44. Cane toad racing

Ever heard of a unique way to get rid of those pests and have “fun” at the same time?  

 

In Australia’s Northern territory, they have devised a way to get rid of cane toads through cane toad racing. 

 

Bars and pubs engage the services of individuals who are tasked with capturing these huge cane toads, placing numbers on their backs and giving them names. Customers choose their particular toads with names corresponding to the person’s nationality, like Jumping Japanese or Italian Stallion. 

 

The cane toads are placed in a bucket in the middle of the dance floor. Some are persuaded to kiss their toads for good luck. Others decline to do it. Who wouldn’t with these creatures as big as dinner plates; surely they are not some enchanted prince. 

The toads are released and the crowd roars wild in excitement. The first cane toad to leave the floor is declared the winner and the person who bet on it is rewarded with a mug of beer. 

 

This serves as one-of-a-kind entertainment although performed quite regularly. You can just imagine the number of toads used and captured every night!

 

Cane toads are then disposed by placing them in plastic bags, and freezing them until they pass out and eventually die.  

 

Some animal advocates view this as cruel, yet supporters believe otherwise. They argue that these pesky creatures do more harm than good and freezing them before throwing them out is more humane than bludgeoning them to death. Think of it as a peaceful way of dying in their sleep.

43. Buzkashi

”Buzcashi” is an Afghan word that means either goat grabbing (in the Dari language), or goat killing. 

 

This is a rough outdoor sport in which the faint of heart do not participate. This is also a controversial sport that creates quite a stir amongst animal lovers.

 

It is played similar to polo where riders are mounted on horses. But instead of players scrambling for a ball, everyone tries to seize the headless carcass of a single goat or calf. The individual (or team) who is able to toss the dead animal the most number of times towards the goal is declared the winner. 

  

Basically, players are not allowed to hit the hand of another player in order to grab the goat. They are also not allowed to tie it to their saddles or trip their opponent’s horses with ropes. Otherwise, this is a free-for-all game that can last for weeks. 

Broken bones, bruised until they are black and blue, are shrugged off as common hazards for game players. 

 

Afghanis take this unusual sport seriously. Horses are particularly bred and trained only for Buzcashi. A Buzcashi horse can cost from $700 to as high as $2,500.   

 

This sport is highly anticipated as it showcases the skills of the best horsemen. It is part of Afghanistan’s ancient tradition to train to be great horsemen. It is said that during olden times, relatives watched them as they rigorously trained for the day. At the end of the day, each horseman was critiqued by fellow riders and did their best to improve their craft.

42. Pancake Day Races

On your mark … ready … get set … Go!  And they’re off!   

 

Player number one runs as fast as he can, careful not to drop what he is holding. Upon the signal, player two continues the race. This goes on until the last team member sprints off towards the finish line. Just like all his other team-mates, he dashes to the finish line, careful not to drop the pancakes, which they need to toss in the air a couple of times then catch it with their own frying pans. 

 

Wait a second … frying pans?  Pancakes? 

 

Welcome to the world of Pancake Day Races! 

 

This is traditionally done the day before the start of the forty-day Christian Religious Celebration of Lent. This unique sport originated in the United Kingdom in the 1940s. Old folks say that this started when the local church rang the bell to signal the start of confession. A woman, frying pan on hand and a pancake, dashed out of her house to the nearby church. People then might have found this scene quite amusing and made it into one of England’s unusual sports to date.   

 

Pancake Day is also known as Shrove Tuesday. The Lenten season is a time when Christians observe fasting. Since people generally abstain from eating anything with milk and eggs, they used these ingredients before the start of the season. What better way to cook them than to churn out those yummy pancakes. 

 

Go ahead, try it. Form your own team and bring your own frying pans.

41. Wellie Wanging

Players are assembled near the starting line. The place is filled with enthusiastic fans, constantly chatting and rooting for their favourite. The first player positions himself, gets ready and then the signal is given.

   

“Watch out for those flying boots!” This may be the warning of most spectators to any Wellie wanging competition. 

