On Your Marks…Get Set…Go Race Those Computer Chairs!

I don’t know about you, but often when I am sitting at my desk I wonder, “how can I make my computer chair move around the office faster? How can I make it more aerodynamic…more better?” Then I stop wondering and start coding again.

Just south of Frankfurt, Germany, in a small town named Bad Koenig, an annual race takes place that is very different than the NYC Marathon. It’s the third annual office chair race and this year there were 64 competitors that took to the starting line. (as an aside, Staples really needs to sponsor this race!) Speeds hit an all-time high of over 22mph for the 200-meter downhill course.

Luxembourg’s Pierre Feller took the title after completing the run in just 26.95 seconds – a new world’s record. Heiko Winter won the best-designed chair award – he dressed up his chair like a horse! (see photo on right)

To make things interesting, riders had to maneuver around jumps and turns while still attempting to tweet their location on foursquare and post a photo on Facebook. The race looks like a ton of fun and I hope we see something similar here in the U.S.

Check out the video from the race below from The Sun newspaper.