Ready, set, slow down: snail racing around the world is back

Participants in the World Snail Racing Championships will compete this weekend.

The Gastropod Gallop will take place at Grimston Cricket Club, Congham, near King’s Lynn, on Saturday.

Organisers said they expected up to 200 participants to compete for prizes of a “bouquet of very juicy romaine lettuce” for the runner and an engraved pewter tankard for the coach.

Snail master Nicholas Dickinson said: “We have a lot of snails in our own barn, which we rent out for anyone to come in and have a look at.”

However, some people spend weeks preparing for the event and come with an aquarium full of snails, after feeding them and painting their shells so they can be easily spotted as they glide along the 13.5-inch course.

“We get some curious and interesting names – my favourite from a few years ago was Uslime Bolt,” said co-organiser Mr Dickinson.

“You can train them, but you have to make sure you feed them well before the competition.

“(They need) something green – lettuce, cucumber – any vegetable like that is good to eat.”

The championship, which raises around £500 for the village church, will take place as part of an entertainment day at Congham Hall.

Snail races used to be held at the village festival inside the hall, but the pandemic has put an end to the event, despite its more than 60-year history.

“A Congham man, Tom Elwes, was on holiday in France and came across a snail racing competition. He thought ‘this is incredible’ and brought the idea back to England,” Mr Dickinson said.

“The big difference is that we take care of all our snails, whereas in France, they are all eaten at the end of the race, except the winner.

“As the owner of Congham Hall, I was keen to keep the competition in our venue. It had been here for all these years, so… we teamed up with another businessman and resurrected it.”

The shelled creatures will battle on a round table, following a slow path between a small red inner circle and a large black outer circle.

The winner of each heat will advance to the grand final, with a chance to rival Archie’s Guinness Book of Records winning time of two minutes, set in 1995.

While some might think it was easy to keep up with competitors, Mr Dickinson and fellow organiser Ian Haynes discovered that some snails liked to cheat.

“A lot of snails try to hitchhike on each other’s backs,” said the snail master.

“They are very disobedient – ​​some of them try to cross the starting line before they are all ready, so you have to keep holding them back.

“But once they’re on the starting line and ready to go, Ian declares the race with the phrase: ready, calm, slow.”

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