LAND O’LAKES, Fla. – Runners representing 25 states, Europe, Canada, and South America are expected for the twelvth-annual Caliente Bare Dare 5K, which takes place on Sunday, September 26, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. at the clothing-optional Caliente Resort, just north of Tampa in Florida’s Pasco County.
Register HERE.
Since its debut in 2010, the Caliente Bare Dare 5K has grown to become the largest clothing-optional run in North America, attracting a competitive field that has produced course-record times (15:49 male, 17:53 female) comparable to much larger events. Participation is 38 percent female, larger than typical 5K events, and reflective of both the growth of women’s running and the tendency of women to dare their girlfriends and family members to enter the race together.
Perennial contender
Unlike typical races, where runners leave shortly after the run, most participants spend the day or even a three-day weekend at Caliente, the most upscale clothing-optional resort in North America. Caliente features a 40-room hotel and dozens of condos, villas, and single-family homes. The one-loop course takes runners from the Caliente clubhouse through the scenic, well-manicured, 125-acre resort and back. Refreshments and awards are poolside and most runners spend the day at Caliente, which can attract more than 1,000 visitors on sunny weekend afternoons. Entry fee includes access to Caliente for the day.
Though media coverage is prohibited on race day to ensure the privacy of runners, the Caliente Bare Dare 5K has received substantial coverage in the weeks leading up to the event in recent years , including articles in the Tampa Tribune and Sarasota Herald-Tribune, an interview on WFLA News Radio 970, and a segment on ABC Action News in Tampa (below). The race also was listed by BuzzFeed among the “15 Themed Races You’d Actually Want to Do” and was ranked No.1 by BloodSweatandCheers among America’s “Six Best Naked Runs.” The Caliente Bare Dare 5K also was ranked among the “29 Most Incredible Themed Races of 2014” by Greatist.com and listed prominently in the terrific new book The Runner’s Bucket List.
Since 2012, the Caliente Bare Dare 5K has determined the National Championship of Nude Running, given to the first nude male and first nude female runners. Though running nude is not a requirement, more than 85 percent of participants wear only shoes and sunscreen.
At a time when race entry fees have escalated rapidly in the endurance sports world, with some events now charging for parking and offering little in terms of free refreshments, the Caliente Bare Dare 5K might be the best value in the industry. The race entry fee also grants runners admission to Caliente for the day, along with post-race refreshments poolside, and awards to the top 25 male and top 25 female finishers.
Poolside at Caliente
Jessica Sebor, the editor of Women’s Running magazine, became the inaugural female winner of the National Championship of Nude Running in 2012 and wrote about the experience.
“I know it’s going to take more than one Sunday morning to cure my self-consciousness,” she wrote about running nude. “But running the Bare Dare did teach me this: If you don’t challenge yourself, you will never have the chance to be crowned a champion.”
Will you take The Bare Dare in 2021?
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