Meet Larry McClure, the mustache champion of the world.
Last Friday, the state of California erupted in celebration after the Lakers’ game seven victory over the Boston Celtics; meanwhile, Kobe Bryant, the series MVP, cemented his place in NBA lore, having won his fifth title.
Yet overlooked amidst the festivities was a different sort of champion.
Enter: Larry McClure. Last week, the Concord, California native trekked up to Bend, Oregon, where he competed in the first-ever National Beard and Moustache Championship.
Sporting a handlebar moustache that would have emasculated Colonel Sanders, McClure took home the trophy—along with the $1,000 cash prize—as winner of the Moustache division.
McClure, a Coast Guard Admiral, first began growing out his moustache “to be different.” He simply “let the thing go for the heck of it.” Soon, though, “it just got out of hand.”
Did it ever. Nonetheless, he decided to go with it—and the rest is history.
Today, in order to keep up the thick, white sheen and Dali-esque curl, McClure undergoes a daily routine that includes employing two different types of hair spray and a blow dryer.
Moustache-maintenance aside, life with a legendary moustache isn’t always easy. In the video interview, Larry details his daily trials and tribulations:
“When I’m welding it sticks out, and I thought I caught it on fire one time”
“I got it caught back in [my wife’s] car…in the power window”
“When I’m in bed I’ll roll over on it and it’ll get stuck…and I can’t move my head.”
“Little kids, of course–when you hold them they get in there and they have to grab it.”
Still, Larry isn’t slowing down. If he can get a sponsor, his next stop on the moustache circuit will be the world championship, which will be held in Denmark in 2011.
At this point, it looks like the only thing stopping Larry is a Mach 3.
