In the moments before the Santa Cruz County Fair’s third annual Diaper Derby, Loretta Estrada wanted to make sure everyone understood the competition rules. “You can coax them with the bottle, shake the rattle—I don’t care what you do,” fair board member Estrada told the nine families preparing for the big race. “But if your baby stands up, it will be disqualified!”
In the moments before the Santa Cruz County Fair’s third annual Diaper Derby, Loretta Estrada wanted to make sure everyone understood the competition rules.
“You can coax them with the bottle, shake the rattle—I don’t care what you do,” fair board member Estrada told the nine families preparing for the big race. “But if your baby stands up, it will be disqualified!”
The six-yard-dash—for which participants had to be under one-year-old—began with a false start.
Entrant J.J. Canon took off too soon from the starting gate of his mother’s arms and had to be reeled back in for another try.
When the race officially commenced, a frilly-dressed infant deployed a bold defensive strategy—crawling diagonally across the arena through the paths of her competitors. Canon, the rightmost infant in the lineup, dodged his opponent and was still the speediest baby, even on his second effort.
But Canon stopped mere inches from the yellow finish line to take a drool break. The crowd watched with bated breath as runner-up Troy Cameron crawled into second place and charged forward. But Canon still managed to pull his body across the remaining stretch before his closest competitor could make up the difference in the 27-second event.
Canon declined to comment post-race (he was occupied chewing on his trophy), but, his mother, Genevieve Silveira said the little things count in a rigorous training program.
“I gave him milk and changed his diaper, and off he went!” she said.
In a time of unprecedented financial stress for the fair, Lakeside Organics stepped up to sponsor the event, ensuring the winning baby would bring home a molded plastic trophy of a golden, diaper-clad tyke. Canon also received a $25 gift certificate to used clothing store Jelli Beanz.
Second and third place winners received gift certificates to Red Apple Café and Crossroads Books. Other entrants were awarded rainbow participation ribbons, which their parents eagerly tied to strollers before leaving Paddy Smith Park.
For Cameron and his mom/trainer Jessica Mann, it was an honor just to participate. “We’ve been wanting to enter since last year, when I was pregnant at the fair,” Mann said.
