Lawn Mower Racing On Ice Is Finland's Hottest New Sport (VIDEO)
Lawn mowers are supposed to be for cutting grass, but put them on ice and you have Finland's hottest new sport: ice lawn mower racing.
The country just held its third annual Winter Grand Prix near the town of Jarvenpaa, and the highlight was the ice lawn mower race where teams from England, Estonia and Luxembourg faced a local team in a grueling competition, according to 9News.com.
Normally a British sport, lawn mower racing has sprouted up in other countries, but the Finns take it in a direction not originally intended, since lawnmowers aren't typically used in the snow.
The object of the sport is to ride a lawn mower and accumulate as many laps as possible around a 1968-foot track in three hours, which isn't always easy, according to British racer Jason Huskinson, especially since race organizers add water on top of the snow and let it freeze to make the surface even more slippery.
"It's really bumpy. I'm really tired out. Brilliant," Huskinson told Reuters reporter Ellie Park.
Since the mowers reach speeds of 30 mph, fellow racer Mark Botts says the secret to succeeding is giving up any claims to sanity.
"You have to be crazy to do this," he told Park.
The competition was heated, but the Estonian team rolled away with the top prize by completing 136 laps.
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HuffPost Weird News David Moye Posted: 02/28/2012 5:27 pm