MADISON — What the underdog bed racers lacked in design and decoration, they made up for with pure speed.
And it was almost enough to put an end to reign of Royal Bedding. But a late sideways mishap gave Royal Bedding its third straight bed race championship Saturday in an action packed one-minute competition at Madison Days.
“We had the speed, but we lacked control,” said Cameron McNell.
Three teams rolled beds on wheels one block, turned around a barrier and then sped back to where they started from. Four people pushed the bed with one person riding on it. The winner received $100 and bragging rights.
The team of Casey Cookson-Zans, Jane Cookson-Scott, Amy Cookson-Koehler, Austin Klumpe and rider Dana Cookson won for the third straight year.
Cookson-Zans said her father, Dan, built their racing bed two years ago.
“He’s a welder so it was pretty easy for him to do it,” she said. “He just got some bicycle tires and put it together. It started out as a joke.”
The team was named Danny’s Dream Team to pay homage to Dan, but this year they opted for Royal Bedding in honor of the Royal Wedding in England.
Cookson-Zans said family members are super competitive and this is a way for them to do something together.
“All of our kids, nephews and nieces decorate and ride on it during the parade,” she said. “They spray painted and streamed it up for three years. They take a lot of pride in it.”
Tina Ratcliff was captain of the K-State bed racing team. Last year they had the bed with real bed wheels, which she called a last minute entry.
“It’s a very comical race,” she said. “Last year we just spent the whole time weaving.”
This year Ratcliff felt an upgrade was in order. They were using a model from the first bed race a few years ago when the idea was brought over from races in Council Grove.
“It’s actually designed for a bed race,” she said.
The entry Ratcliff’s team used last year was back in the race this year, piloted by McNell, Donovan Hamilton, Danny James and Calvin Perry. The rider was Kaitlin McEvoy.
Their bed could be mistaken for a place to rest during Madison Days. It had no decorations or modifications and the wheels were actual bed wheels.
With the brick surface, the unmodified bed skidded sideways early in the race, nearly crashing into the K-State entry. Meanwhile Royal Bedding was being pushed on a straight path and appeared to be a runaway winner.
However, the unmodified bed rallied and in the back straight-away pushed out ahead with half a block to go. But roughly 20 feet from the finish line, the bed careened out of control, going sideways. Royal Bedding took advantage and crossed the finish line about two seconds ahead.
“We wanted to win and we thought if we ran faster than any other teams we would win,” McNell said. “Unfortunately, we were wrong.”