Buggy is back for Buggy 100+

After two long years, Carnegie Mellon buggy races will soon be back in full force. After COVID-19 caused Raceday 2020 to be cancelled and Raceday 2021 to be run as time trials, Raceday 2022 will bring the Carnegie Mellon community its first full raceday since 2019.

For those who are unfamiliar with buggy, the Buggy Alumni Association website provides the following description:

“Buggy (also called Sweepstakes) is a race held annually since 1920 at Carnegie Mellon. Teams of five athletes (the pushers) push an un-motorized vehicle (a buggy) containing a driver around a 0.84 mile course in a relay format where the vehicle serves as the baton. Roughly half of the course is uphill, during which the pushers run and shove the buggy uphill. During the other – downhill – half, drivers are on their own to navigate tight turns at speeds of up to 35mph.”

For over a century, buggy has been a core Carnegie Mellon tradition, and racedays have been held every year since 1920 except for during World War II (1942-1945) and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For over a century, Carnegie Mellon students have innovated, built, and raced. Although Buggy’s 100th anniversary unfortunately fell on the canceled Raceday 2020, the Buggy Alumni Association, buggy alumni in general, as well as the buggy teams on campus will be celebrating Buggy 100+ this Carnival season.

Carnival will kick off Buggy with Buggy Showcase on Thursday, April 7, during which all racing buggies will be displayed for the Carnegie Mellon community. Preliminary races will then be held on Friday, April 8, and qualifying teams will race in finals on Saturday, April 9. Exhibition heats will also be held across both days.

This year, buggy teams from 10 different Carnegie Mellon organizations will be racing:

The Carnegie Mellon Student Dormitory Council (SDC), Pi Kappa Alpha (PiKA), the Carnegie Involvement Association (CIA), SPIRIT, Fringe, Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp), Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE), Apex, Sigma Nu (SigNu), and Delta Gamma (DG). Generally, exhibition heats also include, but are not limited to, teams composed of alumni from various organizations, teams representing various Carnegie Mellon colleges, and teams representing non-pusher sectors of buggy teams.