Bizarre Competitions ─ 101 Ways to Become a World Champion

You don't have to be Usain Bolt to be a champion of the world. This book describes 101 bizarre and eccentric events that call themselves "World Championships". They are open to anyone who dares to try but it also takes skill, a lot of passion and even more madness to become crowned champion of the world in these events.

Swamp snorkeling, extreme ironing, coal carrying and pantomime horse racing are just a few of the weird ways to gain ultimate glory. The book provides details on prizes, entry criteria, locations, who the current champions are, the rules of the game and the techniques a challenger has to master to become a weird "sports" world-beater.

For those who want to stay close to home, there are many championship events in North America. Try these:

• Outhouse racing, Virginia City, Nevada -- For 27 years, costumed teams have pushed, pulled and dragged decorated outhouses down a racetrack.
• Rock, paper, scissors, various locations -- 15 minutes of TV fame at Handemonium championships hosted by the official Rock, Paper, Scissors society.
• Shovel racing, Angel Fire, New Mexico -- Dare-devils race on a shovel down a snowy hill at speeds topping 70 mph.
• Freestyle alligator wrestling Hollywood, Florida -- Competitors have 8 minutes to remove an alligator from a deep pool of water onto land where they will try to outperform each other with dangerous stunts.
• Buffalo chip toss, Beaver County, Oklahoma -- Throw dried cow dung more than 185 feet, 5 inches to beat the current world champion.

With the inside knowledge found here, a lot of inspiration and perhaps even some practice, this book has what a challenger needs to become champion of the world. And who doesn't want that.

Richard Happer is the author of fourteen non-fiction books on historical and geographical subjects and contributor to several atlases and other reference works. Recent titles include The Times Extreme Survivors and Abandoned Places: 60 Stories of Places Where Time Has Stopped. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.