Portland Adult Soapbox Derby
Grown-up kids make inventive vehicles in this quirky summer race.
John Patrick Pullen
Put down your video game controllers and step away from your Mario Kart. The best way to race isn’t on a screen , it’s down a volcano in Portland.
Prizes are handed out to deserving daredevils, but the cheers may be more valuable than any award.
But this is no children’s game — the PDX Adult Soapbox Derby, held the third Saturday in August, pits grown-up kids against each other, with each designing and assembling their own downhill racers in pursuit of maximum speed or big laughs.
The annual event is held on Mt. Tabor, an extinct volcano that is now a forested urban park in Southeast Portland. Each year, dozens of teams build cars to zip down the course, a great mix of curves and straightaways, lined with picnicking onlookers — many sipping cool brews in the designated beer garden.
Prizes for speed, engineering, fan-favorites and lifetime achievement are handed out to deserving daredevils, but the cheers may be more valuable than any award. Everything from streamlined, lacquered, wooden one-man bombers to fully-packed Scooby Doo Dream Machine doppelgängers zooms down the hill, making this a great day in the park for kids and the young-at-heart alike.