Lucas Cuthbert, a 10-month-old sprinter from Somers Point, crawled a blazing 13-second path to take top honors in the annual Pamper Scamper in Ocean City on Wednesday.
For about four decades, the good-natured competition has challenged parents to leave their infant children in the center of a parachute spread out on the beach … and has challenged the infants to crawl back to the perimeter of the parachute and the welcoming arms of their parents.
The event had originally been scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed due to rain.
The event includes about heats of infants divided into three age categories: 9 months and younger, 9 months to 12 months, and 12 months to 15 months.
The category winners crawl-off in a heat of champions.
Wednesday’s championship heat included second-place Emma Rydzewski, 9 months, of Lafayette Hill, Pa. She finished in 20 seconds. Mabel Donnino, 12 months, of Columbia, Md., took third place in 22 seconds.
The Pamper Scamper is a prelude to Ocean City’s 106th annual Baby Parade, which takes place 5:30 p..m. Thursday (Aug. 13) on the Boardwalk between Sixth and 12th streets.