 

Believed to originate from Yorkshire, England, this sport got its name from the Wellington boots that participants throw. Depending on the approved competition rules, players may throw from a stationary standing position from the starting line. Other variations include a javelin-like approach where players run a certain distance before releasing the boots. Another is by placing it on your foot then hurling it as far as you can after the signal has been given. The winner who threw the boots the farthest is declared the winner. 

 

This fun sport is usually held for fundraising activities. Curious bystanders can’t help but be amused at the overwhelming response generated by Wellie wanging enthusiasts. 

New Zealand and Finland have their own version of this sport. They call it Gumboot throwing. Others use the term shoe flinging. 

 

This odd sport generates a sizeable following that the small town of Taihape located in New Zealand is being touted as the Gumboot throwing capital of the world. This event started on April 9, 1985. It was so successful that the local government of Taihape decided to make it an annual event. 

 

Gumboot enthusiasts can’t really get enough of this sport that Finland conducts the Boot-Throwing World Championship once a year.

40. Korean Seesaw Jumping and Swinging

The ladies of the ethnic group in Korea have a very peculiar pastime to make their day quite exciting. The women engage in seesaw jumping (Tiaoban) and swinging (Qiuqian).

 

The seesaw jump involves jumping from a spring board, which is usually 19.7 feet long, 1.3 feet wide and 1.97 inches thick and made of a sturdy but bouncy wooden material. The women wearing their traditional costumes stand at the other end of the board. One of the women is projected 4 meters up in the air and it goes higher and higher with each rebound. The women perform back flips, spins, or other tricks while in the air.

 

The spectacle is often witnessed during the Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, or during the Mid-Autumn Day. Asian legends relate that the tradition started in the ancient times when two husbands were imprisoned and two women used the springboard to toss themselves into the air so they could check on their husbands.

 

The art of seemingly dancing in midair with their acrobatic acts is also seen in the Korean art of swinging or Qiuqian. The swings are just made of ropes that are well off the ground.

 

Like with Tiaoban, swinging contests are also seen during the major festivals in Korea. The women wear their traditional dresses during the performances. The audience makes the act more exciting by placing drums, ribbons, or other objects that the women can reach out to.

 

Another fascinating fact about this mid-air grace and artistry is that there are only a few known injuries related to seesaw jumping and swinging. Maybe the deities, to whom the activities are paying homage, are gladly watching

39. Outhouse Races

In Conconully, Washington State, hundreds of people gather in amazement of the annual Outhouse races. The event is one of the oldest potty contests in the United States.

 

On average, there are twelve teams competing for the championship. Each team consists of two individuals who are tasked to push the privy and another person to be the rider on the throne. All team members are required to wear helmets when competing in a race.

 

The poop shed must be made of wood or its by-products. The design must be at least 5 feet high with a square configuration of 2.5 by 2.5 feet. The structure must be at least three-sided with a full roof. The most essential part of the coupe is the toilet seat and the toilet paper dispenser.

 

The outhouse must be mounted on two non-metallic skis and without any motor or steering controls. The inspectors are very strict with the specifications of the poop shed and some get disqualified due to minor modifications, which are proven to give them a great advantage.

 

The sleds are registered around nine in the morning and can join several grand prix of outhouses for men, women, family, seniors, and teens. There is also another exciting special event with the pushers having buckets to cover their heads while the throne rider guides them to the right direction by shouting.

 

The extreme outhouse challenge was also started several years back where organizers placed obstacles on the course.

 

The race begins at high noon when the outhouse races blaze on the ice of Main Street. Carbohydrate loading is the name of the game prior to the start of the race. A fibre diet is not advised since the poop house race is just really for fun and not meant to be a messy one.

38. The Rural Olympics of India

The Rural Olympics of India has diverted the attention of many from the usual Winter or Summer Olympics. The Rural Olympics was first held in 1933 in Kila Kaipur, Punjab.

 

During the events, thousands of daredevil performers and enthusiasts converge annually for the respect that can be gained by winning in the different contests.

