, the "Guinness Gastropod Championship" held in 1999, was commentated by

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

John McCririck who started the race with the words "Ready, Steady, Slow". This became common terminology for the start of a race. The following year

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

featured a snail race in their advertisement ''

Bet on Black ''Bet on Black'', occasionally referred to as "''Snail Race''", is an advertising campaign run in 2000 by Diageo to promote Guinness-brand stout in the United Kingdom. The piece, directed by Frank Budgen, follows a snail race taking place in a tow ...

'' as part of their " Good things come to those who wait" campaign.The Inspiration Room , Daily.
Guinness TV Adverts
. Accessed 5 August 2008. The advert won the silver award at the

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...

and was self-parodied for their "Extra Cold" campaign several years later.Cragg, Gully. ''The Independent''. 13 March 2003.
The fine art of the big sell
. Accessed 5 August 2008. The "Grand Championship Snail Race" began in Cambridgeshire in 1992 in the village of

Snailwell Snailwell is a small village and civil parish in East Cambridgeshire, England around north of Newmarket. History The parish of Snailwell covers an area of in the extension of eastern Cambridgeshire that surrounds the town of Newmarket in Su ...

as part of its annual summer

fête In Britain and some of its former colonies, fêtes are traditional public festivals, held outdoors and organised to raise funds for a charity. They typically include entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments. Village fêtes Village f� ...

. It regularly attracts up to 400 people to the village, more than doubling its usual population.BBC News. 13 July 2007.
Snails race well for village fete
. Accessed 5 August 2007.

Snail Around The World

Snail Racing may also refer to measuring how fast a snail can go across a distance, usually the world; without stopping and in a strait line. A common source of this info is informational tv shows such as Curiosity Show.

In popular culture

* Season 3 of the Nickelodeon animated series '' SpongeBob SquarePants'' features an episode called "The Great Snail Race," in which the title character trains his pet snail

Gary Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran *Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Unit ...

to compete in a snail race. * The 2013 animated film '' Turbo'', produced by

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...

, is based on the concept of snail racing. *In the 2015 video game '' Undertale'', there is a minigame of snail racing when the player interacts with a ghost named Napstablook.

References

External links

Video about the World Snail Racing Championships
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World Snail Racing Championships
snailracing.net Animal racing Gastropods and humans