Cockroach racing
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Cockroach racing is a club gambling activity which started in 1982 at the Story Bridge Hotel in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia. The event is held on The Last Weekend In January, "Brisbanes Most Iconic Races". This type of racing has spread to many parts of the world including the United States. In North America,
cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockro ...
racing has recently become a popular feature for money, prizes, or just for its entertainment value. It is held in exhibitions promoting
entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
where the public and entomologists participate. In the first-ever event held in 1982, the winning cockroach was called 'Soft Cocky'. Cockroaches are brought to the races by the participants but the roach could also be bought at the venue of the races. The preferred option is, however, to bring one's own cockroaches, from the stable. The proceeds from the event are given away to charity.


Racing

The background to the starting of this race in Australia in 1982 is attributed to two bar buffs who boasted that the cockroaches of their area were the fastest in Brisbane. They tested the validity of their claims in a parking lot. The racing event in Australia generates a feverish pitch and the event held annually is given the hyperbole as "the greatest gathering of thoroughbred cockroaches in the world". Every year, seven such events are held in Australia, which is known as the sprint, the steeplechase and main event held at the Story Bridge Hotel called the Gold Cup event. The race arena is ring. The roaches kept in glass bottles are let out in the middle of the ring. The cockroach which reaches the edge of the ring first is declared a winner. There is an entry fee to participate in the event. The winners listed so far in the Hall of Fame of this Australian event are unusual names such as "Soft Cocky, Cocky Balboa, Cocky Dundee, Drain Lover, and Priscila-Queen of the Drains". Cockroaches are known for their fast speed of movement, second only to the speed of
tiger beetle Tiger beetles are a family of beetles, Cicindelidae, known for their aggressive predatory habits and running speed. The fastest known species of tiger beetle, '' Rivacindela hudsoni'', can run at a speed of , or about 125 body lengths per second. ...
s. They can generate speeds up to 50 body lengths per second which in a sprinter's language is of the order of or equivalent to completing a sprint in less than 1 second.


In the United States

The racing of cockroaches as a club gambling activity started in Australia in 1982. However, at the
Loyola University Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early (educator), John Early and eight other members of the Society of Je ...
, the event of cockroach racing is called "Madagascar Madness: The Running of the Roaches." The students of General
Entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
wing of the university train Madagascar Cockroaches for short sprints and also for marathon racing. The race generates lot of interest and large number of people gather to witness the event. In the United States, the cockroach race is also a popular event held prior to the presidential election. It is conducted every four years by the Pest Control Association of
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. The race predicts the Democratic candidate for the presidential election; in 1999,
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
won over
Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was a United States Senate, United States senator from New ...
and
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
"won by an antenna," in 1992. In June 2008, in New Jersey, the namesake cockroaches of
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
and
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
were raced to find the winner in the race held at the Toms River Rotary Club. It was held under the auspices of the Rotary Club of Central Ocean Tom River's Bugfest. The event generated US$1500, which was donated towards providing scholarship to local students.


In popular culture

The 1995 film '' Race the Sun'' which dramatised the international competition of a solar-powered race car event, it had an entry from Hawaii, which was named as "Coackroach"; it is said that the design of the race car was inspired by the cockroach running across the room. The boy who designed the race car modelled it to resemble a cockroach with intent to "capture the organic, aerodynamic shape that first inspired cockroach racing. This eventually resulted in creation of robo-roaches. In the episode "Ellie" of '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', broadcast in May 2002,
Gil Grissom Gilbert Arthur Grissom (born August 17, 1956), Ph.D. is a fictional character portrayed by William Petersen on the CBS crime drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and its sequel, '' CSI: Vegas''. Grissom is a forensic entomologist and for t ...
, an
entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
, is the chief investigator. However, instead of solving the murder he pursues his interest in cockroach racing, taking a jar of Madagascar roaches to a conference. When the murder had been resolved, he glumly announces his roaches could win only second, third and fifth. Cockroach racing is described in the 20th century Russian literature. The first to describe this entertainment in Russian was
Arkady Averchenko Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko (; 27 March 1881 – 12 March 1925) was a Russian playwright and satire, satirist. He published his stories in the journal ''Satirikon'', of which he was also an editor, in the series of ''Novyi Satirikon, New Sati ...
in several feuilletons of the Constantinople period ("About cockroaches, coffins, and women empty inside", "Cosmopolitans"). Also known is the description in the play by
Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...
"
Flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...
" (1927), as well as in the story by Alexei Nikolayevich Tolstoy "The Adventures of Nevzorov, or Ibicus" (1924). Natella Boltyanskaya has a song "Cockroach racing". Based on the idea of cockroach racing, video games of the same name were created. In the games of the ''Space Rangers'' (video game) series, in the text quest when a player gets to prison, cockroach racing is one of the events in the penitentiary institution.


References

{{Insects in culture Gambling games Cockroaches Animal racing Culture of Brisbane 1982 establishments in Australia Sports originating in Australia