Wreck Beach hosts 16th annual nude 5k

The B.C. nude beach hosts the 'clothing optional' run to raise money for the Wreck Beach Preservation Society.

If the barefoot runners think they’ve got the market cornered on running the way our ancestors once did, they have yet to run the Wreck Beach Bare Buns 5K.

The B.C. nude beach has been hosting the ‘clothing optional’ run for 16 years in order to raise money for the Wreck Beach Preservation Society. This past Sunday, dozens braved cold and wet conditions, which were threatened by occasional thunder showers, to run along the beach in the buff.

Although the conditions were poor, participants were quick to point out that perhaps the worst weather for nude running is extreme sunlight. “If it’s sunshine, the sunbeam is very strong here — a hazard”, UBC professor Ken Matsuyama told reporters Sunday.

A nude jaunt on a beach isn’t all fun in the sun, as 16 time participant Kevin McGinnis told reporters, “it’s a challenging course because it’s sand. The sand really slows you down quit a bit, your ankles twist and you’ve got water that you run through. It’s not your typical 5K race.”

All the proceeds for the run go maintaining the beach and funding the next year’s run. “Everything we earn goes back into the run, back into the war chest, to try to keep the beach undeveloped.”

Ironically, the race kit includes, among other things, a t-shirt.

For a gallery of photos of the event visit the Edmonton Sun’s article on the run.

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