Egg and spoon race
Encyclopedia
An egg-and-spoon race is a sporting event in which participants must carry an egg
or other roundish object on a teaspoon, tablespoon or wooden spoon and race to the finish line without dropping the egg or without running while the egg is not on the spoon. Variations include using raw eggs, hard-boiled eggs, wooden or ceramic eggs, potatoes or anything small that may be hard to balance on a spoon, such as jelly. It is generally regarded as against the rules to stick the egg to the spoon or to hold onto it with one's finger.
In many schools, the egg and spoon race takes place on Sports Day
, alongside other events such as the sack race
and three legged race.
In some regions where traditionally only raw eggs were used, these have now been replaced with alternatives such as hard-boiled eggs, due to fears of salmonella
when consuming the cracked eggs.
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
or other roundish object on a teaspoon, tablespoon or wooden spoon and race to the finish line without dropping the egg or without running while the egg is not on the spoon. Variations include using raw eggs, hard-boiled eggs, wooden or ceramic eggs, potatoes or anything small that may be hard to balance on a spoon, such as jelly. It is generally regarded as against the rules to stick the egg to the spoon or to hold onto it with one's finger.
In many schools, the egg and spoon race takes place on Sports Day
Sports day
Sports days, sometimes referred to as Field Day, are events staged by many schools and offices in which people take part in competitive sporting activities, often with the aim of winning trophies or prizes...
, alongside other events such as the sack race
Sack race
The sack race or gunny sack race is a competitive game in which participants place both of their legs inside a sack or pillow case that reaches their waist or neck and jump forward from a starting point toward a finish line. The first person to cross the finish line is the winner of the race.Sack...
and three legged race.
In some regions where traditionally only raw eggs were used, these have now been replaced with alternatives such as hard-boiled eggs, due to fears of salmonella
Salmonella
Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...
when consuming the cracked eggs.