The Great Snail Race, also called The Running of The Snails, is a snail race held annually at Oyster Stadium in Bikini Bottom. It is held during the episode of the same name, the book with the same name, Meow...Like a Snail?!, and the game with the same name.
History[]
In the episode of the same name, SpongeBob is not planning to enter the race due to Sunday being laundry day but Squidward tells SpongeBob that he can't enter Gary because Gary's a big mutt. SpongeBob believes that Squidward believes that Snellie is better than Gary so he decides to over train Gary as hard as he can so he could win it, to the point of fatigue. There were three contestants who were competing in the race; Rocky, Gary, and Snellie. When the race begins, Snellie starts going, but Gary doesn't because he is exhausted, along with Rocky. SpongeBob forces Gary to race even though Gary is already exhausted due to SpongeBob over training him. While Gary races, his eyes burst like a balloon and his shell breaks open, revealing a car engine, and he spins out of control, leaving skid marks. SpongeBob realizes his mistake and tells Gary he can stop now, but Gary keeps on going, leading to him losing control, hitting the wall and exploding completely. While the audience cheers and Squidward laughs, the upset SpongeBob runs to Gary, devastated at what happened to him. Snellie, close to the finish line, decides to turn back to Gary and they both instantly fall in love with each other. While this is happening, Rocky wins the race, which disappoints Squidward. Patrick, the owner of Rocky, obtains the trophy, but decides to give to Squidward, since he knew that Squidward wanted to win. However, the trophy has Squidward's name misspelled as "Squidward Tortellini."