Organized naked running is nothing new, the ancient Greek Olympics had athletes race naked. For most of the first century of the games, the only athletic events were foot races.
The Kaniksu Ranch Family Nudist Resort claims to have the oldest naked (or clothing optional) run in the world 1Kaniksu Ranch Family Nudist Resort. It was first held at the Loon Lake Washington resort in 1984. Most nudist resorts are not large enough to contain a 5km course. Resort runs are usually two laps to get to 3.1 miles.
Bare Oaks Naturist Park in Ontario needs 5 laps to reach 5km. Two races in the USA, Bare Burro 2Bare Burro at Olive Dell Ranch at Olive Dell Ranch in California and The Bare Dare at Caliente Resort in Florida, annually have over 300 entries. The Caliente race also claims about 1/3 of the starters are women, which is much higher than smaller events. As with the resorts themselves, the runners are usually in the Masters category (over 40 years old).
Turtle Lake Resort 2019 Clothing Optional 5K makes two cycles around the resort roads to complete its 5k.
The Streak to the Peak 4K race at the Bare Mountain Retreat is billed by organizers a challenging, as the race heads a the mountain to finish at the peak at a 1,200 foot elevation gain. 3Streak to the Peak
Most large events pull entries from the running community, rather than nudists who have membership in the host resort. Both small and large races typically have over half the entries being men between 40 and 69. Even in resorts that are not clothing optional, the races are usually clothing optional. Women are almost always allowed to wear sports bras, which like shoes, are considered sporting equipment much like a softball glove or tennis racquet would be. With so few women, and being bottomless, toilet lines for the ladies are almost always non existent before the start. The Caliente Bare Dare calls itself the National Championships of naked racing, and the title goes to the first male and female fully nude runner.
Resort runs are typically a lower key than textile runs. Finishing medals and a t-shirt are rare. Some races have cotton shirts. Almost none have sponsors on them. Most are mass starts, and timing chips are not worn in most races. Award medals may be generic or only given to first place, rather than the first three.
Beer miles have been added as a second event in recent years at a few larger events. Most popular is the 5k distance. Courses are almost never certified. Finland has a three lap 10k, and there is also a 10k in England. Sunny Rest in Pennsylvania has a trail 7k.
Non Resort Clothing Optional Races
The Burning Man seems to have the only clothing optional ultra marathon (50km), and the event also has a 5k and a beer mile later in the week. The San Francisco Bay to Breakers 12K race is one of the largest non marathons in the world. Paid entries are now about 36,000. The event is grandfathered in an anti-nudity law, but the number of nude runners is only about 100. The annual Run Woodstock trail ultra near Hell Michigan has a “natural mile” on opening night after dark .
A few nude beaches have 5K runs, noticeably Wreck Beach in Vancouver BC and in Portugal. The inaugural run of Berck-sur-Mer 6k on the northern French beach on the Opal coast got many more participants than organizers expected. This suggests the increasing popularity of naked running and particularly naked 5k races. 4Naked On The Run: A New Craze For Racing In The Nude
Two short distance naked races in front of public spectators (and media coverage) are held in Denmark. Aarhus University has a nogenlob (naked race) for students, and the Roskilde Music Festival nogenlob is about 200 meters and gets heavy media coverage in Denmark. In Australia another music festival has the Meridith Gift naked race.
Find a list of naked 5k event on the naked 5k calendar
Naked race events
[tribe_mini_calendar category=”5k”]
Additional Resources
How to Run a 5K in Shoes, Socks and Not Much Else
References
- 1Kaniksu Ranch Family Nudist Resort
- 2
- 3
- 4