"Hey everyone, it's JC and Pauline here at the Dino Dome where we're doing the first physical competition for the Year of the Dragon: the Land Dragon Competition."
"As most of the Dinotopians are land-dwellers, this is a very important match for thinning out the herd," said Pauline, "Of course, a big part of that problem is that Dinotopians come in all shapes and sizes, from the mighty sauropods to the speedy raptors. So the main problem is figuring out how to make an equal challenge for everyone."
"Having it be a weightlifting contest would favor the big dinosaurs too much," said JC, "Having it be a race would favor the small dinosaurs too much."
"So they decided to meet in the middle," said Pauline, "First, it'll be a race to one side of the stadium. Then they have to race back while carrying one of these." With a grunt, she lifted up a massive bone, one that was about as big as her leg. "This isn't...a real bone..." she grunted.
"It's a replica made of iron, plastic, and plaster," said JC. Then Pauline handed him the bone and he struggled to hold it up. "But it sure feels as heavy as the real thing," he wheezed before staggering off-camera. There was a crash, making Pauline wince. Then JC called, "I'm ok."
"So yeah, the size and weight of the bone depends on each weight class," said Pauline, "It's not going to be too hard for anyone, but it's not going to be easy."
"And the contestants have to repeat that 5 times," said JC as he came back into view, "So it's going to be a test of speed, strength, and stamina, probably in that order."
"And we'll see who is the most balanced in those areas," said Pauline.
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Due to the sheer number of Dinotopians competing, it wasn't possibly for them all to do the Land Dragon Competition at once. As such, there were three separate divisions for this; males, females, and herms. It was a bit surprising how many herm Dinotopians there are now, though raptors still made up the majority of them. And it was clear that the women's division was not any smaller than the men's.
The men's division was the first to go. While the stadium should have been more than big enough to absorb the shockwaves generated by the running Dinotopians, people still swore they were being vibrated in their seats. As predicted, the raptors and other smaller dinosaurs were the first to get to one end, but carrying their bones back was slower going. Of course, the sauropods had less trouble with the bones, though they were weighted enough to give them a challenge. But they were obviously slower going even unencumbered. Of course, there were plenty who were in the middle of the spectrum who did quite well. It wasn't much of a surprise that Mr. M did very well here, putting him in the lead. There were other Dinotopians who were hot on his heels, like Rex. And surprisingly, one of the non-Dinotopians managed to get a good score here. Joshua was a Komodo dragon, which isn't exactly a real dragon, but he was allowed to join anyways as he was close enough. And the old doctor did quite well for himself, enough to get into the top 10.
The female division was rather neck-and-neck, and no, that wasn't a reference to the long-necked sauropods. It wasn't much of a surprise that Heather and Tyra were in the lead, though there was some dispute about who was in first. Stacey, the other Syntixisaurus Rex female was further behind than them. Sherry also made it into the top 10 along with Regina. Regina was rather unexpected considering how Spinosaurs are now considered to have been more aquatic than terrestrial. Regina's reply to that was "I'm glad no one told me that before."
The herm division was shorter due to the lack of abundance. There was also a bit of question of whether a herm could qualify for Mister or Miss Zodiac. It was likely that they won't go all the way to the top, but that didn't stop them from participating anyways. And of those participating, Dakota did the best. Which wasn't a huge surprise as shi's been a herm Dinotopian longer than any of them and shi's learned not only how to run after feral pigs, but haul their carcasses back.
Of course, this is but one trial with others to come. Some like Regina would also be participating in the Sea Dragon competition and there were still the pageants. People who didn't do well could possibly make up for it in the Fire-Breathing Curry Contest, if they have the stomach for it. But things will be decided with the Race Up Zodiac Mountain and the final tallying of points.