Adventure seekers will be counting on gravity for their thrills as an annual soap box derby race returns to the hills of Wildwood.
The race, organized by the Kiwanis Club of Powell River, will take place at 11 am on Sunday, May 25, at Sunset Park.
At the starting point, race organizers will have two ramps set up which stand about five feet high and 20 feet long near when the park gates are at the top of the hill.
Each racer (the vehicle) has built-in brakes, a steering system and uses six-inch non-bearing plastic lawn mower wheels.
The race course, shorter this year, is about 600 feet long. “Kids were going too fast before,” said Kiwanis president Robert Maitland, adding that racers were being clocked at a top speed of about 48 kilometres per hour on the course. “Maybe this will make it a little safer.” A first aid station will be set up next to the course in case of any accidents.
The race is divided into two age groups, one for boys and girls between seven to 12 years old and the other 13 years and older. Adults are also invited to race.
James Thomson Elementary School is entering a team that will be made up of grades six and seven students using restored racers built by students who are currently in senior high school.
A rod on the ramps holds the racers back until they are released simultaneously and then it’s all gravity, said Maitland. To fit on the ramps, the racers can not be wider than 26.5 inches and longer than 50 inches.
There are no specifications around weight, but “sometimes too much is a disadvantage,” said Maitland. One year a racer had lead weights built in and by the time it reached the bottom of the course, the racer split in half, he said.
The actual race with ramps takes place on Sunday, but race organizers will be setting up on Saturday and competitors will be able to do some practice runs on the course.
“We put the ramps up on Sunday morning to have a few practice runs and then the race,” he added.
Maitland said that they won’t know the number of entries they have in the derby until 30 minutes before the race. “We’ve had about 85 entry forms go out from the Town Centre Mall office,” he added.
The Kiwanis Club has 10 cars of its own that members have built over the years for people if they want to race that day.
In past years race organizers have had entries that look like shopping carts, one that looked like a bus and one that looked like Spiderman, he said. The fastest racers over the years have looked something like luge sleds on wheels.
“It’s something we do for kids,” he said. “We do it for free and we get a lot of cash donations and prize donations for the kids.”
Each contestant will receive a medallion, a picture taken on the ramp before they go down and a Kiwanis Soap Box Derby T-shirt. Winners of the races will receive a trophy to keep and their name on a trophy at the Kiwanis Club.
