The Freshman Ch. 09

Chapter 9 - The Tri-Alpha 10-K run

The following Sunday evening there was a general meeting in the cafeteria for all Huntington Hall residents and staff. As the freshmen crowded into the cafeteria, Cecilia and the dorm director stood together, while Jason, Ken, Mike, and Lisa stood off to one side nervously awaiting what was about to happen. They were to be introduced as the representatives for Huntington Hall in the Tri-Alpha 10-K nude run. Following some words about fire safety and the need to focus on midterms, the dorm director handed the microphone to Cecilia. She stood up and proudly gestured to the four blushing freshmen.

"I'm very pleased to announce that this year we got not one, but four residents from Huntington Hall running for us in the Tri-Alpha race! Let's give a big hand to Jason, Ken, Lisa, and Mike, our representatives in the nude 10-K!"

There was thunderous applause, whistling, cheering, and sex whoops for the four nervous freshmen. The hundreds of college students in the room cheered for their four companions, elated at the thought of seeing them running naked the following weekend.

"OK...here's the deal. The race starts right at noon, and there will be the pre-race ceremony, which starts at 11:30. So here's what we're gonna do. We'll be leaving here at 10:30, and I think it would be good for all of us to go over to the Stadium together, to show support for our runners!" Cecilia again gestured towards the four freshmen and there was loud cheering from the room, which slowly died down. Cecilia continued. "Let's make some banners and signs with Huntington Hall's name on them, let's get ready to make some noise, and let's let those Tri-Alphas know who we are!" Again there was loud applause and cheering.

The dorm director smiled at Cecilia. She was the only member of his staff who had delivered, providing the runners for whom the dorm residents could cheer and support. None of the other RA's could convince anyone else to participate.

Jason and his friends forced themselves to smile, but in reality were very nervous. It had just dawned on them that Cecilia had no intention of letting them wait until they got to Stadium to get undressed. Her plan was to have them come downstairs already stripped for the run, and then have them walk across the campus completely naked with all of Huntington Hall's other residents walking and cheering behind them. Cecilia's plan also meant they would not be able to get dressed again until they returned to Huntington Hall, which probably would not be until the late afternoon. Anyhow, no matter what Cecilia's plans were, the group now was fully committed to the race. The entire dorm was expecting them to strip and run on Saturday, and they were beyond the point of being able to back out of the ordeal without having to face the teasing of their fellow residents.

Jason took the challenge seriously. Throughout the week he changed his workout to build himself up for the run, stretching more than normal and preparing his body for a race that was two miles more than his normal routine of a four-mile jog every other day. He ate only healthy foods and lots of fruit to hydrate himself.

During his outings jogging, Jason was joined by Lisa, who had played soccer in high school and also was a good runner. Lisa surprised him by saying she wanted to try to win first place in the women's division. She figured she wouldn't have too much competition from other female runners. She sighed.

"If I gotta do this, I'm gonna do it right and at least try to see if I can get that $ 1,000 for this shit."

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The week seemed to pass by both too quickly and too slowly. Jason and Lisa would have liked to have had more time to prepare for the race, but at the same time the anticipation seemed to make each day an eternity. Finally, Saturday did come, and with it the big day for Huntington Hall's four most famous residents. The other RA's spent the early morning with their floor residents putting the finishing touches on Huntington Hall signs, while Cecilia rounded up her four runners and explained what was going on up to the race. As they had foreseen, she had decided that they would leave their clothes behind in the dorm and leave the building wearing nothing but their running shoes and socks.

Cecilia already had a backpack set up in which she had bottles of water, towels, extra socks, band-aids, and ointment for blisters, should any of the four get sore feet during the race. She also was well prepared to take lots of pictures, with Jason's 35 mm camera, a borrowed telescopic lens, Lisa's digital camera, extra rolls of film, and an extra memory card. By the time the RA had everything ready, it was close to 10:30 and time to head over to the stadium.

"OK, drop your drawers and let's head downstairs."

