No this isn’t about sitting on a copier bare butt.  Although, that is fun.  Butt Prints 5K Run & Walk is the next race in the 2009 B.A.R.E. Butt Chasers East Coast Race Series.  It only takes running two events in the series to qualify for this amazing vacation prize!  So on July 4th celebrate our nation’s independence by running naked through the woods at Steph’s Pond in Williamson, New York.  Leave your footprint in this back to nature setting race.

There are some other things to bare in mind (pun intended) about nude running, which conveniently spells out B.A.R.E. for ease of memory.  B:  Behavior:  It’s your ticket to returning to future events.  A:  Always was a first time for all of us to BARE (like when you were born).  R:  Run or walk with other like-minded social recreational nudists who have no body judgments.  E:  Enjoy and have fun.  This adventure will last you a lifetime.  I know it has for me.  I ran a nudist 5K a couple of years back and I still tell people about it today.  It’s one of the most interesting things I’ve done.  You don’t become the “Most Interesting Man in the World” by running with your clothes on like typical runners.

Go ahead and get your early registration in by June 12th for $25.  After that the price increases to $30.  Entry fee, $30 dollars.  Gas to race, $14 dollars.  Striving to become the Most Interesting Man in the World?  Priceless.  Be more interesting and give running nude a try and this great race!

Many races have the tag-line “Classic” but the Baltimore Women’s Classic 5K is true to the namesake.  The Baltimore Women’s Classic 5K has a storied history dating back to 1976.  Since then thousands of women have participated in Baltimore’s premiere all-women’s race, the competitive (also known as serious) and those out for a fun morning run with friends.  All race proceeds support women’s causes.  The race is intended to celebrate life, fitness, and the power that lies inside each women to take control of her health.  In 2008, the race attracted 1,200 women and the 2009 goal is to break 1,500 participants!  Be a part of this classic, growing, women’s 5K and help it achieve its goal!

This is a great race course winding through Northwest Harbor beginning and ending at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Runners will run by Fort McHenry, Latrobe Park, and Southside Marketplace on this scenic 5K course.  If you are a first time runner then this is the perfect 5K to start you on your way to becoming a serious runner.  The Balimore Women’s Classic 5K provides some great training programs with the goal to provide fun, inexpensive, and supportive workouts to encourage women to embark on a lifelong program of fitness.  There are training groups for all types of runners from beginning walkers to intermediate runners.  Join one of these groups and develop a passion for running you will carry with you for the rest of your life.  Then you can run the Baltimore’s Women’s Classic 5K every year and become part of the tradition.

If you would like to socialize more than training runs with other women runners like yourself then participate in some of the pre-race events.  Tomorrow night, June 3rd, race participants along with friends and family will be meeting at Mt. Washington Tavern at 6:00 pm for music and drinks, plus a raffle and prizes.  You could be a winner before even starting the race!  If you don’t plan on running the race but would still like to support the Baltimore Women’s Classic 5K then come out to Camden Yards for the Orioles vs. Braves for only $13.00! Bring a friend and support the race without even breaking a sweat!

So get ready to have some fun and participate in the state’s largest Women’s 5K!  You can register online until June 20th or send a paper registration via standard mail postmarked by June 19th.  But don’t wait that long, register online or have your mail registration postmarked by June 8th and the entry fee only $25.00.  You may register at any packet pick-up site or on race day starting at 6:30 am for $30.00.  Also bring the family along for this family affair.  There will be a co-ed kids fun run for ages 8 and under with an emphasis on fun at the conclusion of the 5K race.  You can register your kids when you register yourself, too easy.  Your kids will recieve a cool medal that will go great with your race T-shirt!

Bring the family and enjoy an awesome day at the Baltimore Women’s Classic 5K, but you don’t have to just take my word for it.  See what previous participants have to say about this fun Women’s event.  So go ahead and get out there, get running, and get fit!

Cheating happens in all types of races; however, marathons seem to be a prime target of cheating runners.  Perhaps this is because the long distances make it easier to cut the course, the high prestige of doing well in these races, or the large size of participants which makes it easy to blend in the crowd.  Whatever the reason, the fact is, there have been and always will be people who try to cheat in marathons.

