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They scrambled onto the Bluebonnet Stage and took turns telling tales of toil and soil that proved far more sordid than anyone else's.

No one could touch - or would want to touch - Larson's story about the ancient coat she wears to milk cows, go fishing and perform a multitude of outdoor chores.

She's wearing it daily at the fair, where she's showing three cows and appearing in nightly milking demonstrations. In fact, she and her granddaughter were tending to their animals Tuesday afternoon when they checked their watch and realized they were late for the 1 p.m. Carhartts competition.

Luckily for them, the stage was right next to the barn, and the contest - which celebrates the durability of Carhartts and the Alaskans who love to wear and tear them - started about 20 minutes late.

Unluckily for the three original contestants who were all expecting to walk away with a ribbon and a prize, the women arrived just in time to grab first and second place.

Fresh dirt and manure stained the once-white fabric of Larson's jacket, which her daughter bought 30 years ago at an Eagle River thrift store. Pieces of stuffing poked out of a giant hole on the right shoulder, the handiwork of Dancer, a horse who decided the coat might make a good chew toy. Velcro had replaced a zipper that stopped working long ago. Pieces of old Levis were stitched to both sides of the jacket's opening to replace frayed fabric, and two elephant-print potholders served as patches to cover two big rips.

The pink-and-blue elephants, the red Velcro and the blue denim were improvements all made in the last year. "Really, she should've entered it last year," granddaughter Sasha Ruesch said. "It was way worse."

Ruesch knows something about how grubby Carhartts can get.

A homeschooler who works at a flower store, a mechanics shop and a shooting range, Ruesch wore black Carhartt work pants so frayed and pocked with holes that you didn't have to look long or hard to catch a glimpse of the Pink Panther boxers she wore underneath.

The pants had only been washed once when Ruesch got them, but it didn't take her long to put them through the wringer.

One hem got chewed up when it got caught in a bike chain. The crotch was ripped when the pants got caught on a fence. A leg got chewed up by a curious horse.

Larson and Ruesch spend much of their days outdoors. Larson lived on a dairy farm in Minnesota before moving to Alaska six years ago to be with her daughters.

The pair walked away with giant ribbons and some nice additions to their wardrobes. Larson received a Carhartt Extreme jacket, valued at about $115, and Ruesch won a set of rain gear.