On a below-freezing Saturday, with mounds of snow still clinging to Brooklyn sidewalks, 30 groups of costumed revelers gathered behind their homemade carts, dressed to the nines in satire and spectacle. As they would their way through Bushwick, Williamsburg and into Ridgewood, Queens, passersby stopped to take photos, cheer them on and briefly join the chaos. For longtime fans, it was a familiar sight: the 23rd annual Idiotarod race.
The Jan. 31 event is a tongue-in-cheek take on Alaska’s Idiotarod Trail Sled Dog Race, swapping huskies and snow for human-powered carts and city streets. Like their canine counterparts, teams braved the cold to push their eclectic creations, which this year included a mobile sauna, a Satan-themed rig and a wildly reimagined Power Ranger.
Carts gathered in Cooper Park to size up the competition, though the atmosphere was anything but cutthroat. Participants hugged, showed off their creations, and chatted with curious passersby — including dog walkers eager to learn what, exactly, was unfolding in the park.
Two members of the “Costume Cult” team, dressed as a Throat Goat and a Party Rat, told Brooklyn Paper they were thrilled to be participating in their first-ever Idiotarod. Members of the city’s Department of “Inebriation” rolled out a cart modeled after a DSNY truck, stocked with bottles of liquor. A group aptly named the “Hot Tub Crime Machine” found ways to stay warm in 10 degree weather.
Anney Fresh, a longtime Idiotarod referee and head judge, said the event’s longevity comes down to its emphasis in creativity and community.
“We started in 2001,” Fresh told Brooklyn Paper. “I spend the entire day meeting everyone and seeing all of the things. Some hallmarks of the race are bribery and sabotage, so I do reap the benefits of this position. In the old days there was chaining cinderblocks on other people’s carts, but now it’s more friendly.”
Fresh participated in the very first Idiotarod and said the spirit of the event has remained remarkably consistent over the years.
“This is not sponsored by some giant corporation. This is people spending time, using their minds for creativity and spreading joy. This is a who’s who of art stars in the New York scene.”
Fresh added with a laugh, “I have just been in a sauna, I have just sucked the teet of a party goat and now I’m about to go to a Christmas office party from 1982. “This is the greatest day of the year.”
Throughout the race, carts travel to three different stops, usually bars, where they complete minigames. They race to the final location where they destroy their creations. Stops included Emblem in Williamsburg, Bar Cornelia in Bushwick and an after party at The Deep End on Wyckoff Avenue.
All the way from San Francisco, this year’s celebrity judge was Tom “Tundra Tommy” Kramer, who founded the city’s Urban Iditarod in 1994. That blueprint made its way to Chicago, Austin, Washington D.C., New York and more.
“This event is one of the longest ones, 23 years strong, and I’ve always wanted to come to it,” he said. “It’s because of all the sabotage and craziness.”
The costumes, carts and decorations are truly unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Kramer added. “Truly one of a kind.”
