Dear DOMAI

All of us that attended college have fond memories. The classes, the football games, the parties, and the pretty girls are all things that made college such a wonderful experience. One of my favorite college memories came at the very end of each year.

At my college in Michigan, we had a reputation for working very hard and needing to blow off some steam. In the mid-1980's, some members of the rowing and cross country teams decided they needed to unwind a bit after classes had finished for the semester and before they started taking exams. On a bet, they decided they would go streaking down the main drag at campus at midnight after the last day of classes. Thus, with just four people initially, the Nude Mile was born. Of course, that first year, the few people out at that time of night (mostly students heading home from the library) were pretty surprised at what they saw. Over the next few years, word grew and participation (as well as spectatorship grew).

By the time I was a freshman in the spring of 1991, it was a fairly big event. About 100 students had run the year before, including about 30 women. As it got close to midnight on the day of the event, I started heading down to cheer on those brave souls and take a break from my economics studies.

As I got closer to South University Avenue, I noticed a stream of people heading the same direction. I thought that this must be some event. About two blocks from South U, I ran into Sam, an old high school buddy of mine, and his girlfriend Sherry. They were heading to run the Nude Mile and asked if I was going to participate. When I said no, Sherry said to me, "C'mon, Mike, you should do it, I'm running it!" I figured that I would run it just so I could look at her. Besides, I never did anything crazy and this might actually be fun.

We got to the starting area and I realized there were about two hundred runners getting ready to go. It was ten minutes before midnight, so most of them had already stripped off their clothes and were anxiously awaiting the starting gun. I was very nervous and slowly started undressing. However, since everyone around me was naked, it felt weird to have my clothes on. Once I stripped down, I felt exhilarated and very free. Although it was only 50 degrees (F) out, my adrenaline kept me more than warm enough.

Finally, the gun went off and we headed down South U toward the main part of campus wearing only a pair of running shoes and carrying the rest of my clothes. By this time, thousands of people lined the streets to cheer us on. Even the local police, knowing that the event would only last a few minutes, had blocked off a couple of the cross streets to keep everyone safe. It was a fun, festive atmosphere and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

I had started off at the back of the pack and gradually made my way through. I was amazed at the variety of beautiful female bodies running. Although you could tell some of the participants needed to get out and exercise a little more, most of the women running were very well toned (many of the female athletes at the college ran it) and it was an incredible delight to see all of them in their glory. It was what I called a very European experience where we got to express ourselves a little bit and have some fun. There were some guys who watching that tried to grab the girls running, but for the most part, it was just a clean, fun event.

A couple hundred yards from the end, I found myself running behind a head of blond hair on top of a beautifully toned athletic body. I decided the just coast the rest of the way behind her. Although I couldn't see her face, something about her looked familiar. When we finished, she and I were standing right next to each other and I realized it was my friend Kristin. We did a double take of each other and started laughing. We got to talking and after ten minutes we realized we were still naked. Although we both thought we'd be embarrassed, it was the most natural thing in the world to see her like that. Even when we saw each other the next day, it was as though nothing ever happened. By the way, after the start, I never did see Sherry again after that.

I ran the Nude Mile each of the next three years. Each year, Kristin and I would strip down at the east end of South U and run together for that one mile. After the last one (and our graduation), Kristin went off the medical school. I never ran the Nude Mile again even though I lived in the city for another five years. It was a wonderful memory to share with a trusted friend.

Respectfully Submitted, Michael DM

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