Ah, the rites of spring: late snows, budding flowers, proud graduates and, naturally, huge papier-mâché dogs sinking to the bottom of Boulder Reservoir.
At the annual Kinetics race, losing can be just as entertaining as winning – perhaps even more so. The KBCO 97.3 FM-sponsored event, celebrating its 26th year, unites dozens of ragtag teams to race across land and water in homemade, often hilariously defective amphibious craft and outlandish costumes.
While thousands of spectators cheer from the shores of Boulder Reservoir, teams ranging from two to 12 people harness their own strength (no gas or electric power, thank you) to navigate their bizarre, colorful “sculptures” through 4 miles of water, mud and sand.
Slated to take place Saturday, the popular festival has evolved to include a charity 5K walk-run, live music, a pancake breakfast and games.
For better or worse, it has calmed down considerably since its late ’80s heyday.
Daniel Dorrell, a participant since the Kinetics’ 1979 inception in Niwot, remembers the event’s zenith, when network television helicopters circled the reservoir and admission was free and unregulated.
“It was this surreal feeling out of ‘Apocalypse Now,”‘ Dorrell, a Boulder resident, said with a laugh. “The (starting) cannon goes off, you have the sound of the chopper blades and just total chaos as everyone tries to fit through a 30-foot space with 8-foot-wide crafts, and there were 70-some-odd crafts that year.”
During the festival’s first 10 runs, attendance swelled to 60,000 and participants often brought their own liquid party supplies. One couple even tied the knot at Kinetics.
“It got to be a little too insane for many people, but it’s toned down over the years,” said Alison Heller, KBCO’s director of marketing and promotions. “It’s still a great beach party, but now you can bring the family.”
Heller, who has produced Kinetics since 2002, expects anywhere from 17,000 to 20,000 revelers this year, assuming the elements cooperate. Last-minute weather pushed 2004’s festival back a week and slashed attendance by 3,000.
Kinetics typically kicks off with a tongue-in-
cheek parade and concert a week before the “rez race,” where bribing local celebrity judges with gifts is not only condoned, but encouraged. Teams with monikers like Lewis and Clark Were Lost, Ramming Speed and Nuns for Hire perform elaborate skits for questionably named awards.
As a 26-year veteran, Dorrell noted the steep learning curve for newcomers, or “virgins,” as organizers dub them. The first Kinetics craft he and his brother built in 1979 resembled a giant chunk of rock.
“We had no idea what we were doing with fiberglass,” Dorrell said. “It was about 6 feet tall with seats on top. You could drive down the street and look at the top of vans. My sister called it ‘the Great Pumpkin’ and it weighed about 800 pounds. That year we sank it.”
Lafayette resident Deborah Taillon and her three-person outfit Umpalicious will be one of the 53 teams braving the waters. Last year she was an observer.
“I’m the type of person who can’t just go to ballgame and watch it,” said Taillon, 31. “But I’d be more than willing to be on the field playing it. I’ve never really been a good spectator.”
Kinetics organizer Heller has her own theory for the festival’s continued appeal.
“It gives adults a chance to act like kids. You get to dress up and make a fool out of yourself and be a big goofball,” she said. “Adults don’t get a chance to do that enough anymore, and they just come out in flocks for this.”
For multi-taskers, the event offers a few juicy payoffs. The opening 5K walk-run counts as an official qualifier for the Bolder Boulder race; its $15 entry fee goes to the Boulder County AIDS Project and nets you two Colorado Rapids tickets. Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Ozomatli play this year’s music stages, which in other years have hosted acts like Ben Harper, Midnight Oil and Barenaked Ladies.
“It’s such a part of Colorado history,” said KBCO’s Heller. “It’s such an offbeat, kooky, weird event, and it’s cool to see the camaraderie between the first-timers coming out and the older teams.”
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-820-1378 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
Kinetics 2005
GOOFY RACE | Boulder Reservoir; 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday | $12; $15 for 5K “Race Around the Rez” including Kinetics | visit www.kbco.com/kinetics or call 303-444-5600 for tickets and information.
