'Bed racing' | Kentucky Derby Festival holds annual Great Bed Races event

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Before the Kentucky Derby's Running for the Roses, the Kentucky Derby Festival holds its own kind of competition. Before there's horse racing, there's bed racing.

Yes, beds.

KDF, which hosts numerous of events leading up to the Kentucky Debry, hosted its the 34th annual Great Bed Races event Monday night at Broadbent Arena.

Teams refurbish a standard full-sized bed into a racing bed, which are complete with four wheels, a steering wheel, but no engine. That racehorse power, comes from four people, pushing their race bed and its driver.

Two teams race at a time in a figure-eight shaped course lined up by orange cones.

KDF awards it's fastest race beds, best decorated, most entertaining, and cone eater award.

Many of the several dozen teams are made up of co-workers from local companies.

Signature HealthCARE, a family-based healthcare company, has participated in the KDF bed races for several years.

Many of its employees, including Missy Highley and Kaela Smith, made it a point to dress up in their best 80s gear to cheer on their co-workers.

"It is very fun and it's very festive, we love the themes and we love to get everybody dressed up and have fun together and we love seeing the rest of the team having fun together," Highley said.

"I think it's fun just seeing the city come together, I feel like the city always needs this and Derby is the best week to live in this city," Smith said. "Getting to bring all our team members together, we have facility-based team members we wanted to bring out and put in the forefront, to get to do that with them and cheer them on from the stands is really fun." 

Full Throttle Adrenaline Park won first place in the Champions Division, while St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities placed first in the Fun Division.

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport was picked for Best Decorated Bed. Rubbies Racing and Rocking Through the Decades was selected as Most Entertaining.