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Wakey, Wakey, it’s The Great Knaresborough Bed Race

By Caroline King - Posted in : Alternative Sport, Fair

Great Knaresborough Bed Race When: 8th June 2013 from 10am

Where: Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

£: Free to watch but donations to this charitable cause are most welcome.

What is it?

This year is the 48th annual Great Knaresborough Bed Race which has been run every year since 1966 no matter what the weather.  The event is part pageant of decorated beds with teams in fancy dress, and part gruelling time-trials through very difficult but spectacular terrain.

The race goes through the Nidd Gorge, along waterside, up the vertiginous Castle Ings to the Castle and Marketplace, down Bond End and finishing with a 20 yard swim with runners, passengers and bed all going through the River Nidd (so not for the faint-hearted).

Great Knaresborough Bed Race Some teams enter to be the fastest, some to have the best decorated bed, others to win the most entertaining team award, but this being Yorkshire, all compete fiercely.  The event attracts 25,000 spectators and is volunteer-run by the Knaresborough Lions Club.  Through the organisers, the teams and the involvement of charities and voluntary groups the event raises between £80,000 and £100,000 for good causes.  The Bed Race has even spawned other such events in Germany, the USA and New Zealand.

The theme of this year’s bed race is Myths and Legends so expect to see plenty of witches, trolls and other fairy tale characters go dashing by.

More info: www.knaresborough.co.uk/bedrace