Vancouver runners strip down and race to the finish

We runners are usually concerned about getting all our gear needs down pat for race day. Every so often a race day fail makes us wish we could just ditch those uncomfortable shorts or shirts. Runners put a lot of effort into finding gear that fits the body comfortably with seamless, mesh, and tops that feel like they are nearly not there at all.

This weekend, a group of runners in Vancouver scrapped the need for any gear whatsoever. They ran completely naked in what they refer to as a “buns run.”

The event took place at Vancouver clothing optional beach, Wreck Beach. Called Buns Across the Border: Wreck Beach Run, this is a running event that has taken place for the last 19 years.

At 12:00 p.m., runners lined up at the start line at the bottom of Wreck Beach Trail 6 to run the 5K race. Those who show up, strip down in the name of “naturism,” or nudism as more people might know it as.

“The purpose of the run is to raise public awareness of the wholesomeness of naturism and its creed of living in harmony with nature,” states their event Facebook page. The adult entry fee costs participants $25.00.

Oddly enough, runners win a T-shirt.

All funds going to the Wreck Beach Preservation Society which works to maintain the beach and keep it in the most natural state as possible. That initiative includes fighting against the transportation of jet fuel in the waters near to the beach as well as opposing a jet fuel offloading facility being built right across from Wreck Beach Trail 6.

Wreck Beach stretches for nearly eight kilometres and gets up to around 12,000 to 14,000 visitors on some days. It is North America’s largest clothing-optional beach in a regional park.