Pi recitation contest at University of Waterloo proves to be no piece of cake

A special competition at the University of Waterloo may seem irrational to some, but to others, it’s simply pi.

The school’s faculty of mathematics celebrates March 14, known to some as “Pi Day” due to its resemblance to the mathematical constant, by serving up free slices of pie and holding a friendly competition.

Students are challenged to list off as many digits of the endless number as possible, all from memory.

Seven people stepped up to the daunting challenge on Thursday. All of them managed to remember at least three dozen digits.

Ultimately, the winner of the contest blew away the competition by reciting an incredible 878 digits.

The runner up came in at a distant 274, while the third place finisher managed to remember 143 digits.

The faculty of mathematics has also released a parody video based the *NSYNC hit ‘Bye, Bye, Bye’ to help mark Pi Day.