Small Town Turns Out For Annual Worm Race

Small Town Turns Out For Annual Worm Race AG WORLD Ag World 10-4-20 "The secret is in how you build the worm's racing track," says one of the participants in the 17th annual worm race in Mill Village, Nova Scotia where more than 100 participants compete in three separate races, cheered on by a high percentage of the small town's population. The student jockeys, who range in age from 5 to 13, find ingenious ways to persuade their worms to race as quickly as possible through the 40-in. course. Participants set up paths of mud and dirt to encourage the crawlers in the right direction once the blow of the whistle starts the race. Once the whistle blows, however, all the jockeys can do is cheer them on. "Long skinny worms usually win," says one veteran racer. "Fat worms just can't compete." Another racer claims the secret to victory is adding just the right amount of water. "Too much water and they drown. Not enough, and the dirt isn't slippery." Still other racers use threats of everything from fish hooks to hungry birds to urge their worms to victory. Wayne Hirdle, who owns a winning worm named Speedy Gonzales, says he first looks for a fast-looking worm of good breeding and then does everything he can to keep it happy. Dawn Himmelman, another winning jockey, says the key to success in worm racing is not touching the worm until race time to help the crawler conserve energy. But the winner of the feature race, Kevin Ells didn't use any strategy at all. A friend loaned him a worm named Rocky at the last moment and he took top honors with a time of just under four minutes.

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