Duchess Kate Rules Key West Bed Race
KEY WEST (CBS4) - This year's annual Conch Republic Red Ribbon Bed Race up Key West's famed Duval Street took on a regal tone as "Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge" ruled the race on a decorated bed on wheels.
Kate was Lucas Czajkowski who impersonated the duchess by wearing a replica of the royal bride's blue engagement dress and waving regally to crowds as a quartet of brawny men with British flags painted on their bare chests and backs propelled the bed up the street.
Prince William, however, was nowhere to be found.
Billed as "the most fun you can have in bed with your clothes on," the Saturday afternoon race featured 15 decorated beds, each piloted by four runners while a fifth person rode on the bed.
In addition to the royal ensemble, standout entries included beds decorated to resemble a giant chile pepper, a bull, a "Super Mario" castle and a super-sized cheeseburger.
The bed race was a highlight of the annual Conch Republic Independence Celebration. The 10-day festival, that ends Sunday, commemorates the 1982 day when the Florida Keys staged a secession from the United States following the installation of a U.S. Border Patrol blockade at the head of the island chain.
(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Florida Keys News Bureau contributed to this report.)
