competition: Most Bizarre Awards!

The "Sneaker Contest" began in 1975 as a way to help a local sporting goods store sell shoes, and grew into a national event in 1988, when Odor-Eaters assumed sponsorship of the event. Now it has fermented into the ultimate test of just how offensive sneakers belonging to children between the ages of 5 and 15 can get. Sneakers were judged on the conditions of the sole, tongue, heel, toe, laces or Velcro, eyelets/grommets, overall condition and, most important, odor, by a panel. Fifteen-year-old Ben Russell, from Alaska, and his decrepit and odorous size 7 Nike's won the 33rd annual National Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest, March 19 2008 in Montpelier, Vt. He beat out seven other contestants, from Michigan, Utah, Georgia, California, New Jersey, Vermont and New Mexico to bring home the grand prize of $2,500.