Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race

My wife and I attended the Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race [Saturday] for the first time. It was pretty amazing to see all of the creative sculptures that people put time into. For those of you who have never been, the activity includes building a human-powered machine that takes you up hills, floats in the harbor, and finally though sand and mud. Some of these sculptures have hundreds of hours in their creation! Our main reason for attending was because some friends had entered a sculpture into the race.

Hosted by the American Visionary Art Museum, the eight-hour race covers 15 miles through the heart of Baltimore City. Apparently, this type of kinetic sculpture racing had been going on since 1969 and came to Baltimore in 1999.

The race started with participants running to their sculptures and proceeded up Battery Avenue. It really didn’t seem like much of a hill at first, but then I came to the realization that some of these sculptures weighed several hundred pounds and were only powered by anywhere from two to ten individuals. Right off the bat, we saw several that couldn’t make it and even one that was towed to the next location.

Over all, the day was a blast and I would highly recommend that if anyone is looking for a good time with the family to take a moment and check out this Baltimore tradition. It certainly reminded me about some of the good parts of Baltimore, which I consistently overlook.

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