Public nudity

When I first found out that there was an organized group of people who ran naked through San Francisco for the Bay to Breakers 12k run I was excited.  I couldn't believe that I could run through the city and not get arrested.  Actually, the law in San Francisco does not make nudity a criminal offense anywhere other than in Golden Gate Park, and while the race goes through the park, as long as you stay on the road you are not considered to be in the park itself.

My husband and I signed up for Bare to Breakers group and were given instructions for where to meet for the members only pre-race meeting.  We met in a conference room of a large hotel.  There people were clothed most of the time though at times stripping off all their clothes to apply sunscreen or tie on their race number.  After some preparation and chit chat, there was a short talk by the organizer describing proper etiquette (no lewd behavior) and encouraging people to hand out beads and balloons (though not in exchange for Mardi Gras style flashing).  After that we divided into 2 groups - runners and walkers - and headed out toward the starting line.  When we reached the street where we were going to start the race we stripped down to the bare essentials - tennis shoes, neon yellow hats, beads around our neck and balloons in hand.  The woman standing next to me had painted on her stomach Say No To Bush, and as you may have guessed she had no pubic hair having recently started laser hair removal.

The run was exhilarating.  People were yelling and cheering for me.  There were a few guys who ran alongside videotaping (a little creepy) and others who had looks of shock on their faces (but give me a break, this is San Francisco - a naked couple is certainly not the craziest thing I've seen on the street).

Speaking of being a naked couple, there was one woman we passed who screamed "Rock out with your cock out, Jam out with your clam out!"  But most people were not so keen on seeing a naked man.  Perhaps it's because the naked men outnumbered the women 10:1 or perhaps it's because many of the nude males were not attractive.  There were definitely some attractive naked men, and I found it sad that even those men got heckled.

We ran naked 3 years in a row and each time walked back (the whole 12k) along the course since we completed the race before all rowdy, costumed people and floats.  This allowed us to enjoy the run and the party.  Then after 2 years off (we had conflicting plans) we returned this past May.  But we had heard (incorrectly, it turned out) that the Bare to Breakers group had disbanded so we ran on our own.  We did not run naked (which was nice at the starting line since it was freezing cold, even with a hot Starbucks coffee in hand) but I ran in a tiny dress and my husband ran in a t-shirt and utili-kilt.  We did not wear anything under our minimal coverage and had fun flashing people along the course.  At one point there was a group of about 10 guys behind a fence watching the race, I flashed them and they  went wild rattling their cage and barking.  But I believe the funniest moment was when we were walking back along the course and we heard a guy we were passing comment "I can't believe that dude is naked" about someone walking in the race.  My husband responded with "this is the first time we done it clothed."  The man laughed in disbelief, to which my husband and I simultaneously lifted our skirts.  His jaw dropped and we walked away laughing - just another fun day in San Francisco.