Jason stripped immediately, the others more reluctantly. The RA led them out of her room and locked her door. They now were completely separated from their clothes, and it was up to Cecilia to decide when they could come back into her room to retrieve them.

With the men's penises swinging as they walked and Lisa's breasts bouncing up and down slightly, Cecilia led the runners to the main entrance of the dorm. They were greeted by a very loud cheer as they stood on the steps. With Cecilia standing on one side and the dorm director standing on the other side, Jason and his three naked friends joined hands and held them over their heads in a victory gesture while dozens of cameras flashed and captured the moment on film. The other RA's then took up positions on the steps behind the runners and there was an official photo taken of them with the Huntington Hall staff. Cecilia then moved into the middle of the four freshmen, standing between Jason and Mike. There were more pictures of the group alone with their RA, as Cecilia's dark skin and blue clothing contrasted with the bare white bodies of her four companions.

Once the picture taking was over, Cecilia led the four freshmen down the steps towards the sidewalk leading to the Memorial Stadium. As they moved away from the dorm, the other residents fell in behind them, cheering and waving signs and banners. As they approached the Stadium, they followed part of the official race route and passed dozens of cheering spectators lining the sidewalk. Cameras and camcorders flashed as the Huntington Hall delegation made their way to into the main part of campus and crossed the stadium parking lot. The RA's began directing the marching residents to sing the university hymn as the group passed through one of the main gates. It was an impressive show for Huntington Hall, one that left the director very pleased.

Once inside the stadium, Cecilia led the four runners to the football field while the other dorm residents filed into a reserved area in the bleachers. Cecilia was carrying a banner for Huntington Hall and her backpack full of water and other supplies as she directed Jason and his friends to follow her. Her destination was a group of about 150 other naked students who were gathered and stretching near one of the goal posts. There was a lot of cheering from the crowded bleachers, but the field was empty except the runners, a few officially sanctioned photographers, and people like Cecilia who had come to carry supplies or assist the participants.

As he stretched, Jason looked around at his rivals. Most of the others were in fairly good physical condition, but they did not look like practiced track athletes. There were only a couple of guys who looked capable of giving him any meaningful competition. As for the 23 women in the group, there was only one who had a runner's physique. He glanced at the woman's thin muscular body, then at Lisa. There was no reason why Lisa could not come in at least second among the females, and hopefully she would come in first, win the women's race, and get her $1,000.

A group of musicians from the university band came out onto the field along with some Tri-Alpha upperclassmen wearing fraternity uniforms. The band members took their positions on the track as the Tri-Alpha referees organized the runners by who they were representing. Cecilia handed the Huntington Hall banner to her freshmen and they took their place on the track with the other runners. Mike had to separate himself from his friends because he would carry a banner for the political science department. On cue the musicians played the university hymn and began marching. They marched a complete circle around the football field as the runners followed holding up their banners. Once the initial march was completed, a Tri-Alpha alumnus took a microphone and introduced the runners to the audience by delegation. There was a very loud cheer when the three Huntington Hall residents bowed to the audience, and a somewhat more muted cheer when Mike bowed on behalf of the political science department.

The runners stood quietly as the announcer briefly retold the history of the nude 10-K run, a tradition that now went back more than four decades. Upon finishing his history lesson, the speaker told the runners to move to the starting line. From a distance they made a very strange sight, a small flesh-colored spot among the otherwise garish colors of the stadium and its audience.

As he waited for the starting pistol, Jason cleared his mind of everything other than the race. All of the strange events that led him here were of no importance right now. He forgot about the crowds, forgot about being naked in the middle of the university football field, and even forgot about Cecilia. He focused on one thing. He was participating in a competition and he wanted to win.

There was the shot that started the race and the runners began their initial two laps around the field. At the beginning neither Jason nor Lisa were anywhere close to the front of group. They were in this for the full distance, not to be the first ones exiting the stadium. Ken shot straight to the front, but Jason knew from experience that was a stupid thing for him to do. His friend quickly would burn himself out and be lucky to even finish the race if he did not pace himself. Mike knew he had no chance of winning. From the beginning he ran at a leisurely pace, simply hoping to finish the course without having to stop and take any breaks.

