Annual Slug Race - Blueberry Arts Festival - Ketchikan, Alaska

Ketchikan, Alaska:

The First City in the Last Frontier,

 

Where the sparkles on the water are free for all, but there are diamond shops on every corner,

Where it rains 13 feet a year, but never enough to fill the depth of the town's potholes,

Most importantly of all, where speed is measured in terms of centimeters per minute - and usually not many at that,

in the annual KETCHIKAN SLUG RACE, 

the can’t-miss-event of the year.

Now if, for some reason, you did miss the race, don’t you worry!  Just read on to find out what happened and who took home the 2022 title!

This year’s competition had one hell of a turn out, with nearly 70 competitors, three heats, and only one Ultimate Slug Champion of the Alaskan island!! 

Seventy entries! And only one winner! Here we go!

Practically everyone in town showed up to compete with their slug of choice.

Before the races begin, all entrants must be weighed upon arrival.  

This is where the training really starts to show.

Clair, the festival’s official slug wrangler, weighs each racer as her assistant records the weights, names of the slugs, and who brought them in. 

This year’s slugs came in all shapes, colors, sizes: some could sit comfortably on a quarter while others would scare the tie off your vice principal.  The heaviest slug weighed in at a whopping 1.8 ounces!!!  What a monster!

One of the racers, "Rumpleslugskin,” was found this morning out at Ward Lake. His/her finders affirmed that the slight overcast of the day was  indeed “good slug hunting weather.”

Once the long line of entries have been weighed and recorded, it's almost time for the race to begin! The tables are spritzed fairly, the slugs placed in the starter’s circle as the announcer calls each one by name. 

The suspense builds as everyone vies for a good view of the table. 

We have quite a line-up this year. Anything could happen and everybody knows it.

And the race is on!!

Time speeds up as the slugs move their way to the finish line, albeit most of them imperceptibly. There is panting and chanting. There are cheers and tears. The excitement is palpable and the disappointment real.  

Sadly, some of the slugs seem to not even know that they are smack dab in the middle of the biggest moment of their lives.  The mood is tense. At last, White Chocolate pulls ahead but we wonder, will that lead stick?

At very long last, the fastest three slugs are chosen from the initial heats!  Whoo!  

The final three, competing for the title and glory of fastest slug in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, are . . . Bob Billy, Billy Bob, and Fred! It’s going to be be a tough competition, this one is. All three are gifted scooters and all three have their game faces on today.  

Everyone gathers around the winner’s table to watch the final race and cheer for their favored slug.  (There is money changing hands at this point but I dare not go into that dark aspect of the games.)

I took video of the final race, with the cheering, the encouraging words, and the cries of desperation, but it appears to be too quick-moving for my Alaskan bandwidth.  Just know that everyone was yelling at these three slugs with all their might.

The timer goes off, and there is one obvious winner this year!

It's BOB BILLY!!!!

pictured below in all his speed and glory, claiming his prize

Dozens of the island's strongest slugs came out today for a chance at the crown, but only one is going home with his antennae stretched high in victory.

Join me in congradulating the 2022 Slug Race champion:  

Bob Billy!

What a race!  What a turn-out!  What competition!

As far as the rest of the Blueberry Arts Festival goes, here are a few snapshots:

It was a great event.  You'll have to come for next year's!

In the meantime, Amanda, Kevin, and Coral out!