We race more than just cars in Indiana, we race bugs too!

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Roachdale, Indiana

It only makes sense that the once-annual International Roach Race was held in the small town of Roachdale, Indiana.  Roachdale is a small town, and home to approximately 1,000 Hoosiers and only about .51 square miles.

The Town of Roachdale was founded in 1880 and is named after Judge Roach, a railroad official. Roachdale is in north eastern Putnam County in Franklin Township. It has a population of approximately 1000 people and spans an area of 0.51 square miles. Roachdale is home to many local business, a Carnegie Library, churches, and an elementary school. Roachdale is also famous for its annual roach races that are held each summer.

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But this tiny town is known for something even tinier, the annual roach races.

Roachdale Roach Races

Recently WRTV pulled out a video from the archives of the annual roach race from 1984.  The article says that the roach race took place every year for nearly two decades. They say the event would start with the national anthem, and then the roach racing would commence.

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And folks took the roach race very seriously. In the video of the newscast from WRTV in 1984, people were training their roaches in hopes of winning the roach race.  They also said someone once traveled all the way from Ireland and brought their own roach with them for the race.

People even had methods of winning, like one person who said they kept their roach cold at all times to help prepare the roach for the big race.

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You can check out the throwback footage of the roach race from 1984 below.  I did some searching to see if the roach race still took place, and according to a post on the Roachdale Chatter Facebook group, they do host races "next to the new swimming pool."  Maybe one day the races will be as big as they were in the 80s!

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