Lawnmowers passing through the SLV

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The Great Grass Race entered Alamosa in the waning sunlight on Thursday evening. Participants seek kindness on journey to east coast. (Courier photo by Stephen Jiron).

Participating in the “Great Grass Race’

ALAMOSA – An armada of lawnmower racers entered the San Luis Valley through Antonito on Thursday at a “rocketing” speed of five miles per hour. Ten men and women are racing to be the first team to travel from Los Angeles to New York on lawnmowers.

Four of the five two-person teams arrived in Alamosa on Thursday afternoon, headed to a checkpoint in Fort Garland likely on Friday, while a fifth team chose a different route. The racers are participants in the “Great Grass Race”, a new reality show that began July 10 in Moorpark, Calif.

The five teams crossed Arizona and New Mexico on their way to an October completion in New York according to Robert Frank, director of northwest operations. Frank said the main rule of the race is that contestants are not provided food, money, shelter or gas for their lawnmower. The goal of the show is to demonstrate the good in people.

The racers must solely rely on the kindness of strangers to supply them with necessities and cannot accept cash. “Throughout the past three weeks of the race, all kinds of good-hearted people have provided them with motel rooms and campsites, food, gas, water, duct tape, tents and more,” Frank said.

One racer is from Arvada, Colo. With the others hailing from California, North Carolina, New Jersey, Michigan, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Twelve episodes of the Great Grass Race are already streaming on watch.menacevision.com. This unique competition idea came from the mind of creator and executive producer Denis Oliver who hails from Bourg-en-Bresse, France.


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