Stripping down for a good cause: ­Undie Run to give clothing to charity

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By Kelly Berger

On Wednesday night, people dressed only in their underwear will run through campus as part of a UK Finals Week tradition.

Students participating in the sixth Undie Run will meet at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday at the W.T. Young Library for a warm-up stretch around the library and then run to the Patterson Office Tower for a group picture next to the statue of James K. Patterson. The group will run back to the library at about 12:25 a.m.

Participants are asked to come in their clothes and take them off to donate them. The clothes gathered will be donated to “Helping Though Him” at Southland Christian Church. Clothes must be wearable and in good condition with no holes or damages.

According to the event’s Facebook page, the Undie Run helps relieve the stress of finals by running around campus. This year’s event is sponsored by Bluegrass Beats and Deadly Sevens clothing and will feature Monster Energy drinks.

UK alumnus Evan Morris brought the event to the university in the Fall 2006 semester while he was a student, after participating in his first Undie Run at the University of California, Los Angeles. He decided to adopt the idea and start one of his own at UK.

He grabbed friend Huston Royster, a UK alumnus, to help out with the event.

Although Morris is no longer a student at UK, he still organizes and takes part in the event. Morris is encouraging everyone to participate in this year’s event, which last spring brought in 300 to 400 people. The first Undie Run had about 30 participants, Morris said.

Morris said at the first Undie Run, the runners weren’t sure if they would get in trouble.

“We were waiting at the crosswalk on Rose Street to cross by President (Lee) Todd’s house and there was a cop car waiting at the light,” Morris said. “We were all kind of scared at that point and didn’t know what was going to happen. Then, we just went for it and started cheering and running around the cop car screaming, and the cops just couldn’t stop laughing and thought it was hilarious.”

Morris made sure to point out if students don’t want to run, they can meet up at either the library or the Patterson statue and wait for the big group. They are always looking for people to help take pictures and videos to post on Facebook for the event.

For more information, visit the event’s Web site, (www.ukundierun.com), or Facebook page.