2014 Cupid's Undie Run (2/15/14)

Two big events happen every year in February. The first is the start of the 2014 CrossFit Open (http://games.crossfit.com/about-the-games/the-open) on Feb 27 - the first step for worldwide athletes hoping to compete in the CrossFit Games (http://games.crossfit.com/about-the-games).

The other big event is, of course, the Cupid's Undie Run (http://www.cupidsundierun.com/city/washington/?src=fbevent).

The Undie Run is exactly what it sounds like, people running outside in their underpants, in February, all in support of a great cause: The Children's Tumor Foundation (http://www.ctf.org/).

And if you find any of this super-hilarious, please consider making a donation of ANY amount (https://hopecur.securesweet.com/contribute_authorize.asp?fundid=1&userid=1&participantname=General%20Donation). It all helps!

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The Cupid's Undie Run actually started here in Washington DC over 5 years ago. Now it has expanded to cities around the globe. Whenever I think that cities like Austin and Los Angeles and Sydney are getting off easy - I remind myself that at least I'm not doing the run in Cleveland or my hometown of Detroit.

The run is in Capitol Hill, heading down Pennsylvania before turning onto 1st and erupting into chaos and hilarity as everyone mobs the Supreme Court, Capitol, and generally freak out tourists who have no idea what's happening.

The Undie Run has had a lot of ties to the CrossFit community since the beginning. And some boxes (Balance Gym/CrossFit Balance (http://www.crossfitbalance.com/) and District CrossFit (http://districtcrossfit.com/) in particular) push incredibly hard in fundraising and bringing their members out for the event.

Here's the scene in DC from back in 2011. Sharp eyes will spot the most well-known CrossFit athlete in DC: 5-time CrossFit Games competitor, Christy Phillips Adkins (https://www.facebook.com/ChristyPhillipsAdkins). As well as Danielle and Devin from CrossFit Balance (http://www.crossfitbalance.com/), CrossFit Foggy Bottom (http://crossfitfoggybottom.com/) head coach Jim Bathurst, local legend Antwone Walters (https://www.facebook.com/antwonewaltersiscool), and Jenn Jones (http://games.crossfit.com/video/making-leaps-and-bounds-jenn-jones) (6th place - 2013 CrossFit Games).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgM6331XPFo

The scene from Cleveland last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BgJFn7nhLA

Being the middle of summer, Sydney has a little easier time of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLETzyXjR5M

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Logistics:

This one is a little tricky since it's not a normal meetup because some of us are in the run, and some are spectators just out to watch the fun. If you RSVP, let us know in the comments if you're running or watching.

RUNNERS: I'm in the run myself for the second year, so I'll be inside the three event bars (Capitol Lounge, Pour House, and Hawk N Dove). They expanded to a third bar this year, which means the event is 50% larger - and spots are STILL available. Last year, the run sold out in December. So yes, there is still time for you to SIGN UP to participate (http://hopecur.blueskysweet.com/Default.asp?src=fbevent). Check in for runners starts at 12 noon.

SPECTATORS: For spectators, I'm hoping someone will volunteer to coordinate everyone since those of us in the run will be without phones and unable to communicate with folks. Here's a link to the route (https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=211982294521531326338.0004b83feb6c81b290123&msa=0&ll=38.888995,-77.003281&spn=0.01094,0.018239). The run itself begins at 2:00pm.

Also here's the link to the official facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/530054227064240/