Carolina Weatherall

On a crisp Saturday morning in Brunswick, the quiet street of Park Row came alive with laughter, cheers and the rumbling of bed frames on wheels. The Annual Rolling Slumber Bed Races, a cherished town tradition, once again brought together locals and Bowdoin students for a morning of friendly competition and community bonding.

The race, which involves two beds racing alongside each other for 125 feet before reversing and returning to the starting line, usually attracts a wide variety of participants. This year’s bed races, however, featured a team entirely of Bowdoin students, with Luisa Wolcott-Breen ’25 leading the charge.

“Being representatives for Bowdoin is something exciting,” Wolcott-Breen, who organized the participation of her team, said. “But also engaging with the community is pretty exciting, and this is the first fully Bowdoin bed race team.”

The team’s bed—a children’s bed frame on wheels—was unearthed from the basement of First Parish Church and loaned to the students by David Knight, a Brunswick local and longtime supporter of the races.

“[The bed was] buried at the bottom of First Parish Church, sleeping comfortably, until these guys showed up last Thursday and unearthed it,” Knight said.

Knight, who has been involved in the event for years, was delighted to see the Bowdoin team’s bed—which was ridden by the Polar Bear mascot—in the competition.

“The Polar Bears are represented and they are part of this, so we’re thrilled,” he said ahead of the race.

For community members, the races are about more than mere speed—they’re about connection.

“Brunswick really is the kind of place where people like to get together,” Knight said. “A whole bunch of kids, their parents and their grandparents—and there’ll be several hundred—will all gather down there, and for an hour they’ll all get down and have some fun together. We’ll laugh and we’ll giggle and we’ll scream and shout. It’s a wonderful thing to have going on in the town.”

For Wolcott-Breen, the bed races were a chance to strengthen ties between Bowdoin and Brunswick.

“I think it was a cool thing to see Bowdoin represented in a very communal space that was devoted to Brunswick,” she said. “I hope that continues, because I think we’re really lucky to be so close to the Brunswick community, and we should take advantage of those opportunities to connect.”

The day began early, with local businesses opening their doors at 6 a.m and offering steep discounts to community members.

“Several places in Brunswick had beds that they entered into the race,” Wolcott-Breen said. “The idea is to raise awareness and support the local businesses in Brunswick.”

As the races kicked off, the streets filled with excitement and cheering. The focus of the event remained on fun as teams decked out in creative costumes took to the streets in a joyful display of camaraderie.

“It is a time for everyone to get together, which I think is really neat, because I saw so many kids there just having a ball,” Wolcott-Breen said. “The announcer would let a different person from the crowd say, ‘go’ each time, so that was very sweet to involve everyone.”

That said, the race for first place was hard-fought, with “Pathways” ultimately pulling ahead.

“Pathways, the group who actually won, they were putting their all into it,” Wolcott-Breen said. “They collapsed at the finish line, which was so fun.”

As the morning wound down and the races came to a close, the Bowdoin team reflected on their experience.

“Talking to my teammates after, we all had such a good time and we’re really grateful to David and Margo and to the Brunswick Downtown Association for letting us have such a fun Saturday,” Wolcott-Breen said.

With another year of Rolling Slumber Bed Races in the books, the event once again proved its value as a celebration of community spirit.

“I hope that this sets the precedent for Bowdoin students participating every year,” Wolcott-Breen said. “People were so excited to see the polar bear and interact with the mascot.”

With Bowdoin’s first full team setting the stage for future participation, participants and spectators hope the event strengthens the bridge between college and community.