Last Fling Bed Races Promise to Keep Crowds Awake

This Saturday morning, eight teams of five will put on their sleeping caps, their best slippers — and who knows what else — and will hit the streets running as they participate in Naperville’s annual Last Fling Bed Races.

Jeffrey Ross, now in his second year as organizer of the historic Bed Races, said that the event is good, clean fun and exactly what it sounds like — a race between two beds.

“All you need is a mattress and four wheels,” Ross said. “There are very few rules after that. This is a 50-yard full-out sprint, and the first bed to the end wins.”

Started by the Naperville Jaycees long ago and then run by Naper Days for the past several years, the Bed Races have become a long-standing tradition of mobile mattresses in Naperville. That tradition however, almost came to an end two years ago before Ross stepped in.

“For the past several years, the Bed Races were part of Naper Days,” Ross said. “But when Naper Days went away, everything associated with it would have died, too. I have always loved the Bed Races and decided, ‘We can’t let it die.’ As a member of the Jaycees, I was told, ‘If you want to save it, it’s all up to you.’ ”

Ross took on the challenge to save what he called “one of those weird, wild, Midwest things that you have to check out once in your lifetime.”

With an emphasis on creativity, the Bed Races have become a showcase for imagination with some entries perhaps being inspired by participants’ dreams. While this year’s entries remain a closely guarded secret, past entries include a Mario Cart bed, a bed in honor of 2010 Olympic gold medalist and former Naperville resident Evan Lysacek, a football bed, a rocket bed and even a toilet bed.

Kathy Wright, a member of the Toys for Tots Naperville Business Alliance entry this year, has participated in the Bed Races for the past eight years. Last year her team won the Spirit Award with their Evan Lysacek tribute bed. This year however, she hopes to bring home the gold with a victory on the street.

“It gets pretty competitive,” she said. “We won it in 2008, beating the perennial favorite Nuns on the Run, and I think we may have a slight edge this year as our pushers are professional trainers at Crossfit Resurgence.”

Competition is kept in perspective however.

“This is a great team-building exercise for our group,” Wright added, whose organization includes 11 Naperville businesses. “It’s a great way for local businesses to get into the community and do some marketing. We look forward to this every year and have a lot of fun, like everyone else.”

New to the Bed Races this year is the Community Christian Church, Naperville Campus.

Like Wright, campus pastor Shawn Williams also likes his team’s chances of bringing home the gold and “absolutely” would love to be the spoiler at this year’s races.

“We are definitely in it to win it,” he said. “We have a great group of very skilled volunteers who designed and constructed the bed. They all did a great job."

Williams also echoed Wright’s sentiments as to the real enjoyment of the Races.

“A member of our church asked if we would be interested in doing this,” he said. “It sounded like a lot of fun and a great opportunity to have some fun out in the community.”

The Last Fling Bed Races will be held Saturday morning at 11 a.m. on Porter Avenue, just south of Naper Settlement.