As they rounded the field to complete their second lap, the runners began to spread out. Photographers and camera crews lined the outside of the track, rapidly taking pictures of the runners as a group and as individuals. The second lap was the best time for photos, because the runners were spread out, but still all in one place.

As he completed the second lap, Jason's mind concentrated on the physical sensations of his experience. He was enjoying the feel of the warm sun on his bare, healthy body, a body that was in top condition at the peak of his life as an adult. He was ready, more than ready, to run the 10 kilometers and was looking forward to his trek across the university. He paced himself, thinking about simply enjoying the run instead of knocking himself out trying to stay in front. As he entered the final mile of the race, Jason planned to pick up his speed. During the final mile he would push himself hard to move ahead of the lead Tri-Alpha runners and win the race.

After the second lap around the field, the 150 naked runners dashed out through the main entrance of the stadium and down the main road of the campus. The entire route was lined with cheering spectators, many with cameras and many others holding banners or signs with the name of a particular runner. Jason saw several students waving Huntington Hall banners. The route passed the economics department, and Jason saw his professor Ruth Burnside, the class TA, and several other professors standing on the steps of the Economics building. He felt a pang of real embarrassment knowing Burnside was watching him as he ran by, but there was nothing he could do about it. He waved at his professor and TA, and continued on his way.

By the time the runners left the academic area and circled around the dorms, they were well spread out. By the fourth kilometer marker Jason and Lisa had begun passing exhausted runners who had not paced themselves early in the race. As they made it to the halfway point, they passed Ken, who clearly was in trouble from having spent all his energy during the first couple of miles. Lisa slapped him hard on the ass as she passed him, while Jason shouted "Pace yourself! Pace yourself!"

The line of naked bodies and cheering spectators passed the dormitories and returned to the university library via the back route Jason and Ken had used for their streaking adventure a couple of weeks before. Upon reaching the library, the runners ran across the courtyard and circled around to the old part of campus.

There was only a mile left to go to get back to the stadium and another quarter mile for the final lap around the track. Jason had reached the part of the race where he had to stop enjoying the run and actually focus his energies on passing all of the remaining runners. He pulled away from Lisa and picked up his pace. Lisa also picked up her pace, as she sought to pass the only two female runners ahead of her, but there was no way she could run as fast as Jason.

Using the technique that had served him well in high school, he calmly started passing the 12 runners who still were ahead of him during the final portion of the run. He began breathing more heavily and sweating hard as he pushed himself. Soon there were 11 runners in front of Jason, then there were 10, then 9...

By the time the stadium was in sight Jason only had two more runners ahead of him, the two he had known from the beginning would be his toughest rivals. Both were Tri-Alpha pledges, who were confident this would be yet another year Tri-Alpha would take the trophy and use the $ 1,000 in prize money for a post-run party at the fraternity. Jason had other ideas about that prize money and what it would be used for.

The three young men ran fiercely in a tight cluster as they re-entered the stadium, well ahead of anyone else in the race. Jason heard the announcer's voice.

"Hey-hey, what's this? We've got Huntington Hall giving the Tri-Alphas a bit of a challenge here! So, it looks like we might have an upset this year!"

The crowd roared its support for the runners, some of them rooting for the Tri-Alpha runners and some of them for Jason. As they came around the final quarter lap Jason put forth a final burst of energy. He put everything he had into a desperate sprint to the finish line and pulled ahead of his two final rivals. He barely felt the ribbon as he pushed through it and it broke across his chest, with the campus newspaper and Tri-Alpha photographers rapidly snapping pictures of the first non-Tri-Alpha member to win the race in 11 years.

