The Suicide Race, also promoted as the World Famous Suicide Race, is a horse race held every year, during the second week of August, in Omak, Washington as a part of the Omak Stampede, a rodeo. Held for more than 70 years, the race is known for the portion of the race where horses and riders run down Suicide Hill, a 62-degree slope that runs for 225 feet (69 m) to the Okanogan River. Though the race was inspired by Indian endurance races, the actual Omak race was the 1935 brainchild of a local Omak business owner. The race has provoked serious concerns among animal welfare and animals rights groups.
Read more about Suicide Race: Description, History, Animal Abuse Controversy
Famous quotes containing the words suicide and/or race:
“Would Hamlet have felt the delicious fascination of suicide if he hadn’t had an audience, and lines to speak?”
—Jean Genet (1910–1986)
“Surely, then, the gods who are most interested in the human race preside over the Tavern, where especially men congregate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)