Hundreds gather for Emma Crawford Coffin Races in Manitou Springs

Hundreds of spectators lined the streets in downtown Manitou Springs to cheer on contestants at the annual Emma Crawford Coffin Races and Festival Saturday.

Decked out in costumes, teams of five -- four pushers and one 'Emma' -- raced 'coffins' up the street in honor of Emma Crawford, who came to Manitou Springs in 1889.

As the story goes, Emma Crawford's dying wish was to be buried atop Red Mountain, which was fulfilled when she succumbed to tuberculosis in 1891. But in 1929 spring rains unearthed her coffin and sent it sliding back down the mountainside into Manitou.

And thus, the Coffin Races were born.