High Heel Race 2009

Washington, DC--The 17th Street High Heel Race is one of my favorite neighborhood events all year. The whole area comes alive as Washingtonians loosen up and allow themselves to have fun... to forget about "saving the world" for a few hours. The costumes are new and fresh each year, and it is obvious how much work many people put into them. JR's Bar and Grill started the race in 1986 and now it attracts an estimated 15,000 people each year.

According to an article in MetroWeekly, the race started as "a spontaneous competition of drag queens running the two blocks from JR.'s Bar & Grill at 17th and Church streets up to Annie's Paramount Steakhouse, where they would down a shot, and then race back. According to a timeline on Rainbow History Project's website, the High Heel Race was first run in 1986."