Crab your chance at glory
Saddle up for the Garibaldi Crab Races this weekend
By Chelsea Yarnell
For the TODAY
Onlookers select their favorite competitor. There are cheers of excitement as the racers take off. Hands bang along the race course, encouraging their picks towards the finish line. The room is electric as the sideways- walking winner is announced.
With the amount of energy in the room, you’d think it was an Olympic competition. And maybe it is considered that — in the crustacean world.
The Garibaldi Crab Races is a much-anticipated event held during the second weekend in March at the Old Mill in the center of town. This year the 29th annual event is slated for Saturday, March 9, and Sunday, March 10.
The two days are full of this small town’s tradition of, literally, racing live crabs.
Teams from all over the country take turns advancing through rounds of races. Each human competitor is assigned a lane and a crab. The crab is placed at the top of an elevated chute and on “go” people urge their crabs to the finish line, eight feet down the track.
“It’s a lot about luck,” Garibaldi Lions Club member and event organizer Jeff Coon said. “If you have a crab that runs, you’re in good shape. But, the crab doesn’t always cooperate so that’s why the track is on a slope. People will hit on the bottom of the table to try and make it vibrate to get them to run.”
Racing fees range from $5 to $20 and are dependent on the value of the grand prizes, such as TVs, cash and chartered fishing trips. Kids’ races are $1 each and the grand champions receive a bicycle.
While the humans win prizes, the crabs have a different fate.
“At the end of a race they’re caught in a basket, and, it’s not a good deal for the crab,” Coon said. “They get eaten at the end.”
Guests can purchase crab dinners, among other refreshment, with Kelly’s Place restaurant staff donating labor to prepare the food.
“The [majority] of the crabs are donated by the Garibaldi Crab Fleet,” Coon said. “Almost every crabber donates. They’ve been pretty generous to us.”
Each year, the event draws roughly 800 people over the course of the two days and all proceeds benefit the Garibaldi Lions Club sight and hearing services.
“We have a service area that stretches from Barview to the Tillamook area,” Coon said. “Anyone who is in need of glasses and hearing aids can fill out an application for assistance.”
In addition to sight and hearing services, the club donates to the local Garibaldi Grade School.
“It’s our biggest fund-raiser of the year,” Lions Club member and The Spot owner Kelly Barnett said. “We help the grade school each year with just about anything that they ask us for.”
With only five members in the club, they rely on the support of the community for the Crab Races.
“Even though the Lions Club leads it up, it’s really more of a ‘Garibaldi’ event,” Coon said. “It takes a lot of people to put this on and the town is just really great at helping out.”
The event's major sponsors have ensured the continuity of this long-running community favorite.
“We want to thank everyone for their years and years of support,” Barnett said. “We see grandmothers there now that I’d seen attend as young adults.”
Admission for the event is $5 for adults or $2 for kids. Children aged five and younger get in free. The purchase of admission includes a souvenir button. Races, refreshments and raffles are an additional charge.
“It’s pretty crazy how serious some people take this,” Coon said. “Come join the chaos and have some fun, too. It’s pretty wild.”
The races are run on Saturday, March 9, from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday, March 10, from 10 am to 4 pm. The Old Mill is located at 210 3rd Street in Garibaldi. Parking is available near the Old Mill and surrounding Port of Garibaldi property. For more information, go to the Garibaldi Crab Races page on Facebook.