Phoenixville Chamber of Commerce

Phoenixville's Fourth of July celebration will once again feature a race component with the 2nd Annual Philadelphia Area Idiotarod. (The Idiotarod is a take off on the 1,000 mile Iditarod dog sled race.)

The Idiotarod features shopping carts sometimes modified for the team. Four "idiot" team members are tied to the cart, run along side of the cart and a "musher" guides the cart from the back. The race will have no course. There will be a number of check points located through the south side of town where the teams will be required to check-in. There will be secret judges located in the race area who may disqualify teams that do not maintain continual shopping cart connection throughout the race. The team that completes the course in the best time without being disqualified or missing a station is the winner. The original race was run in San Francisco in 1994 and races are run in New York, Phoenix, Seattle and Toronto.

The event committee will instruct the teams to stay on sidewalks and avoid conflict with traffic. "All teams will not be going in the same direction so there should not be an over crowding problem on the sidewalks except maybe in the beginning. It should thin out pretty quickly as teams take different routs to their check in stations", stated Barry Cassidy, race official.

Race official Kim Cooley will be accepting applications at the Phoenixville Regional Chamber of Commerce office located at 171 Bridge Street, in Phoenixville. "The race is open to anyone wanting to participate. People from outside the community are welcome to participate. There is an entry fee of $100.00 and the winning team will get half the money, the other half goes into the race promotion fund to ensure the race is well promoted in the future. We are encouraging teams to bring the whole family as the day will conclude with our 4th of July Firework Display"

The winners name will be engraved on a trophy, and a number of other awards will be given out, which will be determined later.

The committee is seeking not only contestants to run in the race, but also residents to host a check in station in front of their home or business. There is also a need for race officials to help administer the race. Race Official Kim Colley will take phone inquiries and requests for credentials at 610-933-3070.

Click here for the registration packet.