Posted: Oct. 21, 2008, 3 a.m. EDT
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Runner, the Best in Show at CFA-Iams Cat Championship, is flanked by Judge Darrell Newkirk, left, and CFA President Pam DelaBar. Photo courtesy CFA.
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Platina Luna Blade Runner, a 1½-year-old Russian Blue owned by Rob Miller and Teresa Keiger of Greensboro, N.C., took top honors Sunday at the 2008 CFA-Iams Cat Championship at Madison Square Garden. By winning over judges with his gray coat and green eyes, Runner became the first Russian Blue to claim Best in Show honors.
“The color was phenomenal, the eyes and the coat both beautiful, the best Russian Blue I’ve ever seen,” said Darrell Newkirk, a judge with the Cat Fanciers’ Association.
To celebrate his success, Grand Champion Runner was scheduled to appear on the ABC television show “Live With Regis and Kelly.” His immediate celebratory act, though, according to owner Keiger, was a nap. “He wants to sleep,” Keiger told the New York Daily News.
According to Runner's owners, it takes 15 minutes to bathe him, and an additional 15 minutes to blow-dry his fur. He is the veteran of 20 cat shows.
The first runner-up was Deydream High Hopes — known as Hopey — a 3 ½-year-old Manx Grand Premier, owned by Joy Dey of Easthampton, N.J. The second runner-up was Tigerboy Keymaster of Wishes, known as KeyKey, a 6-month-old Exotic kitten. His owners are Matthew and Suki Wong of Hong Kong, and Connie Stewart of Los Angeles.
Runner wasn’t the only winner at the show, held Oct. 18-19. In a mock election, a cat named Barack Obama ran against a Republican proxy cat named Renegade. Visitors to the cat show were invited to vote for their favorite. By a 2-to-1 margin, the feline Barack Obama won the vote.