Road closures confirmed for Knaresborough Bed RaceLions announce theme for Knaresborough Bed Race 2024

Knaresborough Lions Club has announced the theme of the Best Dressed Bed Competition at next year’s Great Knaresborough Bed Race. 

The annual event is the highlight of the town’s summer and sees 630 people – 90 teams, each with six runners and a passenger – cover a 2.4-mile course through streets and the River Nidd. 

Before the race, the teams gather at Knaresborough Castle, with both beds and team members dressed up to suit the year’s theme, before parading through the town with marching bands and dance groups. 

Suggestions for this year’s theme came in from club members, runners and event supporters, and in the end, the judges’ choice was Great Inventions And Technology Through The Ages, and idea from long-time Bed Race supporters from Somerset, Joe Fielder and Caroline Fletcher. 

Fancy dress is part of the Bed Race fun.

Knaresborough Lions Club’s Martin Brock, who chairs the event committee, said: 

“With literally thousands of years of history to choose from, this theme was a clear winner when it came to the vote.

“We are sure as always that the teams will do the event proud with some amazing designs for the parade.” 

Knaresborough Lions Club has already started work on organising the event, which is scheduled for Saturday, June 8. It is seeking permissions for land usage and road closures, and will open the race to entries on January 1. 

In the meantime, the Santa’s sleigh and Lions mulled wine wagon will be making their annual appearances in Knaresborough. Father Christmas will be appearing at the town’s Christmas market next weekend (December 2-3), where mulled wine will be on sale. 

Santa’s sleigh will also start touring Knaresborough’s streets from Monday (November 27). 

The club is also inviting final entries for its community fund, which closes this Thursday (November 30). Local constituted clubs and groups are invited to apply for small grants as part of the fund. Full details and an application form can be found on the club’s website. 

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Knaresborough’s king of the bed race celebrates win number 12

For most people, the Great Knaresborough Bed Race is all about fun and supporting good causes.

But for some, it’s also a highly competitive 2.4-mile mad dash across town and river while pushing a bed.

The elite teams train hard for the glory of arriving back at Conyngham House first and it’s doubtful whether anyone has had more success in the event’s 57-year history than Chris Miller, 41, who led the GH Brooks team to victory in 13 minutes and five seconds last week.

It was Chris’ 12th success in the race since he first took part in 2003, making him the Novak Djokovic of the bed race. He chalked up nine wins with Harrogate Harriers before having a break and landing three more with GH Brooks.

The GH Brooks team leading with Chris (left)

The GH Brooks team is on a four-race winning streak. Its reserve team even managed third, with Ripon Runners second in the men’s race and first in the women’s.

GH Brooks is a builders’ merchants in Harrogate and although the name conjures up images of guys in high vis jackets with jeans hanging down their backsides beating a load of runners, the truth is more prosaic.

They are the Harlem Globetrotters of the bed race — local running superstars hand-picked for the event thanks to the support of GH Brooks owner Andy Broadwith. Chris confesses:

“We are a team of ringers. We are all mates who race for local clubs.”

Chris represents Wharfedale Harriers, others run for Harrogate Harriers and Leeds City Athletic Club. But nothing on the track or fell compares with the bedlam of bed race, where tens of thousands of people line the midsummer streets.

Running for Wharfedale

He says:

“It’s just mad. When you come by the World’s End pub you are just hit by this wall of noise.”

Elite local runners are queueing up to be part of the GH Brooks success story but Chris, who by day is a scientist, is understandably reluctant to break up a winning team. John Young, with six race wins, is another major part of the success.

Don’t even think of applying if you can’t manage a five-minute mile — and not many can. To maintain that pace while pushing a bed up winding, undulating streets and swimming across the Nidd is extraordinary.

“You have to be a competitive standard because you’re only as fast as your slowest runner. You’ve got to be prepared to be hurt and then hurt again.

“Experience helps but it’s down to having six runners who are all of a similar standard.”

This year’s time was six seconds slower than last year, when GH Brooks became the first to dip below 13 minutes.

But Chris says it was the “hottest and hardest” bed race he’s done.

Winning with Harrogate Harriers

How long will he continue? A couple of years, he says, but admits bed race is addictive. He will send out the call after Christmas to see who wants to enter and doesn’t expect many refusals. He says:

“People say afterwards ‘I think this will be my last one’ but when it rolls round they want to do it again. There’s nothing like it.”

