Cows To Race In Frying Pan Farm Park Fundraiser

HERNDON, VA — Eleven cows will be competing in the first ever NASCOW Race to raise money for Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon.

"We use the term 'race' rather loosely," said park manager Yvonne Johnson, who serves as liaison with the Friends of Frying Pan Farm Park. "It's more like an amble, because cows generally don't move that fast."

The park usually hosts a Farm Harvest Days in October as a fundraiser. The annual event brings about 8,000 people a day to the park, which would not be doable during the coronavirus pandemic.

"The revenue we would've made in that event potentially is lost," Johnson said. "So, one of my staff members came up with this brilliant idea to do a race with the cows."

During the Oct. 16 NASCOW Race, the park's 11 cows will hoof it across a pasture to determine who is the swiftest. The event will not be open to the public, but it will be recorded and posted online afterward.

"It's going to be a non-spectator event, because that's the whole point. We can't have a lot of people gathering," Johnson said. "We don't want anyone gathering, because we want to keep everyone safe."

Members of the public are encouraged to pick one of the 11 cows to sponsor by making a donation on the Friends of Herndon Farm Park's website.

"We're asking our friends, our supporters, our visitors if they're interested in supporting the event, they can sponsor a cow the way you would sponsor a race car," Johnson said. "Nobody wins any money. The only thing the cow wins is bragging rights."

The park has set a $15,000 goal for the NASCOW fundraiser. As of 3 p.m., on Monday, more than $8,100 had already been raised.

"When you're fundraising, you set your goals high and if you make them, you make them," Johnson said. "The sponsorship opportunities will stay open through the end of October."

The Friends of Frying Pan Farm Park is a nonprofit corporation, which provides advocacy and financial support for the park. The nonprofit owns the approximately 100 animals at the farm and the Fairfax County Park Authority runs the park. Proceeds from NASCOW Race will go toward supporting the animals, which may include paying for food, bedding, veterinary bills or a new equipment to grow food to help feed them.

Earlier this year, Frying Pan Farm Park was closed to the public along with all of the other county parks following Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's shutdown order due to the pandemic. It has since gone through a staged reopening. The farm is now open daily, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and the grounds are open from sunrise to sunset.

When asked if there were any favorites among the 11 racing cows, Johnson said that Hokie had garnered the most support so far.

Coincidentally, Hokie has a history as a runner. Shortly after the farm purchased her from Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, she escaped.

"She went off property. She went down Centreville Road. She went down West Ox Road," Johnson said. "She ended up on Route 28, heading for the airport. I think she wanted to catch a flight to get to Blacksburg."

With help from citizens and the police and fire departments, Hokie was corralled into a livestock trailer and returned to the farm.

"She's been pretty content ever since," Johnson said. "She's calming down. She's getting a lot of attention, but there's a couple of them that people are picking. But she's definitely a favorite."