Toddlers crawl, walk to victory at Ashland County Fair diaper derby events

ASHLAND — Toddlers crawled their way to victory at the 39th annual diaper derby and others ran for the win at the 36th annual race on Thursday.

Three toddlers competed against one another in each of the three rounds. And in the final face-off, the three winners from each round went head-to-head on all fours.

One coach — a parent, guardian, grandparent, sibling or other — released the baby to crawl to the coach on the other side of the rug, donated by Home Depot.

The rules were simple:

Coaches could not touch the toddler until he or she crossed the finish line (the edge of the rug)
Coaches could use anything to entice the toddlers to crawl to them, which included bottles, toys, keys and even videos on coaches’ phones.
If a toddler stands up during the crawl-off, he or she would be disqualified

Ultimately, Weston Flinn, the first-round winner, took the title of first-place diaper derby crawler.

Maeve Dillard placed second, and Eleanor Justice came in third place. The winners took home their respective trophies, given to them by junior fair queen Danika Cross.

“This is the best event at the fair, I don’t care what anybody says,” said Sandra Tunnell, executive director of Ashland Main Street, who emceed the event.

But every entered toddler was able to take home a ball provided by Ball, Bounce and Sport.

(Below are photos from the diaper derby event. The story continues after the photo gallery.)

Toddlers compete in foot race

For toddlers who have advanced from crawling to walking, they competed in a toddler foot race.

The race was broken down by age groups, but followed a similar format to the diaper derby. The toddlers in each age category performed in as many rounds as necessary for the number of contestants.

Then, the first-place winners of each round raced for the overall win for their age. The first-and-second place winners received a trophy for their victory. First-place winners also received a $15 cash prize, and second-place winners won a $10 cash prize.

The Ashland County Fair Auxiliary donated the prize money. Each contestant received a ribbon.

Coaches could still use any item to entice their toddler, but they could not touch the toddler until he or she crossed the finish line.

Here are the winners:

1-year-olds