Running Bare Because We Care: Nearly Naked Mile Recap

This past Friday, Homecoming weekend kicked off with the annual Nearly Naked Mile! Alumni, current students, and members of various RSO’s came together to run, for fun, to combat homelessness. In total, there were around 300 participants and about 5 large boxes of clothing collected for the Amherst Survival Center.

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Runners getting into the spirit with body paint supplied by UMass SAA and UMass Beautiful (photo by Su Ann   Koh)

The event was certainly a success due to the long hours of planning and organizing by the Student Alumni Association. This year, SAA expanded its network to invite more RSOs to take part in such a rewarding event. UMASS Beautiful, the Annual Fund, and WMUA are only a few of the RSOs that were invited to the Nearly Naked Mile. According to Dianna Bronchuk, coordinator of the NNM, “We pushed the NNM to be more than just a student event of fun and high spirits but really to give back to the community . . . With about 300 participants, anything is possible on campus.”

However, there is so much more that goes into the Nearly Naked Mile aside from the participants themselves! Rose Arslanian, Fall Traditions Chair, says, “Usually, most people tend to underestimate every technicality involved in planning an event like this on such a large scale: before I was so heavily involved as Fall Traditions Chair, I definitely overlooked all the details such as physically setting up the course with barricades and cones that were delivered, or actually staking lawn signs all over campus. Communication is also key to running such a successful event- with all hands on deck, there is no limit to what we can achieve!”

SAA members spent the weeks before the NNM tabling, creating lawn signs, and reaching out to students to get involved in the event, but they also were a necessary force at the NNM. They outlined the course for runners and helped to set up and take down the event on Friday. Students got the word out about homelessness, donated to the Amherst Survival Center, and had fun while doing it. Overall, the 2015 Nearly Naked Mile was an absolute success!

Getting ready to run (photo by Su Ann Koh)

Getting ready to run (photo by Su Ann Koh)

 

If you are interested in further helping out the ASC, please visit their website at http://amherstsurvival.org/donate/

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Photo by Amy Lightbody

-Ruthie Sterling, Guest Blogger

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