By Cameron Elford
Oct. 19 -- This morning, dozens of triathletes and their friends and family fought back against the "evil garment" -- swim briefs to you and me. Not that there's anything wrong with Speedos (or butt-huggers, as the underwear-run organizers Paul Huddle and Roch Frey refer to them); however, it all comes down to where and when you choose to wear them. Kind of like good and bad naked.
For example, according to Huddle and Frey, who, in addition to organizing the underwear run, are also
Triathlete mag contributors and multisports.com coaches, responsible Speedo use involves a training or racing situation. In contrast, irresponsible Speedo use involves a trip to Taco Bell, a shopping outing on Ali'i Drive, a walk through the outdoor mall or race expo -- you get the idea.
To deter what they consider to be irresponsible Speedo use, every year in Kona (and, indeed, at several of the other Ironman races in North America), Huddle and Frey organize the Underwear Run, which leaves from Pacific Vibrations, near the Kailua Pier and winds through town and along Ali'i before culminating in an invigorating aerobics session on the pier.
And while the tongue-in-cheek event is meant to poke fun at those who don't know when to draw the line vis-à-vis Speedo use, it also has a serious aspect. Specifically, Huddle and Frey, and their significant others, Paula Newby-Fraser (an eight-time winner of the Hawaii Ironman) and Heather Fuhr (the 1997 Hawaii champion and one of the most successful Ironman athletes in the history of the sport) set up a booth and sell t-shirts to raise funds for the West Hawaii Special Olympics to help the athletes travel to compete on the other islands.
While Huddle, Frey and company have successfully raised thousands of dollars for the athletes in past years, the 2006 underwear run, which began at 8 a.m. Thursday morning, attracted several hundred athletes, and raised well over $7000, with $2500 coming from Oakley and another $3500 coming from Centa Properties, a Las Vegas-based development company that, according to Frey, is also bankrolling the Nevada Silverman, an Ironman-distance race in Henderson next month that is offering $100,000 to the first team able to crack eight hours.
Like the sport of triathlon, the Underwear Run attracts a diverse range of male and female athletes and supporters, from folks racing on Saturday to kids to physically challenged athletes. (Although, I'd argue, by encouraging attractive, athletic women to run through the street in their underwear, the Underwear Run largely undermines its deterrent effect.) And the standards of dress range as widely as do the event's participants, from modestly attired runners to those willing - and able -- to leave almost nothing to the imagination.
Just before the athletes leave for their short run through town, Huddle and Frey lead the crowd through the recitation of the Underwear Run Pledge. After placing their hands over the "offending body part," as directed by Huddle, the runners then repeat: "I will resist the temptation to wear the evil garment . . ." as Huddle rattles off a list of euphemisms for the Speedo, from banana hammock to butt floss.
Participating in the Underwear Run this year was Ironman North American president Graham Fraser, who is a top age-group triathlete in his own right. As he stripped down to his tighty whities, Fraser joked that perhaps a qualifying series should be established for the Kona Underwear Run - requiring participants to gain a slot to the event by taking part in other Underwear Runs at Ironman races throughout the U.S. and Canada. As for the Euros, well, underwear runs just haven't caught on at the European events, not so much due to a lack of leadership as, well, they just wouldn't see the irony in it.