Rutgers Dance Marathon tucks competition to bed in 16th annual Homecoming bed races

This past weekend marked Homecoming and Family Weekend for the Rutgers student body and alumni, which meant tailgating, catching up with friends across campus and, of course, wheeled beds barreling down Sicard Street.

Last Thursday, the Rutgers University Programming Association (RUPA) held its 16th annual bed races competition, an open invitation for only the bravest student groups and organizations around campus to strap on their helmets and compete for glory and the $750 grand prize, but, more importantly, charity.

To take part in the races, 55 groups would fundraise for fidget toys and stress balls to be donated to Roosevelt Elementary School. Regardless of whether they came in first place or were eliminated in the first round, participants could take comfort in knowing that 4,350 stress balls and 8,649 fidget toys would be given to children in need.

Amber Cao, a Rutgers Business School senior and the assistant director of marketing for RUPA, spoke with The Daily Targum as the races commenced about the behind-the-scenes groundwork involved in one of the organization's tentpole events.

"The week coming up, preparing for it, I knew it was going to be a really big, all-hands-on-deck event," she said. "This is a really big event, seeing all the turnout, seeing how excited everyone is on my committee and my team, and also all the students ... I knew it was going to be a lot, but it's going to be a fun night, too."

With just a few stipulations, such as dividing their teams of four into three pushers and one rider, teams took to the track, ready to either sprint or lie down like never before. But, winning the race or collecting the most donations was only part of the challenge — teams also needed to impress with their bed and uniform designs if they wanted to hear their name called up to the podium.

As always, the racers took this task to heart — the road was populated with an assortment of brightly colored beds, each revealing a little something about the corresponding designers.

One standout mattress was a "Peanuts"-inspired entry from the Richard Apartments on Busch campus. The team members dressed as characters from the iconic comic strip, and their bed featured a prominent landmark: Snoopy's doghouse. While the team would come up short for the grand prize, they would take home the "Rolling in Style" award, given to the team with the best theming.

James Lavery, a School of Engineering junior dressed up as Charlie Brown, offered a glimpse into the surprisingly complicated process that would ultimately pay off.

"The process was quite a hassle, actually, as we were putting together this huge red doghouse," he said. "First we used spray paint, ran out of spray paint. Then we used red duct tape, ran out of red duct tape. Then we used red paper — like three rolls of black duct tape went into building this thing. A lot of cardboard."

Another equally impressive entry, infused with a bit of nostalgia, came the Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHE), who emulated "Teletubbies."

At first glance, their choice immediately made them stand out with vibrant costumes and a crafty bed adorned with cotton balls representing clouds. But, there was also an underlying message that resonated as fans huddled together for warmth.

"Our inspiration behind this was kind of created by another member ... but his whole idea was that during the winter, we're missing sunshine," explained Jose Santiago, a School of Engineering sophomore. "We have sunshine right here."

As the racers were called to their marks, another concern began to surface — the physicality that comes with pushing someone down the course without falling or colliding with the barriers on either side.

Even with this risk in mind, some racers would take this a little more seriously than others.

"A lot of stretching. We stretched for about, you know, six months to get ready for this," said Max Sanchez, a School of Communication and Information junior at the event there for WRSU. "No, we didn't — we got here at like 6:30 and stretched for like, a minute."

Throughout the event, spectators witnessed their share of stumbles and falls, but only one organization was left standing at the end of the night — Rutgers Dance Marathon. Mohnish Patel, a School of Engineering senior, Michael Lyou, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, Eera Vedanti, an Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy senior, and Tim Tuen, a Rutgers Business School senior, represented the group.

After finishing third last year, the organization went with a space theme this time, which may have been the difference maker. That, and their continued trust in one another.

"This has been on our mind for an entire year, since last bed races," said Tuen. "We knew we had to come out here, do it for the seniors that graduated."

For anyone wondering how the organization would use the prize money, keeping with the spirited mood of the night, Rutgers Dance Marathon announced that it would be allocated to their final fundraising total and donated to the Embrace Kids Foundation.