That's the name given 30 years ago to a bizarre race run each summer in the town of Ino, 15 miles west of Ashland. Beginning in 1973, year-round residents and North Woods tourists eagerly engaged in a formal competition to see how quickly a course could be run by their favorite tick.

That's right: racing wood ticks.

The course was a circle 200 millimeters (about 8 inches) in diameter traced on a ceremonial plate. Each contestant dropped his or her tick -- with names like Speedy Pete, Ding Bat and Fertile Myrtle -- in the center, and judges armed with stop watches carefully timed their progress to the finish line at the edge.

In 1978, 42 ticks from places as far away as Appleton were entered and the winning time was 7.24 seconds. In 1979, when 368 contestants scuttled over the course, that record was slashed by more than half a second.

Local media promoted the Ino 200 as if it were the Daytona 500, and results were covered in the St. Paul, Minn., media. A rivalry grew between Ino and Turtle Lake as trainers taunted each other about their ticks' ability to cope with "wind drift, flying objects and beer being spilled on the contestants." T-shirts were printed, hundreds of spectators came to watch, and in all the excitement perhaps even some friendly wagers were placed.

-- Wisconsin Historical Society,
www.wisconsinhistory.org

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