The Saturday-brunch set at Pastis was startled out of its Prosecco daydreams by the roar of a hundred engines awakening at once. On this mid-July morning, the air smelled unaccountably of gasoline and the cobblestone streets in front of the Gansevoort Hotel in New York’s Meatpacking District were transformed into a starting line. Bleary-eyed victims of the previous night’s excess, seeking only coffee and solace, were elbowed out of the way by gaping tourists and jacked-up car buffs. This was the first leg of the cross-country navigational rally known as Bullrun, and Kim Kardashian was there to wave the flag. And that seemed just about right.

Despite her form-fitting bodysuit, Kardashian was, for once, not the curviest body around. That honor belonged to the scores of Ferraris, Porsches and Lamborghinis gleaming in the morning sun. The Bullrun, founded in 2003, is a backbone-busting mash-up of lowbrow thrills and high-end nightlife debauchery. Each year, the rally originates in a different city, with only the final destination revealed to drivers. Each intervening night of the weeklong journey is spent partying in a different metropolis—the locations of which remain shrouded in mystery until the morning of departure.

This year’s race ended in Austin, Texas, with pit stops in Pittsburgh, Nashville, Atlanta and New Orleans. At the kick-off Pepsi Max Bullrun Party at Manhattan’s Soho House—a maelstrom of bottles, blondes and bottle blondes—actor Gerard Butler lamented missing the full rally because of his commitment to The Bounty, the new film he is shooting alongside Jennifer Aniston. “They’re trying to get me to participate in the first leg to Pittsburgh, and it sounds very tempting to jump in a Mustang Shelby and do a day’s driving—I just don’t know if my film’s producers will be happy with the idea,” said the 300 star, who was there to support his friend and Bullrun co-founder, Andrew Duncan (partnered with British businessman David Green). “That said,” countered Duncan, “It’s always better to beg forgiveness than ask for permission.”

Photography: Zandy Mangold.