D.C. had another race just days after the Marine Corps Marathon, and this time, the participants were in stilettos.
Seventeenth Street NW, near Dupont Circle, became a colorful, costumed pageant Tuesday night for the 33rd annual High Heel Race.
Each year, on the Tuesday before Halloween, spectators line several blocks of the street to watch participants parade in flowing gowns, dresses, corsets and other costumes. After the parade, they cheer on runners for a quarter-mile sprint in towering heels.
“My name is Shi-Queeta-Lee, one of Washington’s premier Drag Queens,” Shi-Queeta-Lee, said. “I am a flamingo showgirl from Vegas, sequins from head to toe.”
There were Disney princesses, including Snow White and Pocahontas, and plenty of dancers in bodysuits. Spectators sat along the curbs of 17th Street and took plenty of pictures.
“Think of the most fabulous thing you’ve ever seen, dip it in glitter and make it 7 feet tall and that’s me,” said Miss Gardenia de Evil. “It’s so much fun. It’s tradition, welcome to my best lady friends. We do it all the time.”
“It is not gay Christmas until we’ve walked down 17th Street in our finery,” Gardenia de Evil said.
This is the first year since the High Heel Race began in 1986 that the city is the principal sponsor of the 17th Street High Heel Race.
