2009 Race Report

The Eleventh Annual Race was May 2, 2009. See complete details!

Get ready for May Day!

The 2010 race will be held all day Saturday, May 1. Until the timing is finalized, check out the 2009 Spectator’s Guide—this year’s schedule will likely be fairly similar to last year’s.

Donate to help the race!

If you would like to help support the race, the Kinetic Sculpture Race, and individual teams, can use your donations.

Kinetinaut Entry Forms are due Thursday, April 1!

If you’re entering a sculpture in the race, the deadline to submit your race entry form is April 1! Download your entry form on the Enter! page. If your form isn’t postmarked or hand-delivered to AVAM by 4pm on the due date, you will have to pay a late fee and will likely miss out on being in the Spectator’s Guide. To deliver your your entry in person, go to the American Visionary Art Museum at 800 Key Highway in Baltimore, and bring it to the front desk. Address your entry form to “Mother Theresa Segreti”.

What’s this all about?

Kinetic Sculptures are amphibious, human powered works of art custom built for the race. Each May, the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) hosts the East Coast Kinetic Sculpture Race Championship on the shore of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in central Maryland.  The eight-hour race covers 15 miles—mostly on pavement, but also including a trip into the Chesapeake Bay and through mud and sand.

Kinetic Sculpture Racing traces its roots to Ferndale, California in 1969 when artist Hobart Brown upgraded his son’s tricycle into a 5-wheeled pentacycle that was part of a race down Main Street. Over the decades since, the California race evolved into a 3-day all-terrain event including treacherous sand dunes, water crossings, and elaborate artwork. You can learn more on Wikipedia.

For more about the Baltimore race, browse the photo galleries in the left menu.