Hamster Race

Saturday, October 4th was Pumpkin's big race.

We bought her a new ball for the occasion, and got there early to size up the competition.

A little TLC to make her feel good,

and a pep talk to get her "into the zone."

There were several heats - we were in the first one.
On your mark, get set -

GO!

Here's the first heat.

OK, do you see the hamster on the end - the one who's owner is PUSHING THE BALL! We were so robbed!
After this race, they emphasized that there was no rolling the balls allowed (duh) - but I think that other kid should have been totally disqualified! Yeah, I'm competitive ...

After all the heats, they let the 2nd place hamsters race against each other for a place in the final. This was pumpkins second chance -

Alas, another loss. She looked so promising at the start. "Penny" beat her, but not by too much - and "Penny" ended up being the overall winner - so we feel we could still walk away with some dignity!

Cookie, the pre-school hamster did very well and came third overall.

Pumpkin was impressed with him (even though he has a girly name!)

She's obviously attracted to success.

There's another race in 6 months - we've got to get Pumpkin into training.