Naked Pumpkin Run Divides Boulder!

(Due to adult content, there will be no picture accompanying this post. Viewer discretion advised.)

Boulder’s latest scandal has made national news, or at least the top stories in the Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125693458626119361.html

(I read it sometimes because they give it to me for free in the Business School—see mom, having things “just handed to you” can teach me important things). Every year the residents of Boulder, including many CU students, partake in a very Boulder-like tradition called the Naked Pumpkin Run. I am sure you will be shocked to find out that this run is exactly what it sounds like; runners strip down to their skins, place hollowed out pumpkins on their heads, and run down Pearl Street at an undisclosed hour on Halloween night (normally around midnight). For years, hordes of adoring fans have gathered in the city’s center street to cheer them on, while the police stand by a bit helplessly (this may be due to the fact that it is not actually illegal to run naked through the streets in Boulder, or maybe just a natural shyness about tackling and arresting naked people).

This year, that has changed…

It seems that the chief of police is trying to crack down on these nudist runners—much to the shock and dismay of Boulder citizens. As the Wall Street Journal put it, “the city has had a long, proud history of nudity.” Yet, this Halloween, the police deployed forty officers and two SWAT teams to patrol the three-block area, under orders to arrest any naked runners as sex offenders (Aren’t SWAT teams normally used in emergencies like hostage situations and terrorist attacks? I somehow doubt that a throng of naked runners qualifies as a national emergency.) Residents fear that the police action will tarnish Boulder’s reputation as a city over-run with crazy, upper-class hippies. Even the mayor is against the police’s crack down.

It now seems like Boulder is splitting at the seams. With public officials picking sides I would like to know what you all think. Have the police gone too far? Or is this Boulder rite of passage a little too strange for civilized society? I personally am a fan of the run, but my word is not law (sadly) and the debate rages on in Boulder. Hapa Restaurant found the silver lining to this situation and are raking in the publicity for their brilliant ad campaign—giving out free orange underwear with “Run Responsibly” printed on the back (http://www.dailycamera.com/archivesearch/ci_13661322). But many runners refused the free gift, bearing it all to let Boulder be, well, Boulder.