On a lark, they're egg-toss champs

RALEIGH -- Jon Page started a blog in March to chronicle his mission of entering at least one wacky contest a month.

Just months later, he's an unlikely national champion.

Page and his longtime friend, Mike Hepp of Raleigh, won the 2010 National Egg Toss Championship in Hagerstown, Md., on June 27. The two threw an egg back and forth to each other, without breaking the shell, at ever-increasing distances.

For Page, whose day job is at MedThink Communications, it was a triumph after a series of silly contests - potato decorating, stair-climbing, dogsled racing.

"I want to celebrate events like this," said Page, who describes his adventures at anyonecanenter.com . "I don't necessarily want to win. I just want to show the people doing it I respect them and tried my best."

He and Hepp did put in some practice time. Meeting on Hepp's front lawn two or three days a week, they got a carton of eggs each time and practiced until every single egg had gone splat. By the time of the contest, Page said the pair could occasionally make consistent passes at a distance of 120 feet.

They didn't need to throw that far for the sixth annual national event, which took place after a baseball game of the minor league Hagerstown Suns. The winning egg throw was 62 feet.

Twenty teams vied for dominance in the competition, including one made up of Page's wife, Carie, and Hepp's wife, Jodie. The women bowed out in one of the early rounds. After each team throw, the distance was increased for those teams remaining.

After 11 rounds, it was down to Page-Hepp and another team. Carie Page said her husband fumbled a 62-foot pass, making all hope appear lost. But a referee ruled that one of the opposing players had stepped over the boundary line during his pitch.Another round of 62-foot throws was called for. The Page-Hepp team, dubbed Team Anyonecanenter.com, held strong, winning the battle egg.

"I was surprised how nervous I was for them by the end," Carie Page said.

The two former N.C. State University roommates have been declared the national egg toss champions, though there isn't an official egg-tossing organization in the United States.

But there is a World Egg Throwing Federation, based in England. Page received a congratulatory tweet fromAndy Dunlop, president of the world group.

Page and Hepp, who works for Mike's Mowing, are undecided on whether to pursue world egg-tossing glory or defend their national crown next year.

Page is busy preparing for his next offbeat events - a pack burro race and a pebble-skipping contest.