The crowd exploded into cheering as Jason pulled to a stop and struggled to regain his breath. He looked back at the two Tri-Alpha pledges, who were taken aback they had not kept the tradition of yearly wins for the fraternity. There would be hell to pay for the loss later that night. Instead of a post-race party, the pledges would have to return to their dorm naked, get cleaned up, and then spend the evening getting paddled by the fraternity's upperclassmen. To make matters worse, the fraternity's sister sorority pledges would be invited to watch the punishments. Losing the race was a serious matter for the Tri-Alphas.

Still gasping for breath, Jason saw Cecilia running towards him. She gave him a big hug and a kiss, embracing him as several Huntington Hall RA's took pictures of the happy couple. Sweat from Jason's bare body saturated Cecilia's blouse as she hugged him, but she could care less about that. He had won, he had won for her, and she loved him for it.

Naked men continued to trickle into the stadium, circling around the field and passing the finish line. Then came the second batch of excitement, the first female runners in the race re-entered the stadium. They were Lisa and the female track runner. It turned out they were evenly matched, because Lisa was tall and had a long stride, but her competitor was the more seasoned athlete. The two women ran viciously against each other as they desperately circled the football field. They crossed the finish line together and for a minute it was not clear which of them had won. Finally a race referee produced a digital photo showing Lisa ahead by about a foot as the two women crossed the finish line. The photo was put on the stadium's display board for the audience to see how the winner had been determined. A foot wasn't much, but under the race rules Lisa was clearly the winner.

The Huntington Hall students went wild with cheering. This year the dorm had produced not one, but two winning runners in the race, thanks to the 2nd floor RA. The residents cheered as Cecilia posed arm-in-arm with the winners of the male and female division of the race for numerous pictures. The announcer reminded everyone the race still had not finished, and for all runners to remain on the field until the final contestants still on the course had re-entered the stadium and completed the final lap.

Cecilia, Jason, and Lisa applauded as Mike crossed the finish line. He gave Lisa a big hug, hugely relieved simply to have finished the race at all. He actually had done relatively well for not being an experienced long-distance runner, coming in 67th out of 152 participating.

The remaining runners entering the stadium began to thin out after the 100th runner crossed the finish line. Ken staggered in, crossing the finish line as the 109th runner. He was completely burnt out, exhausted, and had pulled a muscle in one of his thighs, but at least he completed the race. Jason later planned to have a talk with him about his performance, because there was no way he should have finished so far behind Mike. He was in good shape, but had used horrible technique.

The naked runners stretched and drank water on the football field as stragglers trickled into the stadium. The final contestants struggled to keep running, because the rule of the race was that a runner had to complete the entire distance non-stop to receive a certificate of participation. Finally, the last two runners to complete the race, two gasping and limping young women, struggled around the track, finishing as runners 126 and 127. The referees radioed out to the course to see if any other participants still were on their way to the stadium, but the other 25 runners had dropped out of the race.

Following a break to let the stragglers stretch and drink water, the remaining 127 runners lined up on the field as the musicians played the Tri-Alpha fraternity song. The three top male finalists and the top female finalists were called to step forward to be recognized and receive medals. For the 1st place winners there would be trophies and checks.

The three winning women went first, stepping onto a platform to receive their medals and pose for pictures. Lisa, her bare body still saturated with sweat, proudly took her place in the winner's spot. The modesty she had felt prior to the race was completely deleted from her mind. She held the trophy over her head, hugged the woman with whom she had almost tied the race, and posed for dozens of pictures.

The three winning males were next, with Jason taking his spot on the platform between the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. As the winner of the entire race and the first non-Tri-Alpha to win in more than a decade, the presentation of Jason Schmidt to the university was a very big deal. He stood quietly holding his trophy, smiling for 15 minutes as reporters and campus photographers took his picture over and over.

Finally the two winners stood together with their trophies for the official winners' photo of the race, taken by a professional photographer. Later in the semester the photo would be re-printed for sale at a charity event and the two winners would have to spend an evening autographing copies as part of a campus fund-raising drive.