{"id":753,"date":"2024-06-11T10:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T09:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/?p=753"},"modified":"2024-06-14T12:37:05","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T11:37:05","slug":"chicken-run-the-world-hen-racing-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/chicken-run-the-world-hen-racing-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicken Run: The Hen Racing World Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chickens offer many uses. They make great family pets; they are lovely for a Sunday lunch, and they can even predict the results<\/a> of the FIFA World Cup \u2013 but have you ever tried racing them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The small village of Bonsall<\/a>, nestled within Derbyshire\u2019s Peak District, has done just that. So, if you are looking for a sporting event to watch after the Euros, or if you just want something to do on a sunny August bank holiday, why not check out the World Hen Racing Championships? <\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origins of the sport likely date back to the Georgian period, when bored villagers would bet on which of their chickens could run the fastest. The premise of the competition hasn\u2019t changed much since then, with five chickens being released at the start line, racing to be the first to cross the finish line 20 metres away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The pub provides visitors with barbecue while they watch the races, but out of respect for the hens, chicken isn\u2019t on the menu<\/strong><\/em>“<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The arena is the carpark of The Barley Mow<\/a>, a leafy pub at the heart of the village, and welcomes hundreds of visitors from all over the world. The pub provides visitors with barbecue while they watch the races, but out of respect for the hens, chicken isn\u2019t on the menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landlady Collette Dewhurst, 53, is the organiser and compere without compare when it comes to this \u201cquintessentially English sport\u201d. \u201cWe get so many people coming from all over that we have to shut the entries,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The event resembles something like a Monty Python sketch. Picture: Jason Barker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Watching from behind the relative safety of the orange fencing, the event resembles something like a Monty Python sketch. \u201cSometimes the chickens don’t bloody move,\u201d says Collette. \u201cThey’ll peck the ground, have a mud bath, go to the toilet, or just sit there. The crowd goes wild if they run\u2026 it\u2019s just dead good fun,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fun is amplified by the hens\u2019 humans trying every trick in the book to win. While some people coax their chickens forward with the promise of Walker\u2019s Cheese and Onion crisps, other competitors have taken it a step further. \u201cOne year someone tried to enter a pigeon, and another year a bloke dressed as a chicken and tried to compete \u2013 he was disqualified immediately,\u201d says Collette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who don\u2019t have chickens at home, fear not, as there are free-range chickens available to hire on the day. The chickens go for \u00a35, with proceeds going to animal welfare charities. While some come from Collette\u2019s Hen Hotel in her back garden, most are \u201ccherished family pets brought by little girls\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cA bloke dressed as a chicken and tried to compete \u2013 he was disqualified immediately\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Despite the slow start to most races, one year the competition saw a feat that was truly astounding, with competitor Jack Alsop earning a Guinness World Record title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also known as The Chicken Whisperer, Jack is now a five-time World Champion and is often regarded as \u201cthe Djokovic<\/a> of the Hen Racing world\u201d. A summer of training his hen with his grandad in the garden led him to international fame as he shattered the previous record with a time of 3.2 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are free-range chickens available to hire on the day for \u00a35. Picture: Jason Barker\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even though it\u2019s a single-player sport, there is a tight-knit community not just in the village itself, but across the UK, all united by being a bit barmy on a bank holiday Monday in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s absolutely cracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Want to join in?<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you fancy yourself as a chicken whisperer or a world-class coach, Odd One Out is offering a trip to this year\u2019s World Hen Racing Championship in Bonsall, Derbyshire.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out our Membership Page<\/a> to have a go at this rather egg-centric event.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t waste your money at the Grand National, instead try this cracking competition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":235,"featured_media":756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[115,129,122,128,113,139,121,130,123,112,124],"class_list":["post-753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-days-out","tag-bank-holiday","tag-barley-mow","tag-bonsall","tag-collette-dewhurst","tag-days-out","tag-harry-merrell","tag-hen-racing","tag-jack-alsop","tag-membership-trip","tag-weird-sports","tag-world-record"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/235"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=753"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1428,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753\/revisions\/1428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/odd-one-out\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}