The unofficial rules of mattress racing:
1. Each team carries a mattress (with a person on top) from a drop-off point all the way back to home base. The team must choose their route carefully, because...
2. The mattress police patrol the streets, and honk when they see a team on the move.
3. At the sound of the honk, the team has five seconds to "stop, drop and jump" -- in other words, put the mattress and the person on the ground (carefully!) and jump on the bed.
4. Once the mattress police pass the team, they honk again and the team can continue. But...
5. If the team fails to "stop, drop and jump", the mattress police pick them up and take them back to the starting point. Proof positive that running from the cops is never a good idea!