Date of Race: Saturday 8th June 2013
View the 2013 Team List Here
Knaresborough Lions have announced that the theme for the 2013 Great Knaresborough Bed Race is to be ‘Myths and Legends’ in a nod towards the Town’s involvement in tales of the unexpected. Entries need to be in before the end of February 2013 to be eligible.
Mother Shipton obviously takes pride of place, but Knaresborough has associations too with Robin Hood, King John, Robert the Hermit, the ghostly fishing fleet of the Nidd, murderers of archbishops, attempted bombers of Parliament, homicidal schoolmasters, and more than our fair share of vampires, trolls, witches, warlocks, walled up cats and countless other-worldly inhabitants of the imagination.
But we don’t want Bed Race teams to focus just on local matters. As we have found in the past with Bed Race themes, the broader the canvas the better the array for the pageant. We are encouraging entrants to cast the net wide through ancient history – British, Greek, Viking, Roman, Chinese, Egyptian, African, American and Asian.
Legends can be old or new. It is amazing to see who has attracted legendary status from pop stars to sporting heroes, explorers, tribal leaders, local officials, kings, queens and courtiers, road builders and prophetesses. Jack Metcalf and Ursula Southeil would approve.
As we have seen for years one of the great attractions for the large number of spectators who flock to the town for Bed Race has been the sheer quality, imagination and variety of the dressed beds and teams. Together with the marching bands, dance groups and supporters they have lent a unique carnival atmosphere to one of the largest amateur sporting events in the country.
Bed Race 2012 Results Here
View 2012 Race Video Highlights Here
Congratulations go to Ripon Runners, the fastest team, and Ripon Runners for Girls, the fastest female team. Lido Loonies won the Best Dressed Bed award for the second successive year, a remarkable achievement. All the results can be found on this site, along with the race line-up and the countries allocated by lottery to each team. Enjoy reading about Bed Race and come to see next year’s event, which will be held as ever on the second Saturday in June, next year the date is 8 June 2013.
The Great Knaresborough Bed Race is organised by the Knaresborough Lions, www.knaresborough.co.uk/lions-club/ and is an all-volunteer event staged since 1966 to raise money for charity and good causes. We will not know for some time how much has been raised from the 2012 event by the Lions, the teams and other community organisations, but the 2011 event topped £90,000.
View the 2011 video highlights here
All photos on this site were taken by either Matt Perry or Tom Blackwell.
Our thanks go to our commercial supporters: Gillette, Piccadilly Motors, SBU, HACS, G H Brooks, Belzona, Commercial Estates Group, and to our media partners Stray FM and Sira Studios for filming the day. We are also grateful for the support from the Knaresborough Post, TIG, Speedy Motors, GSPK, Nippers Nursery, St John Ambulance, Round Table, Rotary Clubs of Harrogate and Knaresborough, all parts of Harrogate Borough Council, the fire service, the police, Eddie Brown Tours, Blenkhorns Boats and all our advertisers. Particular mention must be made of Overland Underwater, Harrogate, who guarded those crossing the river and ensured that the swim was incident-free.
