This Is the Fastest Tortoise in the World
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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