The most famous marathon cheater, Rosie Ruiz, cheated is the most famous race, the Boston Marathon, in 1980 by riding the subway and running the last mile to the finish line.  She was able to break the tape, be awarded her medal for being the top female finisher, and be interviewed by reporters.  Those are some great incentives to cheat.  More recently, the fitness group and charity partner of the Marines Corp Marathon, JeansMarines admitted to helping at least eight of their participants cut the marathon course so they could reach their goal of getting from the couch in January to finishing a marathon in October.  Personally I think they should have just stayed on the couch rather than cheat.  However, JeanesMarines helped them cheat because they wanted to help their clients achieve their goals in order to continue to conduct a successful business.  Perhaps another runner’s goal is not to merely finish a race but to run fast enough to qualify for a larger marathon such as the Boston Marathon.  Take Hassan Ibrahim for instance, the University of Minnesota physician who had run the Twin Cities Marathon numerous times without being able to qualify for Boston.  So he gave his race bib number and timing chip to a friend who could run a faster qualifying time.  Then Hassan used that time to register for the Boston Marathon in his own name before race officials found that he had cheated in the Twin Cities Marathon.  Cheating seems counter-cultural to people who typically run marathons.  So why do people cheat in races?

It could be to gain monetary winnings or to simply gain respect from family and friends; however, the incentives for people to cheat should not be the question, but rather, ‘How can race officials provide incentives for runners not to cheat?’  Every system will be gamed, it is more important how race officials develop incentives for runners to not want to game the system.

Before the race, race officials can use race bibs that are difficult to alter.  Use of holograms or other intricate graphic designs on race bibs will deter potential cheaters from fabricating their own race bib in order to have a lower seeded number.  Also, race officials should monitor online exchange websites like craiglist for people trying to sell their race bibs.  Race officials can contact these sellers and remind them the rules and regulations of bib transfer for their race or take further action.

Once the gun sounds and the race begins the best way to deter cheaters is to place timing chip locations throughout the course in undisclosed locations.  In order to be a cheater you must think like a cheater.  Think about where someone may try to cut a loop short by running down a side street or an easy entry and exit point for a cheater to use undetected.  Once you determine possible course cutting locations, place the timing mats.  Also, place race officials as snipers close to these entry and exit points to monitor runners.  Place snipers as high as possible above the race course armed with high strength optical lenses.  These snipers will be able to view the race course undetected as runners are focused on what is in front of them and very rarely look up.  Lastly, go old school and set up video cameras in addition to the normal race photographers at different spots on the race course.  Although, RFID tag mats are the most efficient way to catch cheaters, video is often needed to deter against runners running in other people’s race bibs to attain qualifying times.  These runners cross every tag mat but only pictures will tell who really ran the race.

It’s difficult to understand why exactly people would cheat in a marathon.  These runners are first cheating themselves but are also cheating everyone else in the race who did the training and worked hard to accomplish their goals.  Race officials can’t stop people from being cheaters, but they can deter runners from cheating in their races.  Cheaters never win, well, maybe initially Rosie, but eventually they’ll be caught.

The SkirtChasers Race Series is taking their skirt chasing to Chicago, IL on June 13th.  If you live anywhere in the Chicago area then you need to run this great time 5K event.  It doesn’t matter if you are a serious runner or a serious walker, if you like to have fun then this is the race for you.  The SkirtChasers 5K race is unique because the women are given a 3 minute head start of the men, then the men take off chasing down the skirts.  If you are a serious runner, 1st place prize receives $500 regardless of gender.  Finally, men and women are treated equally…well, except for the 3 minute head start given to the women.  Currently the score is 6-3 female to male winners, so no matter what sex you are, you have a chance to win this race.  Don’t plan on winning?  Well then recruit your fastest opposite gender friend and race to be the first couple to cross the finish line together hand and hand for a free pair of native eyewear shades.  You’re future is so bright.  Even less of a serious runner than that?  You still may win something!  Other than cash prizes to the top 3 finishers overall, there will be special “Skivvies Awards” awarded to the “most likely to make out at the water station” or possibly for simply being bib number “69!”  There are so many possible ways for you to be a winner!  Although, everyone’s a winner at the SkirtChasers races.

Why?  Because once you cross the finish it is time for a block party that is like no other block party.  And no, not because the party area is shaped like an oval or something.  The SkirtChasers – Chicago is a great social atmopshere with the single people wearing stickers, live music, and free Barefoot Wine and Dos Equis to race finishers.  Go ahead, dare to be the most interesting man in the world.  The post race block party will also feature free food and live music by Debe Welch in this awesome happy hour atmosphere.  Happy Hour on a Saturday?  Oh, yes.  Other entertainment include the DriLex fashion show, “all the way down to your skivvies” which will feature SkirtSports and SkirtChaser products, emceed by Nicole DeBoom, the hilarious founder and president of SkirtSports and the SkirtChaser Race Series.   Also, hang out and watch the comically akward dating game.  And you thought drinking alcohol, listening to music, and conversing with the opposite sex was entertainment enough.  Don’t worry either, the party won’t stop, the post party follows into the night.  Chics dig sweaty dudes fo sho.

