Annandale teams take part in 9th annual Bed Race

When it was their heat’s turn, the guys from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (above) pulled out some folding chairs, sat down, and popped open their cooler. After all, their bed was decorated like a trailer, and they were dressed up like rednecks. That stunt won them the award for the “most entertaining” team at the ninth annual Annandale Bed Race Saturday morning.

The award for the fastest bed was presented by Rep. Gerry Connolly to the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Navy Federal Credit Union bed got the “best decorated” award.

Pro Maxx Fitness in front.

The Bed Race is sponsored by the Annandale Chamber of Commerce, and the event raises money for the Virginia Special Olympics. Seventeen teams registered, paying a $500 entry fee, although not all of them showed up.

Fairfax County Chair Sharon Bulova aboard the firefighters’ bed.

A section of John Marr Drive in Annandale was briefly closed, as the teams raced their beds up the street, made a u-turn, and ran back to the finish line. Each team has four people pushing the bed and one person lying on it.

The event organizer, Carol Ruess, the manger of the Annandale Shopping Center, got the idea for a bed race in Annandale while running a marathon in Hawaii and said she was inspired by the bed race in an episode of the M*A*S*H TV series. It’s actually hospital gurneys, rather than beds, in the Annandale race. 

The bed race teams.

Other teams in the Bed Race included Trust Properties (representing Mason Supervisor Penny Gross), Pro Maxx Fitness, Burke and Herbert Bank, TD Bank, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hapmudo; Silverado (with a flowers for Mother’s Day theme), Beanetics (representing Connolly), Braddock Supervisor John Cook’s office, the Fairfax County Police, Burger King; and the Annandale Knights of Columbus, manned by youths in Venturing Crew 4522, a co-ed branch of the Boy Scouts.

Students from the Hapmudo martial arts studio perform before the final race.

Ready to run.