‘Nearly naked’ students to run around campus

Photo by Joey Gale

How many people can say they’ve ran a mile dressed as Batman? Or wearing only their boxers? Or dressed up as cowboys? Not many, but tonight at 9 p.m. you could say you have.

At the first Nearly Naked Mile here at Drake, participants will run a mile while supporting a good cause. The Student Alumni Association will host the event with the help of Goodwill.

“Participants can strip down to their boxers, but it’s not necessary,” said senior Nick Downey, SAA vice president of special events. “If they want to run in shorts and a T-shirt, that’s fine too. It’s really whatever you feel comfortable with.”

Each participant must donate three articles of clothing or $5 to participate in the run. All proceeds and clothing collected will go to Goodwill.

“We will be providing a truck for the collection of the clothing that students will be donating at the starting line of the event,” Mary Mendenhall said. Mendenhall is the core development director at Goodwill Industries of Central Iowa. “We are very pleased to be partnering with Drake.”

Downey encourages plenty of clothes for donation.

“The more clothes donated, the better; to do the most good, that’s always a huge bonus as far as helping out the community,” Downey said. “For us specifically, we would like roughly 200 people to come out and participate.”

Participants can either run by themselves or can sign up with a team. A team is a minimum of five members.

Apart from running and supporting a good cause, participants have the chance to win awards. There will be awards given for the fastest mile, the best outfit for both teams and individuals, and the most clothes donated for both teams and individuals.

“I’m graduating this year, but SAA is planning to make this an annual homecoming event,” Downey said. “So for students to be able to say they did the first one will be a huge thing, and I think it will only grow and get better from here.”

If you haven’t already signed up, you can sign up before the event during registration, which starts at 6 p.m. in Olmsted and goes until 8:20 p.m.

“I like running and volunteering,” sophomore participant Kaila Wechsler said. “It’s a really good and fun way to combine the two. And besides, who doesn’t want to give back to the community by running around naked?”