The Naked Race

I did a thing

The time came for my 5k this past weekend!

I arrived pretty late to the Hidden Lake Resort (http://www.hiddenlakecamp.com/). It’s a 5.5 hour drive from my work. Those are 5.5 super long hours when you’re waiting to get nekkid. The manager was gracious enough to let me call about 20 minutes before arrival to get the gate code. I would have called an hour away and 40 minutes away and 30 minutes away but there’s hardly any service around there! Thankfully I was able to find a small spot of service and call.

Check in was a breeze, I paid the race fee of $30 and a $10 fee for a primitive tenting spot, though they upgraded me to an electric and water site for free.

I got there in time to enjoy the fire with about 15 members of the club. It was relaxed and comfortable. People drank beer and hung out around the fire talking about nearly every subject imaginable. It was a great and comfortable vibe.

Nearly everyone went to bed early, which was a bit hard for me as a night owl. I wandered back to my site about 10 o’clock. Not having a tent, I did the next best thing and slept on a picnic table. The weather was perfect and the table more comfortable than my crappy mattress at home. It was way better than the original plan of sleeping in the back of my van!

The next morning I woke up to the awesome site of the lake covered in fog.

Dern powerlines, always ruining a good picture!

The campsite was a bit different in the day.

The bathhouse

I spotted a little friend way off in the distance. For awhile I suspected he was fake, he sat perfectly still for quite some time. I was surprised to find him gone a bit later, he flew off without my notice.

Caution: Herons are giant birds

Since I was up before anyone else, I decided to walk the race course. I didn’t get any pictures of the course, but I will say it was a very pretty walk through the woods. The dew covered spiderwebs really made it feel like Halloween!

Coffee stain added later for decoration

After my walk, a few more people were awake. Coffee was made, a registration table set up, and my competition began to arrive. It wasn’t a lot of people, but man did they all look fit! I was worried. About 16 males and three females (dammit nudism, get your act together!), of ages from 20 something to well over 70 lined up at the start line.

My worry disappeared about 30 seconds into the race. Two guys darted off way ahead of me. I expected it. But I was in third. THIRD! I held that position the entirety of the race. 8:17 for my first mile, 17:50 at the second mile (too lazy to calculate the split) and a 27:08 for the race. That’s not the greatest time, but for someone who has not raced in literally 15 years, I am quite happy with it.

After the race, bananas and apples were given out. Medals were distributed, for overall race results and for best in age range. Then we all just hung out some more, eating hot dogs for lunch and occasionally dipping in the lagoon.

I recommend finding one of these races in a resort near you. Or come out to the Spring race at Hidden Lake, if you’re in the area! I had a ton of fun, and I now have a great goal to beat next year.

Not to catch those guys, but to beat my own time. 🙂