The Annual DC High Heel Race

Photo credit: Alexandra Macia for The Campus Trainer

Hundreds of people gathered in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, October 29th for the 17th Street High Heel Race. The race has been a tradition for more than 30 years.

As the event began, people gathered along the sidewalks of 17th Street. Some laid out picnics and brought chairs. Other dressed up in tiaras, costumes and LGBTQ flags.

Ian Zuidema, a personal trainer in D.C., showed up to the race as a bouquet of flowers. When asked if he would be participating in the race, Zuidema said he couldn’t afford to sprain his ankle. Image credit: Alexandra Macia for The Campus Trainer

DC’s Different Drummers helped kick off the event with cheerleaders and an orchestra. They played songs and chanted “Who are we? DC!” to get the crowd riled up.

Dozens of volunteers acted as a barricade, lining the street to create a pathway for the race. The volunteers were almost all members of the Stonewall Sports League Kickball Team.

Keni Riley, a volunteer and member of the kickball team, wore a galaxy skirt and his black platform stileto “go-to heels” to the event. Many of the people at the event knew each other through the LGBTQ league, which seemed to make the event social and enjoyable for participants.

At about 9 p.m. the volunteers rounded up the dozens of drag queens, who had been walking up and down 17th Street taking photos with members of the crowd.

“Volunteers, please help me get all the queens to the starting line,” a volunteer yelled into his megaphone.

The large crowd lined the street. Many pulled out their phones to try to capture the many drag queens that began sprinting down the street in their heels once the race began.

People laughed and looked in awe as groups of drag queens made their way down the street, sprinting, walking and sometimes falling.

Two participants dressed in drag to mock Trump.

Apoorva Srivastava of Milwaukee watched the race with her friend who recently moved to D.C.

“My gay friend brought me here in my first year in D.C., and I was just in awe,” Srivastava said.

The two women enjoyed themselves as they stood on the curb watching the drag queens go by.

One of the participants named John Kim was dressed in full drag to run in the event. He wore a short blonde wig, a neon pink cropped tank top and platform heels.

“This is my second year doing it, and it has been really cool. D.C. is very accepting and it has been really fun to do,” Kim said.

He was sweating after having ran down the street in his heels.

“It was very hard. I have a lot of respect for women,” Kim said, laughing.

Kim said that a lot of his friends and co-workers knew about the event, which made him want to get involved.

The event brought together a wide variety of people from D.C. Almost everyone seemed to enjoy getting to see the participants run in their heels and extravagant costumes.

“We thought it was incredible. It was a really cool experience that you can only get in D.C.,” said Basil Seif, who watched the parade with two friends. “Getting the opportunity to be a part of such a communal experience in the heart of D.C. was just spectacular,” said Seif.