BARE-2-B'ers
Comment On The Demonstration
The Honest Testimonial Web Page
"Life is not made up of years.
Life is made up of moments."- Elie Wiesel
Volume:
From: Tarzana, California. "I wanted to comment on how great an experience it was to join Bare To Breakers in the race. I am hooked! There was a senior runner who I had paced with for part of the race and I definitly saw myself running as a senior. My only problem now is waiting a year.
Thank you all for the greatest experience of my life. If all goes well, San Francisco will see me every year for the rest of my life."
From: Plainsboro, New Jersey. "Had the time of my life at the run. While I have been a long time nudist, I did not trust myself to go thru the run nude.... Not only did I do it but I did it in a lifetime best time of 1:26 and got my picture in the S.F. Examiner to boot! All thanks to the wonderful organization and morale boosting emails from you. Thank you."
From: Boise, Idaho. "It appears that the newspaper and the public enjoyed our presence as much as we enjoyed being there. I have travel a fair amount and tried to enjoy life, but this tops everything. It was thrilling! I look forward to next year."
From: Palm Springs, California . "Thanks to all the Boosters for making my first naked B2B such a great experience. I followed the pre race discussions with great interest and the tips I got there and from the unofficial webpage were great. I was able to race as naked as possible by acquiring an inexpensive (Thanks to the Old Navy clearance rack) "disposable" warm up suit, keeping my running shorts under my Bare 2 Breakers cap, buying a "Wallet on a String" at the B2B Expo, and having a disposable camera in my sock.
Knowing that I'd get a tee shirt for finishing helped and though I felt the need to purchase a sweatshirt as well at Footstock, the Nordstrom's Tent clerk got very excited when I explained to him that this one of the disadvantages of doing the race naked, and announced to everyone in the vicinity that, "We've got a naked runner here!" leading to more cheers!
The crowds cheering, "Yeah! Naked People!" all along the route were a great thrill and made me very proud of what we were doing. A nude couple I walked for a while at one point commented, "Only in America!" I felt forced to correct them with, "Well, only in San Francisco actually!" But that may be only for the present as more and more of us have the courage to demonstrate that indeed, "Nudity Is Not A Crime."
I want to particularly express my gratitude to the women who turned out in record numbers and whose nude presence required extra bravery. Hearing Lee Anne speak of her experience doing B2B, facing her fears and the empowerment she felt from the experience at last year's Western Naturist Gathering at Lupin is really what inspired me, despite being a simple male, to make the effort to get there this year.
Thank you, everyone, for the inspiration and support that made the experience so powerful for me. I, too, expect to make Bare 2 Breakers an annual event in my life and to bring as many naturist friends along with me in future years as I can persuade to join me."
From: Folsom, California.
"Never done this, or any other public nude thing before."
From: Phoenix, Arizona.
"I can't wait until next year's event. This was a truly liberating experience."
From: San Jose, California. "I am writing this to tell everyone who did and who did not participate in this event, how much it impressed me. I am a naturist member of Lupin and the world. My husband and I were the drivers for our naturist friends last year (1997) that participated as nude runners. We never had seen the race in person. Never even wanted to, but we thought if our friends were participating with such zeal, it would be fun to be there to drive them home, hold their wallets or whatever and provide water and enthusiastic support.
Well, we did. After dropping them off near the start, we then went off and stuffed ourselves with a lovely breakfast and then drove near the end of the race to witness the cheers of the enthusiastic crowd each time a nude runner approached. That was all good and fine, but it still wasn't enough to get me motivated.
Then one of our friends that ran nude who happened to be here from Australia philosophized:
"I do it because this is the only country in the world
where you can do such a thing without being arrested.
I could never run past parliament in my skin
without going straight to jail."
That made me think. I realized then that I am some kind of ingrate not to take advantage of a great privilege like this. So, with a LITTLE training, my husband and I did WALK the route with other naturists and I am so jazzed. I intend to definitely do it again next year. The crowd was very positive and supportive. Folks stepped up and asked permission before they took photos (for the most part) and cheered us all on "GO NAKED PEOPLE, YAY!"
We obeyed all the directives we received prior to the race not to go into areas without clothes beyond the race course itself. It was a very exhilarating, positive experience. It was not difficult. The furthest I had ever walked in one stretch prior to that day was 3 1/2 miles. The Bare-to-Breakers is 7 1/2 miles. The next day, we both had mild stiffness here or there, but only enough to make us smile with the memories it brought.
So, if you are teetering on the brink of indecision, come walk with us next year.
Thanks to everyone who helped with that great information that helped us all to be able to participate and to know what limits were expected. I am proud to have participated."
From: Milpitas, California. "The crowd seemed delighted by any nude walkers and I suspect they hoped to see more of us."
