Far from a cozy bedroom scene with a cup of tea and a bedtime story, the fourth annual Bed Races were a shot of adrenaline in the frigid outdoors amid the Vernon Winter Carnival.
The races were anything but a snoozer as three teams brought their beds on wheels to the start line at the Kal Tire Place North parking lot and vied to be the 2025 bed racing champions Tuesday, Feb. 11.
In a funky black bed was Team Nixon Wenger who was looking to win the event for the first time. Team Total Restoration wheeled out a white bed hoping to do the same. Both teams were looking to dethrone Team Toyota, who had won all three previous Winter Carnival bed races and were sporting a souped-up red bed that barely made it to the start line after some technical difficulties.
The rules of the bed race are simple. Each bed must have four wheels 鈥� these can be bike tires, car tires, chair wheels or any other type of wheel 鈥� and all four wheels must be in contact with the ground at the finish line. The beds must be constructed in a fashion that all team members pushing the bed are able to see the course. Push bars are allowed but can't extend more than 16 inches from the bed frame with no sharp edges. Creativity in constructing the beds on wheels was encouraged, and was evident in the final designs.
Each team had one person in their bed and four people pushing. The teams went one at a time racing around a course in the parking lot, with the team finishing the course in the fastest time winning a trophy and one year of bragging rights.
In the end, team Nixon Wenger was crowned the champions with a time of 20.52 seconds, finishing less than two full seconds faster than Total Restoration for their first Bed Races title.
Conan Ackert, owner and general manager of Total Restoration, organized the event for the fourth year in a row.
"It's awesome, it's doubling the number of people every year," Ackert said of the crowd that formed to watch the race. Folks from Venture Training and young students from Alexis Park Elementary across the street made for a boisterous crowd as the race got underway. The kids also enjoyed seeing the beds up close after the races were finished.
"It was a lot of noise," Ackert said of the enthusiastic young students who took in the race.
Organizers are already looking ahead to next year's Bed Races and encourage anyone who wants to register a team to call Janis at Total Restoration at 250-558-1412.
For more Winter Carnival events, visit vernonwintercarnival.com.
