Bedding Frenzy

Ever have that nightmare in which you’re lying in bed naked and your bed is speeding down a street in Coconut Grove? And there are thousands of drunk people yelling at you and laughing at how small your bed is? (What did you think we were going to say? Somebody’s...

By Sebastian Del Marmol

September 1, 2011

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Ever have that nightmare in which you’re lying in bed naked and your bed is speeding down a street in Coconut Grove? And there are thousands of drunk people yelling at you and laughing at how small your bed is? (What did you think we were going to say? Somebody’s got some size issues.) Wait a second — that’s not a dream; it’s actually the Great Grove Bed Races (well, all of it minus the naked part) on Sunday.

The bed races are exactly what they sound like: five-member teams (four pushing and one on the mattress) compete by pushing beds down the street while everybody laughs at how random this tradition is and how much food and drink they can ingest with such a flimsy excuse for doing so. But it’s fun, damn it! So don’t overthink it. It’s like Red Bulls Flugtag competition, but ours is bedder. After all we have much more history, and we’re not beholden to some giant Austrian energy drink behemoth. We just like to get drunk in bed while speeding down the avenue. Typically, the races have a celebrity grand marshal, with Indy Car champs Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves serving that capacity in the past couple of years, respectively. The races take place in between Commodore Street and Grand Avenue and get going at TK. It’s free to watch. The drinking starts the prior night, during the 8 p.m. Pajama Pub Crawl, assuring that you get a taste of the Grove’s best spirits. Sign up at Mr. Moe’s (3131 Commodore Plaza, Miami) at 6 p.m. with tickets for the crawl costing $25. Visit thegreatgrovebedrace.com.
Sun., Sept. 4, 6 p.m., 2011

Sebastian Del Marmol

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