Foul footwork pays off: stinkiest shoes at fair

Most mothers discourage their children from intentionally making their shoes smell bad, but for one event every year Paula Tuck encourages the stench.

And for two years in a row, the stink has yielded money.

Lane Tuck, Paula's 10-year-old son, won the Odor Eaters Stinky Rotten Sneaker Competition at the Utah State Fair this year, which included a $200 prize and a year's supply of Odor Eaters. The winner of the state competition is flown to Vermont and competes for the national title of stinkiest sneakers.

Lane's older sister, Katharine, won both the state and national competitions last year, receiving $2,500, a trip to New York City and appearances on radio and TV talk shows.

Lane worked for a year on the shoes that won him the state title, wearing them everywhere — gardening, camping, playing and sleeping, deliberately trying to create an unmatchable stench.

"He literally wore these shoes at every opportunity he could when it wouldn't embarrass me," Paula Tuck said.

She did not, however, let him wear them to school after a certain point, so his teachers wouldn't think the family couldn't afford new shoes for their children.

The shoes are required to have natural wear and tear to be considered in the competition, adding to the disgusting nature of the shoes.

Michael Tuck, Lane's father, was worried that Lane's shoes might not be smelly enough to win the competition, but his wife said she had confidence Lane would win because "who else in their right mind works on their shoes for an entire year?" Surprisingly, socks don't help make the shoe stink worse.

The Tucks of Tooele stumbled onto the competition two years ago, when they attended the fair for the first time since moving from Texas. The children entered the competition but were disappointed that their shoes didn't smell bad enough to garner them a victory. Katharine and Lane spent the next year working to get their shoes the smelliest they could, leading to Katharine's win. Lane came in second that go-round. Katharine can't participate in the competition again because Odor Eaters allows only one win.

Lane doesn't spend all his time trying to make shoes stink. He holds a 4.0 GPA, played five sports last year and is an avid reader.

When Lane travels to Vermont in March for the national competition, he will enter his sister's winning shoes into the Odor Eaters Hall of Fumes.

The younger Tucks also participated in the state competition, but none of them placed.

"My 12-year-old was devastated that her feet weren't stinky enough to even place," Paula Tuck said.

Paula said the competition was good for the children because it taught them to work for something and not expect money to be handed to them.

Lane said if he wins the national competition he will save the money for college and a fund to help pay his way on a mission.

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E-mail: csmith@desnews.com