One of the most popular events at the Maine Lobster Festival every year is the International Great Crate Race. Contestants must run across a line of 50 lobster crates that are strung between the two piers in Rockland Harbor. It’s harder than it looks, and almost no one escapes a chilly dip into the harbor in front of a crowd of hundreds festival goers.
This year fans of the popular event will get to witness the inaugural Crate Race Throwdown event between local First Responder organizations on Sunday, August 6 at 1:30 p.m. Teams of three will run the crates and end up with a combined team score. The team with the highest score will win a donation to their department. Costumes, shenanigans, and bribery of the judges are not only allowed, but encouraged. Judges will be able to award up to 10 style points to each team to boost their scores. The judges for this event will be Frank Isganitis, Inn Keeper at the Limerock Inn, Mark Tibbets, Assistant Harbormaster for the City of Rockland, and Gordon Page, Director of Rockland Main Street.
Competing will be a team from Rockland Fire & EMS, a team from Thomaston Fire & EMS, three teams from the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Rockland, two teams from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Thunder Bay, and two teams from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tackle.
The traditional International Great Crate Race will take place Sunday, August 6 at 2 p.m. Registration for that event will begin Sunday, August 6 at 7 a.m. Spots fill up quickly, we recommend interested runners arrive at 5 a.m. to secure their spot. To learn more, visit mainelobsterfestival.com or visit us on Facebook.
