Okotoks youth are gearing up for a day of speed, adrenaline, and tons of fun. The Okotoks Rotary Club is hosting its 29th annual Soap Box Derby for youth aged eight to 14 starting at 9:30 a.m. on June 2 on Crystalridge Drive between Downey Road and North Railway Street. Event organizer Trish Henderson said the club is expecting between 85 and 95 racers on the big day. “We usually have a great turnout for the Soap Box Derby,” said Henderson. “Last year we had around 86 so I would expect the same for this year.” Each racer starts with a kit from Carstar Okotoks, which includes mandatory wheels, axles and steering column. There is also a design in the kit, but Henderson said a lot of families choose to use the necessary parts and create their own unique cart. “We’ve had a family put in a two-headed dragon, we’ve had bathtubs, one came one year as a Harley Davidson biker, we had one that was like the Volkswagen hippie mobile with psychedelic flowers and everything all over it,” she said. But it’s always safety first. Each cart must be equipped with some kind of brakes. If the driver can’t just put out their feet to stop their cart at the bottom of the hill, then some sort of braking mechanism must be in place, she said. Some of the derby carts can get going upwards of 25 kilometres per hour – in fact the fastest ever clocked by the RCMP at the race was 47 km/h, she said. “Most don’t go that fast,” said Henderson. Races kick off at 9:30 a.m. and each driver gets to run five heats in total, with a trophy winner in each heat, she said. There are also bigger trophies for overall categories like fastest time of the day, most creative cart, best paint job, most original costumed driver, most enthusiastic driver, and best crash recovery, she said.
