Pig Races

Just as I promised, here's a blog about racing pigs...

Everyone who comes to visit knows about the Stuffed Pig...it's a favorite breakfast spot, with a huge tiki hut and garden behind a hole-in-the-wall-esc diner right across the street from the marina and there's just no place better to celebrate National Pig Day. This year, pig day fell on a Monday so all the festivities were held on the weekend prior. The restaurant, which normally closes at 3 in the afternoon, boasted a special dinner menu for Friday and Saturday nights and all you can eat BBQ with all the fixings on Sunday. But the main attraction wasn't the pig on the plate, but the ones on the track. The races ran every 2 hours with 3 heats each segment and parimutuel betting with odds and everything. Another betting option won you prizes for picking the winning pigs...the more pigs you picked the bigger the prize. The proceeds for the event went to Grace Jones Community Center a local non-profit organization that provides affordable child-care to the surrounding area.

I won $4 dollar off a $2 bet...I had apparently picked the favorite, Christina Hogulara. But the rest of my wagers went to charity.

With names like Shakin' Bacon, Pork Chop Pam, Oscar Mayer, Dustin Hogman, and Brittany Spear-Ribs, you can't help but giggle at the announcements as these pigs race around the track. Most of the pigs are quite fast and the race is over before you know it and the pigs are eating cookies at the finish line. That's how they motivate them to run around the track in the first place. The pigs' diet consists of a somewhat salty tasting feed and they only get sweet treats on race day upon crossing the finish line.

[Pic right: Jeff giving Gia a better view]

Click play arrow to start video.

Our favorite pigs to watch are the huge, Asian potbelly pigs. No amount of cookies could make these behemoths hurry anywhere and their "race" can last 10 - 15 minutes.

This year, a new addition to the races was the "Pig Hop" which took place in the center of the track in between racing segments and required human participants to straddle air-filled pigs and by placing all dignity aside "hop" to a win across the finish line. The following video is hopefully the most embarrassing thing you'll ever see me do...but in my defense, I had a strategy. I was going to pick up my pig and use my long legs to run down the track to victory. Makes perfect sense - in theory. But my pig took a dive and I guess you'll just have to see the rest for yourself. I'm the one in the middle, and to my right is Matt McJunkin and to my left Kendra McJunkin, our good friends who just recently relocated to Marathon.

And don't worry, no air-filled pigs were harmed or injured in the making of this video.