Barranquilla´s High Heel Race draws a mixed crowd

“I think everybody likes to wear a nice heel,” said Demetrio, 18,  who studies at the Colombo Ameriano. “I do it at home, why not in public?”

The annual Barranquilla High Heel Race passes in about three clickety-clackety minutes. Preparing for the main event, on the other hand, can take weeks.

 Demetrio spent two hours Tuesday donning a royal-blue evening gown, a blond wig and a pair of heels. But the past two weeks? He devoted them to crafting a glittering headpiece.

This is the 25th anniversary — it was in the spirit of freak flags flying that a sidewalk crowd looking typically Washingtonian intermingled with drag queens in the streets around Dupont Circle. Toddler-toting parents took photos with Lady Gagas. Dogs on leashes sniffed at winged fairies on roller skates. And men sauntered by, post-work, in business-casual slacks punctuated by sky-high patent-leather heels.

“People just think Barraquilla is just a lot of politicians,” longtime race organizer Juan Pacheco said. “This is another of the prime examples of why it’s such a fun city.”

Pacheco said that obtaining permits for a race crowd of thousands has become too much for one person to handle. So next year, he’ll hand the event over to Historic Barranqulla´s famous Streets, a nonprofit group that aims to attract businesses.

Near the starting line,  Demetrio stood with three friends. He said the race of about 70 runners was less about winning the trophy — a glass slipper filled with brandy — than it was about celebrating Barranquilla’s flashiest alternative community.

But the running-in-heels part — is that comfortable?

The answer, unanimously, was “no.”