Crazy Legs

Naked Ambition

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Hi Michal,” the email began, like any other. But then: “I put on North America’s largest clothing-optional 5k.” Wait, not only was there a nude 5k, but this was the largest on the continent, meaning there are others? Pete Williams, the naked race director, or, let me rephrase that – the director of the naked race – was emailing to invite me to run the Caliente’s Bare Dare 5k at the Caliente Resort north of Tampa, Fla.

The race attracts about 400 runners, and since 2012 has served as the National Championship of Nude Running. That’s right: the National Championship of Nude Running. And some of these streakers are quick. Course records are 15:49 for the men and 17:53 for the women.

The race entry fee includes access to the clothingoptional resort for the day. There are – duh – no race bibs, but you do get a race T-shirt.

“You don’t have anything bothering you, or pulling or making you hot or cold. I feel like you’re faster when you’re naked,” says Bare Dare competitor Suzanne McLean. “It’s a bucket-list thing for sure – everybody has to try it.”

Women’s Running magazine editor Jessica Sebor won the women’s race in 2012 and wrote about how it helped her overcome body image problems. “As we looped around the resort,” Sebor wrote, “I felt my anxiety dissipate.” By 3k, she said, “I practically forgot I was naked.”

Turns out there are clothing-optional races all over the world, including Canada’s world-famous Wreck Beach Bare Buns in Vancouver, which turns 22 this year.

If you’re not up for the full monty, but want to experience near-nakedness for a run in the winter, there’s always the Toronto Santa Speedo Run. Participants wear red, white or green Speedo-style swim suits and run fast enough to get warm along a route no longer than 3k in the city’s Yorkville area.

Cold-hardy Canadians might consider joining the 300 Club, a nude run with a 300-degree temperature differential in Antarctica that involves jumping out of a 200 F sauna into the minus-100 F outdoor temperature and running a few hundred metres to the South Pole and back. Frostbite in sensitive areas is a definite concern.

I had to turn down the offer from Williams to run the Caliente as it didn’t fit my schedule. But if I do get a chance to travel to a nude race, it’ll pack light.