Germany's Wacky Office Chair Championship

Think going to the office is all work and no play? While it may be true in some places, it is definitely not true in the small town of Bad Koening, Germany, where grown men and their office chair turned racing machine, compete, for the title of Office Chair Champion.

Now in its third year, the race, inspired by a similar event in Switzerland, was started as a joke by members of a local club responsible for organizing carnivals. To their surprise, it was an instant hit, with 70 contestants showing up in the first year. Since then, the wacky competition that also attracts thousand of spectators, has taken a life of its own with the participants come from all over the country.

The rules were quite simple. All the contestants have to race down a steep hill in pairs and the one to do it the fastest, is declared the champion. In order to help them race faster, competitors can fit their office chair with inline skate wheels, as well as, innovative handles. However, the effort has to be completely manual, which means that the chairs cannot have any kind of motorized aids.

This year's event, which took place on Saturday, April 16th, attracted 58 contestants, who arrived wearing protective gear on their heads, arms and legs, all ready to race down the steep 600ft. hill. With thousands of spectators cheering them on, they hurled down at speeds exceeding 35mph - Some stumbled and fell off their chairs, while others went completely off course, taking the spectators by surprise, as they crashed into the side barriers.

However, Luxemburg resident Pierre Feller, used the perfect technique. Lying low, he zoomed down the course with no mishaps, setting a new championship time of 26.95 seconds. The second and third prizes went to local contestants, while the best chair design was awarded to Heiko Winter, who dressed up like a cowboy and his chair, like a horse, complete with head and all.

But, as everyone knows, competitions like these are not about winning - They are just about having a good time by adults pretending to be kids!

Resources: thelocal/de/sport, worldcuppictorial.com, dailymail.co.uk