George sits in his cage at the Pietsch residence. (Image provided by Wylie Pietsch)
Mr. T walks through the grass during a photo shoot. (Image provided by Wylie Pietsch)
April 18, 2020
By Jessica Dezall
Fable turned fact on Saturday, April 11, when Wylie Pietsch hosted a competition between his pet tortoise Mr. T and his rabbit George at his farm in Drayton Valley.
The classic fable proved true when the tortoise Mr. T won by an outstanding margin of victory.
The race was held in the Pietsch living room at 7:30 p.m. where family members and stuffed animals gathered to watch the epic showdown accompanied by many online viewers.
In the week leading up to this real-life story of the Aesop's Fable "The Tortoise and the Hare," Wylie built the track and provided racer profiles and daily updates on Facebook.
“The life lesson holds true as it was 300 years ago that the tortoise beat the hair because the tortoise just goes slow and steady and that wins the race,” said race announcer Tyson Pietsch, Wylie’s father, in a post-race interview.
“My whole career has been building to this.”
Wylie’s older brother Gus was behind the video camera providing the live feed for the event.
“I couldn’t believe how well it did online to be honest,” said Gus.
It’s had 1.6 thousand views on Facebook and 126 views on YouTube.
Wylie’s mom Carmen was both trouble-shooter and administrator handling comments and questions during the live feed.
“The brainchild of it all had to be Wylie,” said Gus.
“It was quite entertaining to say the least leading up to it.”
At the start line before the race, George was curiously inspecting his new surroundings, but his fascinations with Wylie’s newly-built wooden track didn’t end when the race began.
Bost contestants remained behind the start line until Mr. T made the first move.
Slow and steady, he made his way down the track towards the plate of food at the finish line.
George was too occupied with the wooden walls surrounding him and the stuffed animal spectators outside the walls to care.
Mr. T made his way slowly but surely towards the finish line, his fans cheering him on.
“I was actually surprised by the upset,” said Tyson. “I thought George the rabbit was going to win the race. He’s very quick.”
Mr. T claimed the victory before George even began.
“None of us should have been surprised,” said Tyson.
“My whole announcing career, this was the pinnacle of it.”
The results were unexpected by Wylie also.
“I was a little bit surprised when Mr. T won, but I was happy,” said Wylie.
“I was rooting for him because we’ve had him longer.”
Wylie’s younger siblings Emily and Erich organized the "running of the goats," the pre-race event for the evening where they raced Emily’s goats in the yard.
Wylie said they wanted to add some extra entertainment and make it more of an event.
Wylie anticipates the possibility of competitions in the future with the animals on the farm and potentially a rematch between Mr. T and George next Easter.
“My expectations for the event were definitely exceeded,” said Wylie.
“I was super happy and surprised at how everything went.”
George sits quietly on the floor during a photo shoot. (Image provided by Wylie Pietsch)
Mr. T walks through the grass during a photo shoot. (Image provided by Wylie Pietsch)