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How the wheels came off Knaresborough’s bid to win bed race

Knaresborough’s hopes of a home town bed race winner ended in bizarre fashion on Saturday when their bed malfunctioned early in the race.

The town has proudly hosted the whacky annual event since 1966 but its men’s running club, Knaresborough Striders, has never won.

The club’s fastest runners trained hard in the months leading up to the 2.4-mile race in the hope of putting that right.

They lined-up third on the grid behind defending champions GH Brooks and Ripon Runners, confident they could mount a challenge in what is a fiercely contested event amongst local running clubs.

But hardly had the team got out the traps at Conyngham Hall than its bed started wobbling and shortly afterwards a wheel seized up completely on Waterside.

As other teams raced by, their hopes of victory shattered, they ditched the bed, sprinted along Waterside to collect a spare bed one of the team had at their nearby home and rejoined the race.

They managed a remarkable 16 minutes and 12 seconds, which would have been good enough for 10th place, but it is not listed among the official results because the spare bed did not have a timing chip.

Guy Close, chairman of Knaresborough Striders, hailed the “incredible team spirit” shown at a time of crushing disappointment. He said:

“This was the first time a team has ever had to stop and then replaced its bed mid-race.

“We were all absolutely gutted because we hoped to challenge the top couple of teams, but these things happen.”

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Knaresborough Striders bed race

A still from the bed camera showing the team marooned on Waterside.

This video shot by a camera on board the bed captured the team’s bad luck. Mr Close said:

“The bed broke almost immediately. You can hear from the link to the YouTube video that it wasn’t right from the start.

“We were all so determined and the support from the crowds was incredible.”

Full results of this year’s bed race are available here.

Knaresborough bed race set for huge crowds and glorious weather

Thousands of people will flock to Knaresborough tomorrow for the town’s busiest day of the year.

The Great Knaresborough Bed Race will see 90 teams of seven tackle a 2.4-mile course through the town’s streets and river.

Knaresborough is looking resplendent with 48 Pride flags displayed to celebrate Pride month, and with the Met Office forecasting temperatures up to 26 degrees centigrade, the town will be buzzing.

People are being urged to bring cash as the limited number of cash machines in Knaresborough are likely to run out of money.

Knaresborough Lions, which organises the event, has arranged a free park and ride bus operated by Connexions from GSPK at Manse Lane and ALM at St James Business Park.

If you wish to park closer, King James’s School is offering £5 all day parking with money going to MacMillan Cancer Support.

Teams will gather at Knaresborough Castle in the morning to be judged for the Best Dressed Team award.

Whoever wins, leads the parade from the castle to Conyngham Hall at 1pm. Each team is allowed up to 20 supporters to parade with them in fancy dress.

The race gets underway at 3pm at Conyngham Hall.

Road closures will be staggered throughout the day, starting at 10.45am in Market Place and surrounding roads. The main A59 is due to close at 12.30pm and roads used for the route will be sealed off at 2.30pm.

Some routes could be closed until 6pm but most are expected to re-open sooner.

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A diversion to Harrogate will be in place around Briggate/Calcutt/Forest Moor. Buses will use this route while the A59 is shut. Trains will still be running.

The annual bed race was first held in 1966. This year’s theme for the pre-race fancy-dress parade is “That’s Entertainment”.

Martin Brock, chairman of the bed race committee at organisers Knaresborough Lions, said preparation was a “massive undertaking”. He added:

“We could not put the race on without kind help from our sponsors, our volunteers, the local council and the local media.

“If we planned now to close down the fifth biggest town in North Yorkshire for a day, I doubt we would get permission. However, with the event in its 56th year, people will bend over backwards to help us get it on.

“Almost everyone you see working on the day will be a volunteer, from our divers, to the RayNet radio comms team, to many of the marshals, so give them a smile as you pass by.”

Bed race entrants urged to ‘keep your head above water’ when crossing polluted Nidd

Great Knaresborough Bed Race competitors crossing the polluted River Nidd this weekend have been urged by organisers to keep their heads above the water.

Last week a young child was reported to have been taken to hospital with an E. coli infection after playing in the river at Knaresborough. 

