Fourth Annual Pumpkin Races Speeding Back to Oswego

Start your pumpkins! 

The fourth annual Oswegoland Optimist Club Pumpkin Races are heading back to town for an afternoon of pulp-flying and cheering.

New to the pumpkin races? The idea was created by Oswegoland Optimist Club secretary Tina Conley, whose old school has been doing pumpkin racing for over 20 years.

READ: The history of the Oswego pumpkin races

Contestants decorate a single pumpkin (any size!), attach a set of wheels and axels through the pumpkin and set it off down the hill at Jackson and Main in downtown Oswego. The first pumpkin to cross the finish line wins, and goes on to competing in the finals. 

But it's not quite that easy. "Cheater" pumpkins are rampant and if found are destroyed Gallagher style by members of the Oswego Police Department. Decorate a watermelon instead of a pumpkin? Put the pumpkin on a skateboard? Attach rockets? Your pumpkin will be labeled a cheater and the pulp will fly! 

Click here for a full list of rules that your pumpkin must adhere to to compete and not be smashed as a cheater.

There are two divisions: children's and business. The entry fee for the children's division is three canned goods and businesses pay an entry fee of $25.

Registration beings at 11 a.m. at Main and Jackson and the races, beginning with the children's division, commence at 12 p.m. 

Let the races begin!