Bar Harbor’s Bed Race – The Shocking Truth According to Alf Anderson

One of the most important aspects of my job as director of membership sales & marketing for Bar Harbor’s Chamber of Commerce is micromanaging all aspects of the city’s high-speed annual Bed Race each November. From vetting potential race teams, to ensuring that each bed is up to code – it’s a tough job that keeps me up at night. This year, Bar Harbor’s Bed Race will be held on November 10, at 10 a.m. in front of the Criterion Theater. To better illustrate the skill needed to effectively race an actual bed up and down Cottage Street, through one of the most distractingly charming towns in Maine, I interviewed team manager, Stacey Guerin, of the five-time champion of the Bed Race, RM Flagg Restaurant Equipment in Bangor. She answered my hard-hitting questions with grace and aplomb akin to no one else.

What the interview clearly proves is that this popular community event is not for the faint of heart and everyone should come to witness Maine’s finest athletes on this, their most challenging day.
Here is the interview – verbatim.

Me: “Stacey, other than training for the Olympic decathlon, is there anything that requires more physical training and preparation than the annual Bed Races?”

Stacey: “Two things come to mind:
Delivering all the new restaurant equipment needed for the start of the Bar Harbor tourist season and climbing Mt. Everest.”

Me: “What kind of physical work does your team of runners do to get in shape for the Bed Races?”

Stacey: “We plan food service equipment delivery workouts daily. For example, if we are delivering a new griddle to Jordan’s Restaurant on Cottage Street, we first carry the griddle swiftly to the top of Cadillac Mountain. When we delivered a new six-burner range to Mache Bistro, our team first ran the range up to the top of Precipice Mountain for a sunrise workout. Being community minded, we try to reduce the traffic coming into Bar Harbor during peak season by parking our delivery truck at the Visitor’s Center and running the equipment into town on our shoulders.” 

Me: “For years, the international Bed Races agency has dealt with rumors of racers using performance enhancers like silk sheets or lightweight wood frames rather than the standard steel frames. Do you think enough has been done to preserve the integrity of the bed racing community?”

Stacey: “We have the utmost confidence in the Bar Harbor Chamber staff to preserve the integrity of the Bed Race. Cloned mice and humans on the Jackson Lab team have been carefully monitored by the Bed Race staff.”

As you can tell, these five-person bed race teams will be quite the sight to see. Four (hopefully toned) racers ferry a rider in a decorated bed on wheels at breakneck speeds, in hopes of earning the most coveted award in bed racing – bragging rights. I hope to see you on Saturday, November 10th.

~Alf