Not all of us have what it takes to win first prize in the annual Toe-Hair Contest.

But according to this year’s winner, it takes more than just long toe hairs.

S. Irving Gecko, who took first prize in The Park’s 20th annual Toe-Hair Contest on Friday shared his “winning formula” with a radio audience the night after his victory.

“Winning the prize is 90% stick-to-itiveness and 10% toe hairs,” Gecko said in an interview on Reptile Radio.

Gecko confessed this was not his first attempt to win the contest.

“It’s not easy,” he said. “I can scale a vertical wall and even hang upside down, but to get to the top of the toe hair pile, it takes what I call stick-to-itiveness,” he said.

Seymour K. Worthington Polar Bear would agree. The first prize winner in 2012, the Bear had lost five times before the prize was his. “But it was all worth it in the end,” he said later.

Past judges of the annual event confirm that it’s not unusual for a winner to have entered many times before.

“It happens more than you think,” says Oskar Sloth, who was one of the judges of the 2012 contest.

Gecko thinks that may not be such a bad thing.

“I don’t know how other winners feel, but I think maybe it’s a bit sweeter for me because I had to try that much harder,” he said.

The second and third prize winners in Friday’s contest were Bruno T. Orso and Francesca Leone.

Not all of us have what it takes to win first prize in the annual Toe-Hair Contest.

But according to this year’s winner, it takes more than just long toe hairs.

S. Irving Gecko, who took first prize in The Park’s 20th annual Toe-Hair Contest on Friday shared his “winning formula” with a radio audience the night after his victory.

“Winning the prize is 90% stick-to-itiveness and 10% toe hairs,” Gecko said in an interview on Reptile Radio.

Gecko confessed this was not his first attempt to win the contest.

“It’s not easy,” he said. “I can scale a vertical wall and even hang upside down, but to get to the top of the toe hair pile, it takes what I call stick-to-itiveness,” he said.

Seymour K. Worthington Polar Bear would agree. The first prize winner in 2012, the Bear had lost five times before the prize was his.

“But it was all worth it in the end,” he said later.

Past judges of the annual event confirm that it’s not unusual for a winner to have entered many times before.

“It happens more than you think,” says Oskar Sloth, who was one of the judges of the 2012 contest.

Gecko thinks that may not be such a bad thing.

“I don’t know how other winners feel, but I think maybe it’s a bit sweeter for me because I had to try that much harder,” he said.

The second and third prize winners in Friday’s contest were Bruno T. Orso and Francesca Leone.