Bumper Bed Race entries for anniversary

More than 90 teams have applied to give the districts wackiest and most popular sporting event.

People from around the country have entered teams and the final places will be drawn in a lottery by organisers the Knaresborough Lions Club.

Nigel Perry, chair of the Bed Race organising group said the events popularity showed no sign of wavering as it enters its 50th year.

He said: “Once again we have had more entries than the 90 places. The draw will be a public event and all teams who have entered are invited to come along. Seeding will be given to junior teams and those teams who have consistently entered for several years.”

Staged for the first in 1966, and held each year since come hell or high water in the River Nidd, the Great Knaresborough Bed Race is part pageant and part gruelling time trial over a 2.4 mile course.

The tradition is a popular and well-known feature of life in Knaresborough and has sparked copycat events as far away as New Zealand.

The event is often described as the best day of the year by Knaresborough residents, and around 25,000 people watched last year’s spectacular.

Over the years it has involved an approximate 15,000 runners and passengers, and has attracted well over a million spectators, plus many millions more who have seen TV coverage of the unusual event in the UK and around the world.

This year’s parade theme is 50 years of popular culture, giving teams a wide scope to create costumes and parade floats.

Teams will be chosen by lottery on March 11 at the Knaresborough Working Men’s Club, starting at 7.00pm.

The Great Knaresborough Bed Race is a volunteer-organised event, and raises between £80,000 to £100,000 each year.

See www.bedrace.co.uk for more.