For his 28th birthday in 1990, Karl Rogers decided to celebrate by plopping a pumpkin on a skateboard and rolling it in down Longfellow Avenue with 20 of his friends.
After all, what South Bay man in his late 20s with a birthday two days before Halloween wouldn’t?
“It was just for kicks and goofing off,” the Manhattan Beach resident said.
But the following year, the spectacle grew.
Twice the amount of people showed up and the race was on to get the first pumpkin down the hill and across the finish line.
But instead of using pre-made frameworks, racers had to build race cars solely out of pumpkins, shoving axels through the rinds and attaching wheels.
By 2006, the block party event grew to 1,000 people and Rogers needed more space.
He approached the Manhattan Beach City Council.
“I was expecting them to give me a corner of some park,” he said. “But they asked me where I would like to have it. I said, ‘How about Manhattan Beach Boulevard?’”
On Sunday, Rogers and thousands of spectators and participants will celebrate the 20th anniversary of what has arguably become one of Manhattan Beach’s most fun-spirited, quirkiest events, The World Famous Pumpkin Race, “where creativity runs wild.”
“People don’t just show up. They get to be the stars of the show,” Rogers said. “Your adrenaline pumps at the starting line. And there are five or six thousand people cheering you on.”
Last year, 820 highly-decorated pumpkin race cars rolled toward the pier, their costume-clad designers in a mad frenzy to avoid crashing, hoping their creations would cross the finish line first. Over 10,000 spectators cheered them on.
“It’s a cross between the [Boy Scouts] Pinewood Derby and the Six-Man Tournament,” Rogers said. “If you can visualize the two of those meeting and having offspring, this would be it.”
Certain rules must be followed, such as only one pumpkin per race car, no use of pre-fabricated chassis, no last-minute shoves, no remote controls, no motors and no explosives.
The Manhattan Beach Fire and Police departments both enter pumpkin cars that go up against the legendary turbo-charged, rocket booster equipped “big cheater pumpkin” — an ode to two brothers formerly caught rigging their pumpkin car and reminder to other racers that “cheaters never prosper.”
“One of the core aspects of this event is that if someone doesn’t play by the rules and crosses the line in spectator glory, we’re there to make sure they get taken down,” Rogers said.
Race cars that don’t fit the rules face the Mallet-O-Justice, a giant hammer that threatens to smash cheater pumpkins to smithereens.
Sunday’s event starts at noon, with single elimination qualifying rounds from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Winners of the qualifying rounds will advance to the finals, which will be held from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The winner of the race will win the highly-coveted Championship Trophy and prizes donated by sponsors, including Skechers, LA Car Guy and Arclight Beach Cities. Awards and prizes are also given for Best of Show, Best Team Spirit, and Best Crash.
Pumpkin race car kits are available for $20 at Grow Produce and include a medium-sized pumpkin, four wheels, two axels, bearings, decorations and assembly instructions. A limited supply will also be available the day of the race.
“It’s all about the trophy and the bragging rights. It’s just a goofy day of pure fun,” Rogers said. “It’s not like a carnival with rows of booths. It’s just good wholesome fun.”
For more information, visit www.pumpkinrace.com. ER