From: British Columbia, Canada. "This was a definite high spot in my life. I loved every moment of the walk. I will never miss another. So many people to meet! Just awesome!"
From: Sunnyvale, California. "Also, people had a lot of fun. I talked to a bunch of the participants at the start and none of us had done this before. We were apprehensive. But it turned into a great time fast."
From: Lexington, Kentucky. "Several times women asked to have their pictures taken as they were running with us. It was a fun time and I would like to do it again."
From: Carlsbad, California. "It was a great run and day. I'll never forget the joy of running bare assed nekked through the streets of SF. Truly a sensual experience that makes me wish that I could do more running that way."
From: Las Vegas, Nevada. "Last year I stumbled across the Bare to Breakers site completely by accident, and by the time I had read it top to bottom, word for word, I knew I wanted to try it. I am not a Naturist. As a matter of fact, I had never been nude in public before. But after reading the postings in this forum and chatting with some former participants, I knew I had to try it. Let me tell you, when I doffed my shorts, was one of the scariest in my life! It was also one of the best! Anyone reading this who has not yet made up his or her mind, please take the plunge and just do it. You'll never regret it. Everybody should try it AT LEAST once."
Post Script later received: "The only person who knew that I was running nude last year was my wife. Since then everyone has found out, my family, friends, and co-workers. I had gone to the beach and I left my hat in the car. A family member saw it and figured it out; some of my co-workers know my family. Busted! Everyone had a good laugh when I came clean. I answered a lot of questions! They all know that I plan to run again this year, and for the most part they are cheering me on! (mother in law grins but doesn't say much, lol) Some have threatened to join me. I have offered to take them, seriously, but so far everyone has backed off. Don't sweat it if someone does see you, laugh! Life is just to short to let everyone else live your life. Carpe Diem! (hope I spelled that right). See you at the race!"
From: Santa Clara, California. "This event was, without a doubt, one of the highlights of my entire life! I was on an incredible high the entire day."
From: Santa Barbara, California. "We all lost count of how many times people shouted out "Viagra" and "Hey naked guy!" Of course, there was no end of women who just had to get a picture of the team, or even better, run along with us."
From: New York, N.Y. "Just wanted to add my thanks for one of the great experiences of my life- running naked from one end of San Francisco to the other. I could not believe how positive the response of everyone on the street was, and the cool attitude of the police."
From: Livermore, California. "You will have a Blast! This is my third time and it still has me psyched for several days, before and after the race! The meeting place will be e-mailed to all registered runners a few days before the race. This information is all on the Bare to Breakers web site. Please read the web site fully, and follow the easy to use rules of conduct. Every year has been great, never a bad word or comment. Your face will hurt from smiling so much! Bring a camera! Get a Bare2B hat, it REALLY helps in a lot of ways. The boosters will answer any questions that you may have."
From: Unknown, U.S.A. "I read about the Bare to Breakers about four years ago. Since then I wanted to do it, but I never seemed to time it right. At the last minute I registered for the race, and e-mailed Ted for a late Bare2Ber registration. I never would have been able to do it on my own, but I can't believe how easy it was to do with the group. The hats allowed me to walk at any pace I wanted, because I could always find someone ahead of me or behind me to walk with. I also found it very easy to talk to someone else that was wearing a Bare2Ber hat. I walked most of the distance with another fellow who had entered the race for the last 26 years, ran it nude on his own last year, and was part of the group this year. He said that last year he was very apprehensive for over 15 minutes, while this year he wasn't at all. Thanks for the welcome feeling that was extended to me. I plan on doing it again next year. Thanks again to all of you that were part of the group!!"
From: Annapolis, Maryland "Many thanks to everyone here! This was my first Bare2B, and it truly was much more fun than I thought it would be. Flying in from the East Coast, I honestly wasn't totally sure about it being "worth it", but some regular posters here and the Bare2B web site pushed me over the edge. Deciding to go was a lot easier knowing that there was a good group of other people to meet and be together with.
It was almost sureal, the way everyone got together in one spot, and in complete unison, solidarity, and without any hesitation, stripped right down, men and women, tall and short, fat and skinny. Many people had done this before and were with friends; others (like me) didn't know anyone, but we all had the same expression of "holy shit! this is so cool! I can't believe it!" on our faces.
For the next five minutes or so while waiting for the officials to let us in as a group, everyone was waving to the crowd of onlookers (including the police) and congratulating ourselves and feeding off of each others' enthusiasium. It was absolutely, without a doubt, THE best singular moment in my streaking career. Just great fun.
And that's just the beginning, as that fun did not waiver one bit until the end and having to wait in line for the bus. The bus itself wasn't so bad, and I even got a few questions about the race --
"Really? You ran the whole way naked? Nooo... Really? Wow, that!"
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