Yesterday an interesting item popped up in my Facebook feed. It was a link to the website for the Utah Undie Run. Emilie and I had just moved to Salt Lake City and our friend Danielle had come to visit. I thought it would be fun for us to do so I suggested it.
Not being the types to go parading around in their undies in front of large crowds, I was surprised that they agreed.
So, yesterday at around 5pm we stripped down and headed to the Salt Lake City Public Library where the event was to going to start.
What the Hell is the Utah Undie Run?
You can read all about the run on the organization’s website. The short version is that a lot of Utah residents are frustrated about the conservative political policies in the state and the conservative image that it has. The run is a group effort to combat that.
Runners are encouraged to write slogans on their bodies for whatever political cause they want to draw attention to. There were lots of body paintings critical of the state’s restrictive liquor laws, opposition to gay marriage, and, of course, for the legalization of marijuana.
Those are all causes I can get behind.
How it Went Down
The atmosphere that of a big party. They had a DJ booth set up at the public library where we started from. Some of the outfits were fantastic.
The run started slowly. There were lots of walkers and lots of shouting and joking around. After about 1K the run proceeded up a fairly steep hill toward the capital building. That slowed a lot of people down.
Police were present all around the course to make sure nobody drove into the race.
It was probably the slowest 5k I ever ran. It probably took us about 45 minutes, but we were in no hurry. It was a pretty awesome scene, with beautiful people in their undies all over the place, and the sun sinking behind the mountains.
Then a guy dressed as Borat ran past us. He was a hit.
We returned to the library where we had to wait for all participants to finish the run. We had to wait quite a while for that. Then we all had to remain in a roped off area for five minutes in order to officially claim the world record for what Sara Wilcox, a spokeswoman for the London-based Guinness World Records Inc. called the “largest gathering of people wearing only underpants/knickers.”
So, Danielle, Emilie, and I (along with 2,267 other Utahians) are now officially World Record holders.
There’s another one I can check off the ‘ol bucket list.
A Few Bonus Utah Undie Run Photos
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What a brilliant idea and congratulations on your world record!! Loved the pics.
Julia
Thanks Julia!
hahaha, this is AWESOME! I would so do this, especially for the world record 😉
– Maria Alexandra
Thanks Maria!
Congrats on the record! Looks like tons of fun. Reminds me of a slightly tamer naked bike ride I did in PDX. Completely random, last minute and out of my comfort zone, but good times had by all. Keep the good stories and pics flowing. Hopefully we’ll catch up on an adventure soon.
Naked? Awesome. Just got to beware o saddle chap!
We totally need to catch up. You headed out toward UT any time soon?
I love undie runs! Great photos! I love how everyone dressed up. Er..down. You know what I mean.
Up. Definitely up.
Hi! Great Read! I am so happy people showed up even more than last year, to break a new record and to give back to the local community. I donated a huge bag of warm clothes.
Big Hug to all of you!
Walmartah
Glad you liked it (and took part). Nice website btw!
Oh my gosh!!! I was there too! I live outside of St. George, UT but went up for the undierun and it was, needless to say, a blast! Wish I had known you were there too. 🙂
It was great! Wish we’d have known you were there too. We just moved here, and hardly know anybody.
Cool….