It came after a report by Professor Peter Hammond, a retired professor of computational biology, last month revealed the equivalent of 317 Olympic pools of raw sewage were discharged into the river at four sewage treatment works in 2020. 

Nidd Action Group and Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones are campaigning for a stretch of the Nidd at Knaresborough Lido to be granted bathing water status, to ensure the river is cleaned up. 

Saturday’s bed race will see hundreds of competitors crossing the river as part of the course.

Bed Race chairman Martin Brock, of Knaresborough Lions, said: 

“It goes without saying that we wish the youngster a speedy recovery from their infection. We know for our teams and the crowds that the river crossing is an integral part of bed race and one that they look forward to every year. The teams recognise when signing up for the event that they are participating at their own risk.  

“We will flag at the team briefing about the Nidd, although it is local knowledge that the water isn’t perfect, and that when crossing, you keep your head above water.” 

Safety measures

Last year, the Nidd saw 870 sewage dump incidents, according to Environment Agency figures, and recent water testing by researchers from the University of Leeds has shown the harmful bacteria E. coli is at unusually high levels. 

E. coli is a bacterial infection that can cause severe stomach pain, bloody diarrhoea and even kidney failure. It is found in the gut and faeces of many animals, particularly cattle. Its presence at such high levels in the River Nidd is thought to be caused by either sewage dumps or by run-off from livestock farmland – or both. 

Mr Brock added: 

“Ultimately, no one is forced to go through the river and we do implement safety measures if teams choose to cross including limiting the number of beds in the river and having divers from the Upper Wharfdale Fell Rescue Association in the Nidd.

“The final decision to cross the river is taken on the morning of the race and if advice is given that it is unsafe, we would cancel the crossing. However, as things stand, with the recent spate of fine weather and a low river level, we are planning for the traditional river crossing on Saturday 10th.”

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Harrogate and District Green Party said today the bed race was “an incredible event… being put at risk by Yorkshire Water’s cavalier approach to their sewage problem”.

It accused the government, supported by local MP Mr Jones of “putting profits before people”.

Mr Jones replied by saying recent data showed E. coli levels had drastically dropped and urged the Greens to join the Nidd clean-up campaign. He added:

“Politicians laying blame at one another’s door for a situation that has existed ever since the Victorians built our sewerage system is not constructive.”

The annual bed race was first held in 1966, and sees 90 teams of seven complete a 2.4-mile course around the town. This year’s theme for the pre-race fancy-dress parade is “That’s Entertainment”.

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Knaresborough gears up for its biggest day of the year

Tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on Knaresborough next weekend for the annual bed race.

Ninety teams will tackle the 2.4-mile course, departing from Conyngham Hall in 10-second intervals from about 3pm.

Although the race is competitive, the day itself is about far more than a mad scamper through the streets of Knaresborough and the River Nidd.

First staged in 1966, it begins with teams gathering at Knaresborough Castle in the morning to be judged for the ‘Best Dressed Team’ award.

Whoever wins leads the parade from the castle to Conyngham Hall at 1pm. Each team is allowed up to 20 supporters to parade with them in fancy dress.

The course follows almost exactly the same route as that in 1966. Teams race along the Waterside, pass through Nidd Gorge, up the steep Castle Ings, around the cobbled stones of the marketplace, down the High Street and Bond End, and across High Bridge.

2019 Knaresborough bed race

The 2.4-mile course is hilly and tough. Photograph: Charlotte Gale Photography

The last stretch is on the rough ground of McIntosh Park before the notorious 20-yard swim across the fast-flowing Nidd.

GH Brooks, winners of the 2022 men’s event will be back this year, but Welly Wheelies, the defending female champions, have not entered.

French TV coverage

A French TV company will be among those attending this year, as the bed race’s fame continues to spread.

Another first this year sees the race trialling chip technology.

Martin Brock, chairman of the bed race committee at Knaresborough Lions, which organises the event, said:

“Last year’s crowd was as big as we have seen for many years and with the weather forecast looking good, we are expecting another great day.”

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The sheer size of the event leads to road closures and travel problems. Mr Brock urged people to use the free park and ride service run by bus company Connexions at Manse Lane (Knaresborough Technology Park) and Grimbalds Crag (ALM retail park)

Henshaws Arts & Crafts Centre will create a festival feel at BedFest, which begins at midday and includes music, food and drink on the bed race route.