Beds are for the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival Bed Race.

Dave Kabat, co-owner of Haab’s Restaurant and organizer of the current incarnation of the Heritage Festival Bed Race remembers a time 30 years ago when midday bed races weren’t an odd midday activity. As a kid, he remembers watching bed races on Washington Street, right around the corner from his father’s restaurant. This year he decided to renew the tradition for the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival and the event was reborn.

Eight teams signed on for this reboot, including squads from Heikk's, Ypsi Studio, The Dreamland Theater, Mitch the Plumber, emYOU! The Magazine, the Ypsilanti Area Jaycees, Club Divine and Haab's. Crowds lined Pearl Street between Huron and Washington well before the 11:30 a.m. post time, holding balloons, coffee and water guns.

Bed racing has more rules than you’d think. Five participants (four pushing and one riding) move their bed from one block of Pearl to the other, switch riders, travel back to the start, switch riders again, and roar to the finish. The trick is that with each stop, riders have to swap their pajamas with the next rider and these pajamas must be tied on tight before the bed can move on in the race.

With a favorable crowd lining both sides of the street, four heats consisting of two teams each raced to post the fastest two times to earn a berth in the finals. Heikk’s downed Haab’s in heat number one, Ypsi Studio beat the Flintstones themed Bedrock’n bed of Mitch the Plumber in heat two and Club Divine (the only bed with a Coach bag hanging off the headboard) was bested by emYOU! in the third heat. The Ypsi Jaycees crushed The Dreamland in heat four, setting up a Heikk’s vs. Jaycees final.

The fresher legs of the Heikk’s crew faced off against Tara Truax, Bob Jean, Melissa Galloway, Darlene Dresch and team captain Maria Ledbetter piloting the Jaycees bed. After a tight race, the Jaycees pulled out the win, crediting their fluid pajama swapping and Eastern European training regimen for the victory. Both teams walked away with hardware with the Jaycees receiving their championship medals and Heikk’s earning the Spirit Award.

Kabat hopes that the event grows each year, with more teams fielding even more elaborate contraptions on Pearl. The Jaycees aren’t concerned with the added competition. They have 365 days to train before they have to defend their title. Right now, they’re just looking for a nap.

Richard Retyi is not the AnnArbor.com race correspondent - it just so happens that’s what’s most interesting right now. Know of an athletic event or cool activity happening in the area? Email him at richretyi@gmail.com and he’ll try and use his crappy camera to cover you for AnnArbor.com.