On a beautiful Saturday afternoon the Amazingly Queer Racers threw frisbees in Central Park, sold lemonade on the street, got strangers to sing Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" in Korea-town, answered riddles and dove face-first into cream pies. It was a memorable day to say the least.

And in the end three teams raced to a photo finish and were so close they decided to share the 3-part grand prize: 2 tickets to the hit off-Broadway show Our Town, a $150 gift certificate to Colors, the only cooperative fine-dining restaurant in the country and 2 six month memberships at the 19th St. Gym.

The Winners of the Amazingly Queer Race 2009

Bacon is a Vegetable (Allison and James)

The Slumdog and the Millionaire (Prachi and Sabelo)

Team Hurry Curry (Sonal and Rahul)

Top Fundraisers - Winners of an ipod Touch courtesy of Tekserv

The Slumdog and the Millionaire - raised more than $2,700!

Best Costumes

Fierce, Fat and Fly for Justice tied with The Love Bugs

Many thanks to everyone who raced, volunteered, sponsored, donated and came out to the super-cute afterparty at Metropolitan. The event was a blast and we raised a bushel of money to help Queers for Economic Justice continue their unique and critical work. And it's not too late to donate - please, if you can toss some more coins into the hat: queerrace.org/donate.

Check out some of the racers:

If you want to know who the big winner is, join us on May 30th for the AFTER-PARTY.  You know that's going to be cute....

But without anymore wait, the hunt for glory continues.  One team got upset and another is on a tear for the top spot...  Drumroll, please:

Moving into the top slot, the Slumdog and the Millionaire have taken the lead with a total of $1,105 raised online.

That moves last week's leaders the FOBs (Fierce-Outrageous-Bitches) into a close second with a cool $1,080. 

But neither of them should count their iPods before they're charged; Team Hurry Curry was the top fundraiser for the week, raising $650 since Friday.  Bringing them to a total of $703 and a sweet 3rd place finish.

Awesome work to all fundraisers.  And if you want to support the effort, please give what you can.  You can contribute to the teams, here: queerrace.org/donate

Without further delay, here are the fundraising leaders as of noon on May 14, 2009:

1. Larry and Dennis - The FOBs (Fierce Outrageous Bitches) -$945
That YouTube video must have worked - the FOBs ran into the top slot in the last 48 hours.

2. Sabelo and Prachi - The Slumdog and the Millionaire - $870
They came out the box strong and have been building steady so don't count the millionaires out just yet.

Honorable Mention
All these teams have hit their fundraising goal and exceeded it:

Fierce, Fat and Fly for Justice
The Love Bugs
Team King and Robbins
Team Lucas and DeFilipis

Big thanks to everyone who's raising and contributing.  We know times are tight, but your contribution will support homeless and low-income LGBT people by funding desperately needed direct services and advocacy for those hardest-hit and without any safety net. Because times are tough, your support is more important than ever.

With more teams participating, it's going to be a long haul to take home the gold, but if the creativity put forward in team-naming is any guide, it's definitely going to be a crazy fun afternoon on May 30.

Here's a sampling of who's stepping up to support the fight against homelessness and poverty in LGBT communities.  Y'all are all winners in our eyes - though only can take home the big prize!  (Did that actually rhyme?  weird.)

1. egotrippin'
2. Pussy Patrol
3. Naughty British Campers
4. Double Trouble
5. Dikes on Bike-Cycles
6. Team Hurry Curry
7. Queer Terroristas
8. The Ambiguously Gay Duo
9. Team Ahava
10. The FOBs (Fabulous, Outrageous Bitches)
11. The Love Bugs
12. D&T
13. The REAL house husbands of brooklyn
14. The slumdog and the millionaire
15.  Heart of Dykeness
16.  As subtle as OUR asses on the dance floor
17.  Corkscrew Smoothie
18.  The Astoria Queens
19.  Homo Dimer
20.  Boy Friend Experience
21.  People In Trouble
22.  Galleon Hustlerz
23.  Dirty Birdies
24.  The Untouchables

2008 Racers on the Hunt for Prizes, Glory

As you prepare to get registered, check out a few of the hilarious team names our racers chose in the last two years:

Seamen for Justice

Knicks Chicks

Pandabortion

T & A

Rest in Hell Jerry Falwell Memorial Team Gay

The Aggressive Cuddlers

Militant Social Workers

Hairdressers from Space

Hands Off Amy Winehouse!

Homo Frye

I think "hands off Amy Winehouse" is a classic. Can you top it? Have a favorite or did I leave your genius name from last year off the list? Drop it in the comments section.

We're officially in business.  You can now sign up for the Amazingly Queer Race online, and it only takes a moment:

queerrace.org/register

The official registration deadline is until April 30, but I'm encouraging my friends to sign up early.  Because of the nature of the event, we can only accommodate 100 or so teams - don't be one of the sad sacks that gets left behind because you didn't take 2 minutes to fill out the form :)

Also, we've set it up so that you can register even if you don't yet have a teammate.  Sign yourself up and reserve your spot and let us know later when you've found that perfect partner.  We'll also be debuting personalized fundraising pages in about a week that will make the money raising part of this extravaganza easy, quick and painless.

Oh, and did I mention that you should REGISTER?  Like, right now:

queerrace.org/register