Students pose for a photo in front of the live DJ at the Nearly Naked Mile afterparty on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
On Thursday, the Koenig Alumni Center’s yard filled with students from the University of Colorado Boulder preparing to run a mile with as little clothing on as possible. This was the 16th annual Nearly Naked Mile that CU Boulder’s Herd Leadership Council has hosted. Students were asked to bring five items of clothing to donate in exchange for a fanny pack. All of the donations went to local nonprofits A Precious Child and Clothes to Kids Denver.
Students line up to donate clothes before the Nearly Naked mile on Thursday, Oct.5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
Students rip a jersey off of the CU Boulder mascot, Chip, before the Nearly Naked Mile on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
Students began checking in at 6:30 p.m. After students finished donating clothes, some started dancing to the live DJ while others shotgunned root beer. Before the race began, students decorated themselves with paint pens and glow stick accessories. Most students wore underwear or shorts, but a few came in costumes, wearing a banana suit or glowing cowboy hats. The venue was covered in brightly colored UV lights that lit up the body paint. Students wrote sayings on their bodies like: “sko buffs,” “xoxo gossip girl,” “I love Chip” and “I’m faster than you!”
Students write on each other with paint pens before the Nearly Naked mile on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/ CU Indepedent)
Students laugh while preparing for the Nearly Naked Mile by drawing on each other with paint pens and wearing glow sticks on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
At 7 p.m., students began to line up at the gate for the mile-long run. As music blasted and fog billowed from fog machines, students shoved their way through the small gate out of the Koenig Alumni Center’s yard. The glowing and “nearly naked” students ran a mile long loop through campus and then back to the Alumni Center.
A student interacts with the CU Boulder mascot at the front of the line moments before running the Nearly Naked Mile on Thursday Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
CU Boulder’s Herd members waited at the finish line along with CU Boulder’s mascot Chip and a few people cheering for their friends. The first students to finish the run arrived at around 7:10 p.m. and were illuminated by police car lights as they crossed the finish line.
A student reaches out to high five Chip as she crosses the finish line for the Nearly Naked Mile on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
Students run to cross the finish line during the Nearly Naked Mile on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
Students race to cross the finish line of the Nearly Naked Mile on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
After finishing the run, students returned to the yard for the afterparty, where there was a live DJ, food and merchandise. Students ate, danced and talked to one another in the colorfully lit and foggy yard for a little over an hour, before getting dressed and leaving. Over 1,000 pieces of clothing were collected to donate during the event according to members of the Herd Leadership Council.
Students enjoy a live DJ during the Nearly Naked Mile afterparty on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
Students eat pizza and listen to a live DJ during the afterparty at the Nearly Naked Mile on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
Students dance to the live DJ during the Nearly Naked Mile afterparty on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
Students talk while listening to the live DJ during the Nearly Naked Mile afterparty on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
A student picks out glow sticks before running in the Nearly Naked Mile on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
Contact CU Independent Assistant Visuals Editor Clementine Miller at clementine.miller@colorado.edu.
