This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

The 2007 Idiotarod, organized by Carts of Brooklyn Association (COBRA) was bigger and more chaotic race in its’ three four year history. Imported from San Francisco and very much one of New York City’s response to the annual Bay to Breakers, the 2004 inaugural race set the standard for under-the-radar chaos, while the 2007 race illustrates the high-watermark of non-permitted gatherings. The race course changes each year in order to keep the route secret as a matter of whim.
This year the Idiotarod was scheduled to began in McCarren Park at the edge of Williamsburg and Greenpoint, Brooklyn. However, as the race was advertised greatly on the web and on blogs, the NYPD was unsurprising in great force, employing mounted, plains-clothed officers, plenty of uniformed officers at every park entrance and the aerial unit.

New York’s Finest, patrolling for unlawful racing
Change of Venue
It was obvious that the NYPD was not going to let the race begin at McCarren Park and COBRA was sent scrambling for an alternate starting point. Spectators, race teams and innocent gawkers were milling about unsure of what was to be the outcome. It was obvious that the NYPD officers were nervous; there was a large crowd forming and from their standpoint, they had no control over the situation.
At this point the crowed was moving in all directions; no one knew where the new staring line would be. Some teams made their way deeper into Polish Greenpoint to McGolrick Park, guessing this would be the new starting area.
Finally word was relayed to the separated and isolated teams that the new starting area would be at Franklin and Commercial Streets, at the very tip of Greenpoint, along the Newtown Creek. Teams who did not get word of the revised starting area merely followed the police cars and the NYPD aerial unit, as it hovered over the rooftops of Greenpoint.
The Starting Area
The new starting area was perhaps the perfect area for the large crowd of 500+ which had assembled. Located at the very end of the Greenpoint peninsula, there is the Newton Barge Terminal Playground situated among the historically industrial area. With the lack of traffic the NYPD officers noticeably became more calm.
As teams gathered into the street, the whole neighborhood came out to see what was going on, greatly increasing the amount of people in the park. As COBRA checked competitors in, a small band played among the chaos.

Unknown band plays as the chaos swirls around them
All around were teams looking at other team’s costumes, photographers (both pro and not) angling for the best shot and the COBRA members trying to keep the peace.
The Competitors
The draw of the Idiotarod are the inventive, risque and silly costumes teams are required to wear. Here’s a look at some of the more interesting groups to grace the 2007 Idiotarod:

A crowd favorite this year was Team Lapdance (shown above), who’s costume involved black speedos and briefs along with the required bowtie. An integral part of their cart was the folding chair, which they employed throughout the competition to bribe referees and earn money. Andy, a Team Lapdance member had this to say about why they came out to the Idiotarod, We’re out here for the City and our country, and to show everybody a good time. When asked about how much money they had earned he replied, We’re doing alright… a little better than expected. We pulled around six dollars so far. His teammate Nick “all the way from Philadelphia” had this to say about his outfit, Tommy Hillfiger black briefs, some cufflinks and a bowtie [which is the] only thing which would show the world the message we wanted to relay, which is the Idiotarod is awesome.
There will be no warnings, and arrests will be made

At this point, a police officer from the 94th Precinct walked into a central location and announced that anyone stopping or interfering with traffic in the street will be arrested without warning. The officer also had this to say:

Stay on the sidewalks. Do not go into the street. Also, be aware that there is no permit for this event, no permit has been given for this event. Again stay on the sidewalk and obey all rules.

This immediately drew a chant from the crowd, U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
At some point, cooler heads prevailed, and it appeared that COBRA and the NYPD struck some sort of bargain, and with the burst of firecrackers the race was on.
The Start
Unlike in years past, where there were wide streets to run and no threat of arrest, the police funneled the competitors into the sidewalk. The race headed south on Franklin Street, using only the sidewalks, to the first checkpoint at the corner of Greenpoint and Franklin Streets. At the same moment half of the police units screamed out of the area and headed out to shadow the crowd.
As the race meandered its way through Greenpoint, the finish line became apparent: Queens. This meant that the only Newtown Creek crossing would be the Pulaski Bridge; a major bottleneck due to the narrow sidewalk and the slope of the bridge.
The Bridge

As teams ran up the bridge, many tried to pass and were tangled with each other’s carts. At some point, unidentified people, most likely COBRA members, began hurling canola oil, flour, water and anything they could throw as teams labored their way up the bridge. This was in addition to the materials teams themselves employed against other teams. These materials included flour, some sticky brown goo, rotten pig meat, tennis balls, silly string and eggs. The bridge became a slippery mess as thee various liquids froze in the cold winter air.
The Finish Line
As the teams entered Queens, many became lost; which goes to show that the plight of Damon Mootoo who was lost for five days can happen to anyone in Queens. Eventually the teams all made their way to the finish line, where meager prizes and a party awaited.
The official results, on WikiPedia of all places are as follows:

Conclusion
By and far this year’s Idiotarod was bigger and more successful that the proceeding years. So big, that that next year the organizers will need to apply for a permit from the NYPD or break the starting line up into different areas, so that there aren’t so many people congregating in one area blocking traffic. Or, COBRA needs to devise some sort of texting/mobile phone system where the starting line is only given out to the teams an hour before the event. Because the Idiotarod has gotten so big, and so much press has followed this event, how the organizers cope logistically with the multitude of racers, spectators and gawkers will have to change. However, I have to commend it to the Carts of Brooklyn people, they ran a well-organized event, and no one was arrested or seriously hurt.
See all of my photos on my 2007 Idiotarod Photoset.
this article was edited for legibility.