The World Championship Punkin Chunkin contest

I have always wanted to participate in such a fine sport as The World Championship Punkin Chunkin contest. It just sounds like fun.r

The World Championship Punkin Chunkin contest -- http://www.punkinchunkin.com/main.htm -- takes place November 2-4 in Bridgeville, Delaware, about 30 miles from Lewes and 90 miles from Washington. The event began in 1986 and bills itself as the oldest and largest competition of its type. Last year over 50,000 spectators turned out to watch 100 teams compete, organizers said.

Launching machines at the Delaware event will include air compressors, catapults, centrifugal machines that spin the pumpkins before hurling them, and trebuchets. (The trebuchet design dates to the Middle Ages, using a counterweight to power its missile.) There is also a "theatrical" category in which the rules state that "distance is not the goal; ability to ham it up is the goal."

"People start out thinking they have to see some idiot who's built a machine to throw a pumpkin a mile," said Frank Shade, president of the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association. "Then, after spending a weekend grilling and cooking out with 70,000 of their newest best friends, they find out this is really a good time."

The contest's record for distance was set in 2003, when a pumpkin went 4,434 feet.