- December 6, 2025
The Flagler County Schools bed nears the finish line with the assistance of Flagler Beach firefighter Andy Thomas. Photos by Anastasia Pagello
Flagler County Schools won the bed race with a time of three minute and eight seconds. Left to right: Ben Osypian, Colleen Conklin, Igor Sokolov, Jacob Oliva and Andy Thomas.
Bed racers had the opportunity to compete for awards such as the most beautiful bed, the most creative bed and People's Choice.
Sea Ray employees held the second fastest time in completing the bed race.
John Lamb running for Flagler County Sheriff created his bed with the help of his family and won the Fat Sack award for raising the most money towards charity during the event.
Matanzas High School Leo Club students work together to fill a cup with water as a bed race challenge.
Tamara Hanson and Valerie Diaz of the FPC Leo Club work together to stack cans as one of the race challenges.
Winners of the 2014 Bed Race, the FPC Leo Club, are the first to go through the challenge course.
“I figured going into this race we at least had a chance in finishing in the top ten.” –Flagler Schools Superintendent Jacob Oliva joked. The Flagler County Schools bed competed against eight other teams and finished in first place.
Bystanders kept their distance as team members sprinted past pushing a bed down the street in Flagler Beach Saturday, Nov. 7, for the Flagler Fun Coast Bed Race. Each team went one at a time racing the clock, instead of each other, to avoid a bumper car situation. The teams were faced with four pit stop challenges to complete throughout the race.
The bed race has been a tradition held by the Flagler Volunteer Services, the Kiwanis Club of Flagler County and Wheels in Motion at Veterans Park for the last seven years. Proceeds from the event went to support Reading Pals and the youth in Flagler County through sponsorships conducted by Flagler Volunteer Services and the Kiwanis Club.
This year nine beds signed up to compete, but only eight saw the finish line. The bed created by the Flagler Beach Fire Department and the Flagler Beach Police Department lost a wheel before the start of the race. Without hesitation the Flagler County School Board welcomed firefighter Andy Thomas to join their team and represent the Flagler Beach law enforcement and fire department.
Trouble didn’t stop there when the Sea Ray bed-boat broke apart on the rocky waves of Second Street. The team was left with nothing of the original grand display, but luckily the bed frame was still functional. Undeterred by the broken ship the team pushed on and finished the race in second place.
“This was our third attempt at creating the ship over the bed frame,” Jesse Shembeda, an assembler and installer at Sea Ray, said. “The destruction of the ship was discouraging, but we pulled through together.”