So get out there and meet some fun, active people of the opposite sex at the SkirtChasers – Chicago.  Register online from now until June 10th.  You can also avoid the higher race day registration fees by registering at Runner’s High ‘n Tri.  If you miss all of these ways to register then you can still register on race day starting at 2:30 at the EXPO.  There are many different options for race packages depending on what type of SkirtChaser products you want to recieve, so check them out and decide which one best fits you.

Stop complaining, get out there, meet and have fun with other runners just like you!  Trust me, you’ll thank me for it later.

California has done it again.  They’re setting trends.  About two weeks ago California struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriages saying that, like race or gender, “does not constitute legitimate basis on which to deny or withhold legal rights.”  A trend that other states are sure to follow.  A friend of mine this weekend said she is finally getting married after 7 years of co-habitation in her opposite-sex relationship.  She had not gotten married because she did not want to support an institution that did not allow same-sex couples the same rights as opposite-sex couples.  Looks like she can’t use that excuse anymore.  Now everyone has the right to monogamy, shared financial burdens, and having to share a bathroom!  Finally, every person is treated equally!  However, not all races are equal, that’s why I want to tell you about the awesome San Francisco FrontRunners 30th Annual Pride Run.

The 30th Annual Pride Run will be held on Saturday June 27th at 9am at the Golden Gate Polo Field South Entrance.  There is a race distance for every type of runner with a 5K walk, 5K run, and a 10K run.  The race winds around the polo fields in this beautiful San Fransisco park.  Awards will be handed out to the top female and male finishers in the 5K and 10K.  Also, awards will be given to the top finishers in each age division starting at >20, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70+.  The awards ceremony is conducted after the race at the complimentary BBQ.  What a great way to end a race and enjoy your fellow runners over some cooked meats and sides!  But don’t just enjoy getting to know the other runners at the post-race festivities, plan to attend the pre-race social for $5 in advance and $10 at the door with light refreshments, drinks, and fun.  Hanging out with other runners is always fun!  That’s why you’re here isn’t it?

This years beneficiary of the Pride Run is the Gay-Straight Alliance.  The gsanetwork is a youth leadership organization that connects school-based Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) to each other and community resources.  Through peer support, leadership development, and training, GSA Network supports young people in starting, strengthening, and sustaining GSA’s and builds the capacity for them to create safe environments in schools to learn about homophobia and other oppressions, educate the community about sexual orientation issues, fight discrimination, harassment, and violence in schools.  Run the 30th Annual Pride Run this year and support this very important organization.

Go ahead and register for this awesome race supporting a great cause!  Race prices are steady from now until June 17th.  Online registration will be closed on June 24th at 8:00 am.  If you don’t trust the Internet then print out a paper registration and send it by regular mail.  Or you can register on race day from 7:30-8:30.  Options are always good.  Make the right choice and run the San Francisco FrontRunners 30th Annual Pride Run!

I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from presenting these opportunities for naked races so I thought I would share the next naked run with you.  The 2009 Nudist 5K series is the Coventry’s 5K Run and Walk.  The race will be held on June 27th at 9:00 am at the Coventry Club & Resort, Milton, Vermont.  This race is run over gravel and trail on the beautiful Coventry Resort property where you can have fun and relax all day after running the race.  Yes, this race is part of the 2009 B.A.R.E. Butt Chasers East Coast Race Series and your time will count toward winning the Butt Chaser award at the end of the season.  What an accomplishment!  Your mother would be so proud.  So let it all hang loose and register for this naked race.  Racing with clothes on is for suckers.  I bet my technique to run my maximum pace would work really well in this race.

This weekend I ran a fun 5K, the Skirt Chasers – Raleigh.  The women start 3 minutes before the men who then have to “chase the skirts.”  I enjoy running these types of local 5Ks because they are a lot of fun and keep me competitive.  This race kept me more competitive than usual because I was chasing down women.  It was a good change though, women are usually the ones chasing me.  I actually have used chasing down women as a motivational technique in a race before.  Seriously.

