Teams wishing to take part in the 2023 Great Knaresborough Bed Race have just days left to get their applications in, say event organisers, the Knaresborough Lions Club.
Chairman of this year’s Bed Race, Martin Brock, said:
Closing date for the 2023 event is the 28th of February.
We must pull down the shutters on entry to be fair to those who have already entered and to enable all teams – and ourselves – sufficient time to get ready for 10 June.
The theme for this year’s Bed Race is ‘That’s Entertainment’. To access the entry form, teams should go to the dedicated bed race website, www.bedrace.co.uk. All the required information is on the forms.
Martin said:
As usual, the maximum race field will be 90 teams. We need to keep to this because of capacity issues both at the start of the Parade at Knaresborough Castle, and where the race itself starts and finishes at Conyngham Hall field. If we have more entries than places, a lottery will be held in public in March.
The Great Knaresborough Bed Race has been a major sporting and community attraction in North Yorkshire since 1966. Each year it draws in thousands of spectators and last year the event entertained one of the biggest ever crowds, estimated at over 30,000.
Staged this year on Saturday 10th June, The Great Knaresborough Bed Race is organised by volunteers from the Knaresborough Lions Club. It is a community event staged to raise money for charity and good community causes.
The event is in two parts – a pageant of decorated beds and runners in the theme of the year and the race itself, a gruelling athletic contest run over 2.4 miles through parkland, past the Nidd Gorge, up steep roads and along cobbled streets in the medieval town. The trace culminates with a 35-yard swim through the waters of the ever-icy River Nidd.
Martin said:
Last year’s race was the first held since 2019 because of the covid pandemic, so suffered a bit from the disruption and the cash surplus generated for charity was lower than in previous years.
Hopefully, though, the signs look encouraging for this year and the Knaresborough Town Council has generously stepped in with a grant to help us with one of the major costs, traffic management for the day.
Our thanks go to them and we are looking forward to a fantastic day this year.
More information on Knaresborough Lions Club is available on www.knaresboroughlions.org
