Students inspired by Nelly’s hit “Hot In Herre” can take off-almost-all their clothes and dash down Sheridan Road on Dillo Day weekend.
The first Nearly Naked Run at Northwestern has more than 100 confirmed guests on its Facebook event page, which encourages participants to “make history” by shedding everything but their underwear and running from the Technological Institute to The Arch.
The event is currently slated to take place Saturday night following Dillo Day performances. The event’s creators may move the run to Friday night in order to increase participation, co-creator Ramu Annamalai said.
“We’re afraid people will be passed out or too tired after Dillo Day, so we were thinking Friday night might be better,” the Weinberg sophomore said. “People should keep checking back on the Facebook page to find out this week.”
If the event attracts 50 or more participants, Annamalai said he will consider the inaugural run a success.
Those who have replied to the Facebook invitation have been encouraged to put a philanthropic angle on the event. Annamalai said he will collect any discarded clothes along the course and contact charities to find one in need, whether he receives suggestions or not.
“I was trying to see if anyone had a charity in mind that needed clothes,” he said. “Either way, I’ll have a drop box there and the runners can leave their clothes to donate.”Depending on the event’s success, the run could become a Dillo Day weekend tradition, Annamalai said.
“This is the kind of thing that people could really get behind, and it could really enhance the Northwestern experience,” he said.
One of NU’s Big Ten peers, Indiana University, hosted its second annual Nearly Naked Mile during its Homecoming week in the fall. Between 300 and 400 students came dressed in costumes ranging from the extremely risqué to the crazily quirky, said two-time participant and rising Indiana senior Josh Smith.
“It’s grown a lot from the first year to the second,” Smith said. “Plus, it’s a registered event, so it’s not like we have to run from the police like we would if it was a completely naked run.”
Students who want to run in the Indiana event either register and pay $10 or donate two items of clothing before the race, giving the run a charitable spin, Smith said.
Whether the event takes place Friday or Saturday night, SESP junior Austin Pate said he thinks he will be able to scrape up the energy to make the trek down Sheridan.
“I see this as being one of those things where a very dedicated band of maybe 40 people will show up,” he said. “I know a lot of my friends are planning on doing it, so I’m sure we’ll meet up and head over to take part.”
While it’s not the usual NU experience, that’s part of what will make this event so much fun, Pate said.
“It just seems like a really fun thing to do,” he said. “It’s a way of bringing the campus together in a shared sense of shame and embarrassment.”
