This is a phenomenal idea, and one that I can’t believe hasn’t happened sooner.
Everyone loves a good “Florida Man” story, whether it be some sort of crazed behavior while on drugs, bugging an alligator or wrestling a bear, or even slapping someone else in the face with a piece of pizza.
We often give people the title of “Florida Man” or Florida Woman,” but nothing has ever been official, until now. I’m sure we’ve all subconsciously wondered who the best representative of the wild state of Florida is, and we’ll now know for sure thanks to a contest kicking off next year.
Thanks to a Florida Man by the name of Pete Melfi, those in the Sunshine State will be able to compete in a contest that will give one Floridian the official title of “Florida Man.” In February of next year, Melfi will put on the first Florida Man competition in St. Augustine.
Originally, the contest was shooting to be a “0.5K Beer Run,” but instead, it has expanded into a plethora of tests of skills and strengths, consisting of (but not limited to):
-Weaponized Pool Noodle Mud Duel (contestants will wear drunk goggles and fight one another with pool noodles in an above ground pool full of mud)
-Category 5 Cash Grab (contestants will try to grab as much cash as they can in gale force winds)
-Evading Arrest Obstacle Course (real police officers will chase contestants through an obstacle course)
-Beer Belly Florida Sumo (contestants will go head-to-head only using their beer bellies as weapons)
-Mullet Contest (do I have to explain this one?)
I think I might have to make a trip down to St. Augustine just to see how all of this goes down. Everything about this “Florida Man” contests seems absolutely electric. Melfi, the official Florida Man behind the proceedings, told the Orlando Sentinel:
“We thought, ‘How can we really play on these Florida Man headlines that we hear so much about?’ Someone gave me the idea to make it into an athletic competition.
It’s going to be a wild day of mud games and Florida-style obstacle courses. It’s going to really be an opportunity to live that Florida Man life for a day.”
We’ll definitely be checking back in on this in February to see who is crowned the official “Florida Man” for the very first time…
