Bed race makes a splash in happy return after Covid
FEW TRADITIONS could boast more appeal than the spectacle of the Great Knaresborough Bed Race as it marked its return after the pandemic.
Crowds up to 30,000 strong thronged the mediaeval market town to watch as teams carried giant beds – and a rider – through its cobbled streets and up steep gullies and parks.
Part fancy dress pageant and part gruelling time trial over a 2.4 mile course, the race which ends with an icy swim in the River Nidd, has always proved popular with many dozens of teams taking part.
Pitting groups against schools and companies in competitive cheer, it raises tens of thousands of pounds for good causes each year.
First staged in 1966, Saturday’s 55th event marked a return after two years of cancellations caused by the pandemic, and was organised by the Knaresborough Lions club. About 600 people took part in the race – in fancy dress or with decorated beds, carrying their lofty chariot to the finish line accompanied by roaring spectators’ applause.
First teams gathered at Knaresborough Castle, with steam-punk themed The Rocket Men crowned best dressed. Then a pageant and parade wound its way through the Mediaeval streets to Conyngham Hall, with marching bands, troubadours and dance troupes along the way.
The race itself, taking in steep grass banks, the dramatic Nidd Gorge and the cobbled marketplace before a 20-yard swim across the River Nidd’s icy waters, saw a dramatic finish with fastest to finish being GH Brooks Mens, in 12 minutes and 59.3 seconds.
They were followed by Ripon Runners Men at 13:26.5 and Knaresborough Striders Men at 13:53.6.
The fastest women were the Welly Wheelers, at 15:14.4.
It “truly is a town effort”, organisers have said, with many of those taking part being the grandchildren of those first runners from the 1960s.