I will be the official Race Director for the upcoming 1st Annual Y-Run Club Slug Races to be held sometime within the next month. I got my inspiration from Donald's Blog about slow snails. Here's what I'm thinking:1) Contestants will bring a Banana Slug to the race.
2) Race distance will be 5 inches.
3) Each person with a slug will be handed a large piece of black paper and a paper ruler.
4) At the start the slug handlers will place their slug on the center of the paper.
5) First slug to leave a 5 inch slime trail is the winner!
No Banana Slugs will be harmed during these races.
No Slug Bait, Salt, Beer, or other performance enhancing products can be used.
Feel free to add any advice that will make this race the best slug race in the Pacific Northwest!
Thanks!
19 comments:
Ooh! Can I send my contestant in the mail and have someone else by the jockey??
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Wes,
I think it's a Federal Offense to transport Banana Slugs across state lines. And besides, slugs don't do well in the mail. Remember, no slugs will be harmed during this competition.
Are E caps considered performance enhancing? What about just plain salt packets? Is there punishment for those of us who can't follow the rules?
No Wendy you can't give S-Caps to your slug!
We won't stand for any slug licking either! Do you hear me Jenny?
I am so there! I've been unintentionally raising slugs/snails around here (dang that rain!) Just one question - do you really consider salt as performance enhancing? We used to salt snails when we were kids, it did not enhance much of anything! :)
This is awesome. Do you have a lot of banana slugs there? The bright yellow ones? I thought those were just a California thing.
I think you could take this big time, like Calaveras County did with the frog jump contest. What a fantastic idea. I can't wait to hear the report.
What?
That's it, you're officially crazy!
Meghan
www.running-blogs.com/meghan
Licking the slug only makes you numb, then again it might just release enough of thier slime to make them superslick and be faster. So, then again, it might be performance enhancing as well as tongue numbing!
:)
Jenny
Do you wonder what type of "free spirt" decided to try licking a slug in the first place? Did the same person go around licking spiders, snakes, small and large rodents?
Our dog is a licker but I've never seen her go up and lick a slug. I suppose the numbing effect of the "slug slime" has is some sort of protection system. Bottom line is that if my dog licks herself to clean up but won't lick a slug I'm not going to try numbing my tounge in an effort to make my slug go faster.
Donald queries ... "Do you have a lot of banana slugs there?" - Now that's funny!
BTW: Eric, does Dianna Robinson know about this race? I don't know if she considers herself a "banana" slug or not!
*tc
tc - Dianna is welcome bring an actual slug to the competition however her MM Nickname "Slug" does not qualify her as a Ariolimax columbianus (Mollusk). If she has a pneumostone (that opening on the side of the slug that allows air to thier lungs)then we will consider letting her participate.
Cheers!
Slug, little slug, go slow in this race,
they mean to measure your trail of slime,
they are making fun of your sluggish pace,
while their own slacking is not better than thine.
Lia - Ouch, that's going to leave a bruse! OK, Slugs 1, Y-Run Club 0
Way to get active in the slug community Eric, I hope to get a full race report! It also might be a good idea to put up some SLUG CROSSING signs just to be sure no slugs get hurt!
Have a great weekend
Why only the Banana Slug, what about Red Slugs? You could actually handicap the race for different types of slugs (giving the smaller Red Slug an hour head start for example)
In reference to Wendy's question about using E-caps: Salt is harmful to all slugs; it causes the slug to dehydrate. Just like runners, but it takes less salt to prune a slug. But contemplate this, In Northern California, it is considered good luck to kiss a banana slug.
What? - Seventeen comments and no mention of the UC Santa Cruz mascot? They're the Banana Slugs. They originally wanted to be called the Fightin' Banana Slugs, but that just seemed ridiculous.
One more thought - you need a standardized course distance, so I can pick a banana slug down here and race the same distance to compare times. We can have American and World records, and everything.
I'm liking this idea more and more.
At the gym the other day, in upper-middle-class suburban Eden Prairie, a man was wearing a "Banana Slugs" t-shirt. As shy and retiring as I am, I asked if he went to UC Santa Cruz. He said his daughter was considering it, but it was "too granola" for her. Dude!
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