While rocketing down Riverside Avenue in beds with whobbly wheels, Ball State University students, dressed in everything from Ninja Turtle to samurai costumes, participated in one of Homecoming's most spirited events.
The Bed Races, which began at noon Friday, attracted a crowd of 1,511 students and offered them a reason to cheer.
Phi Gamma Delta fraternity's team was crowned the victor of the races.
The races began with a ceremonial opening race with the Ball State Steering Committee - with Charlie Cardinal riding on the team's bed - versus the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Coach Brady Hoke attended and addressed spectators before the races began.
"We'll play a hell of a lot better than we did last Saturday," he said.
Graduate student Erin Whitt, wearing sunglasses, tattered clothing, a mustache and smoking a cigarette, said her team from the National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association visually "represented their clientele" and were well prepared.
"We made sure we had our best attire on," she said. "We have our running shoes on. We're stretching right now actually, drinking our energy drinks, smoking our cigarettes."
The participants from NSSLHA won the independent female and best costume divisions at the bed races.
Sophomore Derrick Wilson, who competed with University Singers, said this is the first year he competed in the races.
"When [we got] about three quarters of the way down, [our] wheels started to go crazy," he said. "I thought we were going to wreck, but it's a lot of fun."
University Singers met an hour before the races to pick out their costumes from their wardrobe, he said.
Luke Williams, sophomore from Phi Gamma Delta jokingly said he prepared for the races for a year.
"It's very important," he said. "All year I train, I eat, I do exercises. I make sure I'm ready for Homecoming week on Friday so I can get on that bed and win a trophy."
Williams said he was pleased with his teams performance and his role in it.
"We did fantastic," he said. "It was a team effort. Of course, I was the center piece of it all. Without me, the whole thing would have failed. Really, the other people are just pawns in my master plan to win bed races."
Hoke said he loved seeing the students get dressed up and race and referred to today's football game in relation to the races.
"It's been a great week of Homecoming for everybody," he said, "and hopefully tomorrow we can finish it off. Just like they're competing in the bed races, we have to come and compete as a team tomorrow."
Kim Sarasien, senior from Epsilon Sigma Alpha sorority, said she only thought about catching up with her teammates after she slipped and fell soon after her team began their trek down Riverside.
"I [had] to catch up with them and everyone [was] probably laughing at me but I just kept going," she said. "They kind of took off and I wasn't quite ready, and so it just got yanked out and my weight was still going forward."
Although Sarasien fell at the beginning and did not have a chance to push her bed into victory, she still said the event brings Ball State together and was a lot of fun.
Noah Meadors, a fifth year senior and president of University Programs Board, helped push the organization's bed in a gorilla costume.
"I understand why gorillas live in the mountains," he said. "They're probably not well suited for sprints."
When searching through the various costumes UPB uses, Meadors said, he found the gorilla outfit and he felt the need to wear it.
"We just come out here ready to run and ready to go and just have fun," he said. "We're not extremely competitive about it. We just like to be out here and have fun and kind of show our support for the Homecoming."
Category winners:
Overall: Phi Gamma Delta
Independent Male: Ball State Cheerleaders
Independent Female: National Student Speech Hearing Language Association
Residence Hall Male: Studebaker East
Residence Hall Female: Mysch/Hurst
Fraternity: Phi Gamma Delta
Sorority: Sigma Kappa
Best Costume: National Student Speech Hearing Language Association
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