1,000’s of good uses for shopping carts
March 9, 2008 at 6:58 pmDC, Nikon D50, drinks, dupont circle
Smashed Events (Society of Mature Adults Seeking to Help, Entertain and Donate) held the 2008 running of the DC Idiotarod. This years event started at Frontpage in Dupont and ran down towards Union Station. The Idiotarod is a lot like the storied Iditarod with a few key differences:
1) it is not in Alaska, nor is there any snow
2) no sleds are involved (see point 1 - no snow) instead participants used decorated, moderated, and otherwise pimped out shopping carts
3) no dogs are used for pulling. The Idiotarod is run by having 5 drunk, costumed 20 and 30 somethings tied or otherwise connected to the shopping cart and 1 person riding on or in the the cart.
This was probably the most interesting charity event that I have ever witnessed. All of the money raised goes towards Miriam’s Kitchen, a charity that provides meals, case management, mental health and addiction services, therapeutic groups, and transitional and permanent housing support to DC’s chronically homeless men and women.
Nothing says “I like helping the homeless problem in DC” like participating in a no holds barred wrestling match in spandex (here, and here), dressing up as an oomppa loompa, participating in a bride’s maid version of the macarena, or recreating the epic A-Team crew.
The real excitement picked up at 3 o’clock when the race kicked off. In about the time of 30 seconds some 50+ teams (my estimate) all headed off in about every direction possible. It was a truly chaotic and entertaining scene. The faces of the innocent bystanders coming up out of the metro were priceless. Other highlights from the event include a Super Mario Brothers team, various iterations of Tom Cruise, honkey tonks, a mobile stripper pole (complete with dancers), and naughty nurses.
Quite an event, I will certainly try to check it out next year….don’t know about entering a team though. Not really my style.
The rest of the series is here.
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March 9th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Thanks for the plug! We actually had over 80 teams participate this year raising funds for Miriam’s Kitchen. Definitely a good time had by all. Do you mind if we link to you on our photos page?
Cheers!
March 9th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
please link to it by all means
March 11th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Now you can attend a gala at the building museum! A fund raiser for Miriam’s Kitchen: http://www.miriamskitchen.org/100BowlsofCompassion.htm in May. Get out that prom dress, Lori!
March 11th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
[…] A report on last weekend’s running of the DC Idiotarod (with photos). Juxtaexposed writes: Nothing says “I like helping the homeless problem in DC” like participating in a no holds barred wrestling match in spandex, dressing up as an oompa loompa, participating in a bridesmaid’s version of the macarena, or recreating the epic A-Team crew. […]
March 12th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I didn’t know DC had an Idiotarod. I’ve been following the NY’s Idiotarod held in January for the last few years. Now I can follow the DC event! Great photos!
March 13th, 2008 at 8:56 am
I didn’t know this existed. This is great! Thanks for the post/pictures. Looks like great fun for a good cause!
March 13th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
NIce photos, esp. with wide-angle lens.
Check a video of the 2008 DC Idiotarod.
April 4th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Those are my friends in that pic!
http://picasaweb.google.com/nickstrocchia/Idiotarod/photo#5176278554568370114