Bed race is Annandale tradition

Beds sponsored by Burke & Herbert Bank. the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office and Rep. Connolly/Beanetics take off on the starting line.

The beds lined up in the parking lot of Magill’s restaurant in
Annandale Saturday morning are for racing, not sleeping. About a dozen teams
raced around the parking lot in the annual Hospital Bed Race hosted by the
Annandale Chamber of Commerce. The event is a fundraiser for the Virginia Special Olympics.

All the bed racers with mascots from Navy Federal Credit Union, Burke & Herbert Bank, and TD Bank.

For the second year in a row, a team co-sponsored by Rep.
Gerry Connolly and Beanetics Coffee Roasters won the race. The two other finalists
were teams from the Arlington Sheriff’s Office and Burke & Herbert Bank.

Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova takes a ride on a hospital bed.

Neither Connolly nor Mason Supervisor Penny Gross rode in their team’s beds, but Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova rode in a bed pushed by Fairfax County firefighters.

The Navy Federal bed.

Navy Federal Credit Union’s bed, designed as a helicopter
with an open shark mouth, won the award for best decorated bed. Navy Federal’s
otter mascot won the award for best dancing mascot, and TD Bank’s team won the
award for most enthusiastic.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (right) with his winning bed-racing team co-sponsored by Beanetics. [Photo by George Burke]

The Hapmudo team races to the finish line. The group staged a martial arts performance after the race.

This was the first time the bed race was held at Magill’s. In
past years, it’s been at the Kmart parking lot and John Marr Drive. Sears Holding Corp., the owner of Kmart, no longer allows community
events on its properties.