In the classic fable, the tortoise beat the hare by being persistent. But Bertie may be able to win through speed alone.
Bertie is a tortoise who lives at Adventure Valley, a theme park in Durham, UK. Visitors commented that he seemed to move quickly--faster than you might expect from a tortoise. So animal caretakers at Adventure Valley decided to see what Bertie could do if he trained as a runner.
The standard sprinting distance in competitive tortoise racing is 18 feet. A tortoise named Charlie set a world record in 1977 by running that distance in 43.7 seconds. Bertie smashed that record by crossing the finish line in only 19.59 seconds. That's a lightning fast pace of 0.6 miles per hour!
Guinness World Record officials were on site to witness and confirm the event, so Bertie should get an official record soon.
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