The BROOD Ramble and the Basset 500

A Field Full of Basset Hounds, and a Race That Is Barely a Race

Once a year, Basset Rescue of Old Dominion takes over Frying Pan Farm Park and fills it with basset hounds. This is their 30th. Registration opens at 9:30 and the day runs from 10 to 2, with dog contests in the morning, a pie eating contest at 11:30, and the thing everyone actually comes for at 1:30: the Basset 500.

If you have never watched bassets race, lower your expectations and raise your camera. They run in three heats, girls, boys, and seniors aged eight and up, and a solid number of them stop halfway down the course to smell something more interesting than winning. Children find this hysterical. It is the least competitive sporting event in Virginia and that is entirely the point.

All breeds are welcome, so your own dog can come along. Two things worth knowing before you leave the house: the food tent takes cash only, and lunch starts at 11:30. And if the hound crowd gets to be too much for a smaller child, Frying Pan Farm Park has its own barns and animals a few minutes away, so you can step out and go look at cows until everyone resets.

Parent Tips 💡

• ✓Bring cash. The food tent does not take cards, and this catches people out every year.
• ✓Stay through 1:30. The morning is pleasant. The race is the memory your kid keeps.
• ✓Bring your own dog if you have one. Every breed is welcome and the bassets do not seem to mind.
• ✓Pack sun protection. It is an open field in September with almost no shade.
• ✓Use the farm park as your escape hatch. The barns are minutes away when a small kid needs quiet.