This past March I ran the Georgia ING half marathon and was late to the start.  I got to the race on time but was using the restroom when I heard the start gun.  I finished what I was doing, ran towards the start line but there were tons of spectators and I couldn’t get to the front group where I needed to be.  I decided I had gotten as far as I would so I jumped in the middle of the crowd to walk toward the start line.  I was sandwiched between old men and Moms.  No offense though, I love Moms, I even have one.  I had my Garmin Forerunner 205 with me but I had forgotten to turn it on at the start.  Also, when crossing the start line I wasn’t paying attention enough to see what the time I was starting after the official start time.  I had no idea what my time was, just what my body remembered my pace should be.  However, although I didn’t know my distance, I was able to track about what my pace was using my Garmin Forerunner.  I had to make sure I kept my pace and pushed myself harder.  There wasn’t any other runners around me that were running the same pace or trying to attain the same time.  I was all alone with a goal to break 1:25.  In order to keep pushing myself I decided I needed to find a motivational technique to keep me at my max pace.  I saw a good looking female in front of me so I told myself I would catch her.  Once I ran past her I looked for another female.  My motivation was that I knew my time was not what it should be if there were females around.  So I made sure I passed her.  I continued this technique until about mile 10 when I ran out of females to catch but I then applied the same principal to males that I thought looked older than me.  This technique worked for me and I still use it when I race.  It was a little more difficult this weekend with the females having a 3 minute head start but I manageg to beat a good portion of them.  Sometimes you need a little more motivation to beat your competition.  Determine your technique and run your maximum pace!

As you take off your shirt at the lake or pool this Memorial Day weekend and realize you are behind in your “getting into summer shape” plan, think about making a goal for the next race you want to run.  May I suggest considering running the 4th Annual Stadium to Stadium 10K Challenge – AT&T Park to Candlestick Park?  Thanks.  Join Dean Karnazes on June 20th to support Mayor Newsom’s race running from AT&T Park to Candlestick Park in San Francisco.  You get two stadiums for the price of one!  This race’s net proceeds benefits Communities of Opportunity which is an initiative to improve the quality of life in public housing developments in the Southeast sector of San Francisco.  What a great way to improve the community you live in by running.

If you’ve run the Stadium to Stadium 10K Challenge before then you already know this is a fun event on a great race course; however, just like us as runners, this race is constantly improving.  For instance, there will be 5 additional aid stations at the start, Justin Case.  Also, additional buses are slated for transportation to start line from Candlestick park.  I know, you would rather run to the start line and turn around and run the race, but in case you get tired there will be a seat empty and ready for you on the bus.  Stadium to Stadium has also taken a green initiative this year to reduce the impact on the environment using biodegradable cups, plates, sporks (the name of my first garage band), and race bags.  This not enough to entice you to run the Stadium to Stadium 10k Challenge again?  How about $5 off fee to last year’s participants?  I thought that would motivate a bit.  Want more motivation to train hard and run your best?  How about mad prize money?  Cash awards of $100, $75, and $50 dollars will be given to the top 3 Male and Females in each age group starting at 19 and under, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60 years and older.

Leverage your entry fee and take full advantage of the Health and Fitness Fair where they will have great entertainment for the kids and free services for you from local vendors.  You can go to Stanford Eye Laser Center who will provide LASIK and read the prescription on the glasses you bring.  Maybe you want to check out Chiro – Health so they can check you out; with spinal screenings, leg length check-stand, and provide ice packs.  Or just lay down and relax and get a massage and health survey from Darrow Chiropractic.  There will also be free food provided by Cafe Coo such as pasta salad, bagels with peanut butter, fresh fruit, PopChips, Agua Fresca, Nutrition Bars, and Joint Juice.  All the energy you need before the big race!  Bring the kids along to enjoy the pony rides, bouncy house, 100 yard dash on the 49ers’ home field, dunk Dwayne Jones, and climbing wall while you sit back and relax while listening to the music of Lolita Sweet.  Sounds pretty Sweet to me.

Register now, plan to have a great time, and make this race your reason to start back running for the summer!  You’re back baby!

