If basing a holiday around the Ashes, World Cup or Olympics is just a little too boring, then there are plenty of offbeat events around the world that would make excellent breaks for the sport-inclined tourist. From running up 73 storey hotels to racing cockroaches, there’s no shortage of quirky championships, races and regattas to keep you amused.
The Vertical Marathon
Where: Singapore
Every November, the Swissotel in Singapore invites runners with calves of steel and gigantic lungs to go to the helipad on the top of the 226m-tall hotel. The only catch is that they’re not allowed to use the lift – they have to run up 1,336 steps over 73 storeys.
Last year, the track record broken as step fetishist Thomas Dold raced up in just 6 minutes and 52 seconds. Ouch.
World Wife Carrying Championships
Where: Sonkajarvi, Finland
This race takes place over a gruelling obstacle course, but the biggest obstacle of all is that competitors have to carry a woman on their back. One of the prizes for the winner is his wife’s weight in beer.
The July World Championships are taken seriously enough for there to be different ways of carrying the wife – the piggyback, fireman’s carry and ‘Estonian-style’ all have their adherents.
The International Regatta of Bathtubs
Where: Dinant, Belgium
In this somewhat leftfield take on a sailing regatta, all the competitors race in old bathtubs. The not-exactly-speedy vessels are all decorated with far more care and lavishness than they deserve.
The rather leisurely flotilla makes its way downriver on an August afternoon, and it’s more about the chance to enjoy beer and ice cream in the sunshine than a serious race.
The Henley-on-Todd Regatta
Where: Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
Another interesting take on the regatta concept comes from central Australia. The boats race down the Todd River, but the only problem is that there’s no water in it. This means the craft have holes cut out of the bottom, and are propelled Flintstones-style by people running inside them.
The event takes place every August.
The Redneck Games
Where: East Dublin, Georgia, USA
A Deep South version of the Olympics, this annual festival of offbeat ‘sports’ includes disciplines such as toilet seat throwing, dumpster driving and the cigarette flip. Also as part of the proceedings are a big hair contest, a mud pit belly flop and an ‘armpit serenade’
The World Bog Snorkelling Championships
Where: Llanwyrtd Wells, Wales
A 60 yard swim may not seem particularly tricky, but it’s a darned sight harder when that swim is through a trench cut into a bog. Every August Bank Holiday, a hardy band attempt to swim through the gunk as quickly as possible, armed only with a snorkel, flippers and wetsuit. They’re not allowed to use conventional swimming strokes either.
Kirkpinar
Where: Edirne, Turkey
Listed by Guinness World Records as the longest continually sanctioned sporting competition, this Turkish oil wrestling contest is thought to date back 4,500 years.
Taking place every July, it’s essentially a giant knock-out competition held in the Edirne Stadium, in which wrestlers do battle liberally doused with olive oil and clad only in tight leather trousers.
Il Palio
Where: Siena, Tuscany, Italy
Held twice a year, this is arguably the world’s most dangerous horse race. Ten jockeys – each representing a district of the city – hurtle round the town square bareback. Buildings jut out and tens of thousands of people are crammed into the middle of the square. It’s taken very seriously by the locals and bribery attempts have been known in the past.
Tubingen Duck Race
Where: Tubingen, Germany
Animals of a more plastic variety are the contestants every October in Tubingen. Thousands of yellow, plastic ducks line up for a race along the River Neckar and the winner is the first to cross under the Neckarbrücke bridge.
Cockroach racing
Where: Brisbane, Australia
Every January, the Story Bridge Hotel in Brisbane celebrates Australia Day by holding cockroach races. Everyone buys their own cockroach (or can bring one in from home if they prefer), the bugs are put in the middle of a mat, and the first to reach the edge is the winner. The event has morphed into something of a festival with prizes for the ‘best dressed stable’ and ‘Miss Cocky’.
This article was originally written for AOL UK.
Copyright David Whitley.
