Nothing feels as Primal as running naked through the forest…and I did just that on the Fig Leif 5k. It was held as part of Pedalpalooza just prior to the World Naked Bike Ride. It started 500 yards up Lief Erickson Drive and onto the 2 mile mark and back.

A couple of cute volunteer girls painted my face as a tiger and wrote “Hug Life, Run Naked” on my back. I don’t know if it was because I was so eager to get painted or my physique, but I seemed to be attracting some attention from the ladies and several men. Wow. I felt so flattered.

15 runners, a good mix of men and woman of different levels of fitness took part in this annual run. I was in front of the pack for a short while but started to slow down about half-way through as my left knee was still sore from a hyper-extension the week before. I finished mid-pack and was greeted by a paper-tape finish, a ribbon with my finishing time and some glow-sticks for the WNBR.

I didn’t take any pictures of the other runners as it felt a little inappropriate to be staring. Everyone looked good naked at this point.

The feeling of raw freedom and re-connecting to nature in such a festive way sealed my plans to do this run again next year.