Courtesy Photos
Two New Haven Fire Department teams won top prizes in 2016’s 50-yard “Bed Race” on Church Street in front of City Hall Sunday.
The annual race requires groups to decorate beds within specific regulations and race them in brackets in front of City Hall. The $300 entrance fee per team goes to the New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Fire Captain Seamus Bohan led the second place team, Engine 8 from Whitney’s fire station. Engine 8 lost to the other fire department competitor, Engine 9 from Ellsworth Station in the first bracket at 12 p.m., and in the finals. In each round, they shuttled their beds 50 yards down Church Street.
Eleven other teams competed, including ones from Christopher Martin’s restaurant, Trinity Bar, McManus Law Firm, and Camp Rising Sun.
Bohan said both fire department teams decided to build their own beds from scratch, pulling in firefighters from all divisions to buy lumber, assemble the bed and decorate it with American flags. The beds had to be 4 feet wide, 6 feet long, include safety rails, and wheels of a maximum 6 inches in diameter.