Slow and steady wins the race

  • 20/07/2015
Slow and steady wins the race

A new snail racing champion has been crowned in the English village of Congham, where snails have slugged it out annually for more than 40 years.

This year's winner, 'George', crawled to victory after covering 33cm in two minutes and 20 seconds, with his secret to success said to be homegrown lettuce.

The course consists of a flat surface and one red circle inside a larger red circle, and competitors race to be the first to reach the outer circle.

George was entered by Dale Thorne of Gayton and quickly pushed his main competition, 'Popeye', back into second place.

Each heat was started by snail master Neil Riseborough with a cry of 'ready, steady, slow', until a final victor was eventually crowned.

An estimated 175 snails took part in the competition in the hopes of winning a tankard full of lettuce and claiming the prestigious title.

The all-time world record can only be challenged at the Congham event, and currently stands at two minutes by a snail called 'Archie' in 1995.

In order to keep the competition fair, giant foreign snails are not allowed to compete.

3 News