I thought this was a really cool race that is has a bit of an unusual twist.  It’s a duathalon, but it’s nude.  Honestly, I don’t have an affliction toward nude races but it is intriguing.  Come on, riding a bike nude?  That’s crazy.  I’m talking about a mountain bike too, not some fat seated beach cruiser.  The Bare Hare Duathlon North is at the Sunny Rest Resort in Palmerton, PA on June 20th and is hosted by Butts A’ Running Bare Race Management.  For more information contact Sue Butts or Gary Butts.  I’m serious.  That’s their legal names.  The race consists of a 1.5 mile run on paved roads, a 9 or 4.5 mile mountain bike ride depending on your experience level (although it is a nude race you still have to wear your bike helmet), and then a 5K Trail Run to finish.  If this is too extreme for you to do the duathalon then there is a 1.5 mile fun walk on paved roads as well.  Do the Du…you.

The beginning run winds through the mostly paved roads of Sunny Rest Resort with a challenge towards the end, a 100 yard uphill run on paved surfaces.  It won’t be tough for you though.  Then you are on the bike.  The mountain bike trail is 2 loops on wide groomed paths of hard pack soil, rocks, and exposed roots along with streams and mud.  There are some climbs and decents that will be marked.  The last leg of the race, the trail run is a single loop on trails with the same terrain as the mountain bike leg.  Once done you have completed the “Du-ing,”  the only clothing-optional duathlon ever in the world!  Now that’s an accomplishment.

Make this a destination race.  Sunny Rest Resort and Campground has more than 100 camping & RV sites.  Tenting sites are also fit for electric.  If you are not into roughing it (I don’t blame you, could be pretty rough being naked and all) then they have over 20 motel rooms available.  There are over 190 acres for you to enjoy the trails and nature while being very natural yourself.

Race registration is $40 for individuals and $70 for teams if done by June 12th.  After that the prices increase by $10.  Registration to walk is $20.  You can register online at sportsoften.com or you can download the application and send it in.  Go ahead and register and challenge your naked self.  Who needs all those fancy running clothes anyways.  Not me.

I’m back baby!  Back on the trail, the streets (check out this mapping tool to help you plan your street run), and any other surface you put me on, I’m going to run on it.  I ran yesterday for the first time in 2 weeks and felt like a kid on Christmas morning, excited with anticipation of presents but restraining myself from ripping through them (well, ripping through my knee).  I had to pace myself.  I only ran 4 miles.  However, I’m also like a kid in that my eyes are bigger than my stomach, or in this case, my mind is faster than my current conditioning.  I went ahead and ran at my previous 4 mile pace.  I did have some pain in my knees but nothing major.  Here’s how to get back to running like me after experiencing jumper’s knee.

Once you’ve been diagnosed with jumper’s knee you need to treat it.

Ice: Apply ice to your knee for 20 to 30 minutes every 3 or 4 hours for 2 to 3 days until the pain and swelling go down.  Don’t have 2 or 3 days to sit around and ice yourself every 3 hours?  Then make sure you ice them after you run at the least.

Anti-Inflammatory Medication: Take some Tylenol or Advil to help the swelling go down as well as give you the ability to do knee exercises without pain.  Knee strengthening is important.

Wear a Band: Wear a band across the patellar tendon, called an infrapatellar strap, which will support your patellar tendon and prevent it from becoming overused.  You overdo everything.  I bought a couple of “Adjustable Knee Straps” at my local drugstore for about 15 bucks.  They really help.  Plus I think they look kind of cool.  Like a sweat bands for your knees!

Arch Support: Stop trying to do everything on your own and get some support, well, for your arches at least.  This is especially true for overpronators like myself.  Some running shoes already have arch support but you may need to add more support or even add archs to your normal chillin’ shoes.  Wait.  You have shoes that are made for other things than running?  Always chillin’.

Once you get back on your feet (I know, I’m funny) you don’t want to get patellar tendonitis again.  So how do you avoid it?  Well, patellar tendonitis is caused by overuse of the knee from jumping, running uphill, or biking uphill.  You aren’t going to avoid running uphills but there are some other things you can avoid doing such as squatting (we have toilets in America to help you avoid this), excessive bending, sitting “Indian” style (what an offensive term, have you ever seen a Native American sit like this?  I didn’t think so.), kneeling directly on your knee caps (unless you are “taking cover”, in this case go ahead and kneel or better yet, lay flat on the ground), excessive stairs, riding a bike with a low seat, or using the breaststroke when swimming.  See, its easy to avoid these painful activites.  Make sure you gently stretch before and after exercising too.  Lastly, probably the most important action you can take is to strengthen you thigh muscles.  This takes pressure off your patellar tendon.  Thunder thighs are so hot right now.  Jumper’s knee is lame.