 

One highlight of the event is the bullock-cart races, which involves a race between men who ride carts pulled by two young bulls.

 

The bullock-cart races have earned the rage of animal right activists because of the cruelty and harm done to the cows.

 

Cows, unlike horses, are very slow moving creatures. However, the locals have their own ways of “motivating” the huge animals.

 

Locals are known to convince the pair of cows to run in full throttle by rubbing chillies on their eyes or anus, force alcohol into their mouths, twist their tails, hit their genitalia with sticks or nails, or whip them everywhere.

 

The crowd goes wild as they see the usually tired farm animals galloping and enraged through the course. There have been races that the spectators were injured because the participants were not able to control their angry beasts.

 

The animal rights activists are very consistent on pushing for the ban of such cattle races. There are court orders to stop some of them, but games have been disguised as religious practices, farmer games, or outright cattle races protected by goons with guns, which local police cannot control.

 

After the races, glory goes to the winner. For the losing cows, the most unfortunate of fates explained by barbed wire collars, sticks into their flesh, or whipping of their skin until they break open. A bullet to the head of the cow is sometimes the ultimate punishment; it may be the cruelest but is viewed as the most humane.

37. World Beard and Moustache Championship

It is a world of hairy sports — the World Beard and Moustache Championship looks for the longest and best styled facial hair in the world. The contest was declared to be a biennial convention since 1995 but it was born in 1991 in Hofen-Enz, Germany.

 

The championship judges the aesthetics of the facial hair in three different brackets broken into several categories:

 

The moustache bracket looks at the natural moustache, which should be 1.5 cm at maximum length as measured from the end of the upper lip. Different styles can be explored including English, Dali, Imperial, and Hungarian. There is also the freestyle category, which leaves the style according to the imagination of the contestant.

 

Partial beard looks at the interesting goatees that are grown on the chin, upper and lower lip. The styles preferred for the events are Chinese, Musketeer, Imperial, Sideburns, Alaskan whaler, and freestyle.

 

The full beard category isn’t really hair everywhere but involves fascinating styles like the Verdi, Garibaldi, full beard with moustache, and the freestyle.

 

Beard and moustache teams are formed by different countries to prepare for this extravagant tourney. Imagine a daily routine to practice for the World Beard and Moustache Championship involving combs and cans of hairspray to get the best shape of the facial hair.

 

To get a perfect 10 from the judges, which rarely happens, the contestants don the most colourful and unique costumes to go well with their groomed sporty facial hair.

 

The different teams really take the world championship seriously, with moustache-loving groups protesting the hosting of a beard donning group. They protested the bias that can be implied with the moustache versus the beard prominent organizers.

36. World Sauna Championships

To the hell and back, men and women dare to see who is the sweatiest of them all in the World Sauna Championships held every year in Heinola, Finland.

 

Eighty miles north of the Finnish capital Helsinki, hundreds of men and women from all over the globe test their endurance. The contestants come from as far as Gambia, Canada, China, and Columbia.

 

The rule of the game is very simple: the last person who remains in the sauna wins. It is not a very easy thing to do though as the heat may be as sweltering as around 230 degrees Fahrenheit or just enough to make water boil. A pint of water is poured into the hot stones every half-minute during the championship.

 

The contest gives one an idea of the physical condition of the participants and their strategies on how to properly take fluid to conquer the challenge. Hand movements or other signs of altering positions are considered signals by the judges to disqualify a contestant. A strict rule is followed to eliminate contestants so health hazards or incidents will be avoided.

 

Saunas in Finland may be as many as the cars in the region but no one is used to the heat of the sauna in the competition. No world records have been set since the organizers are very particular with the health hazards involved when entering the hot chambers.

 

According to contestants, two minutes inside the world championship sauna is really hell. Men champions have clocked as long as around nineteen minutes while women go as far as ten minutes.

 

The participants are monitored closely and paramedics are close by in case of emergencies. The humidity of the contest saunas is extreme, which is why extra precaution is taken to prevent poached human flesh.