All three of them wore no shirts; they were without pants or shoes – all of the clothing they had arrived with had been donated to charity. Without much care for the lack of clothes in the biting winds of the 20-degree weather, they decided to skip gallantly instead of run the last leg of the race, crossing the finish line with a celebratory jump.

Matt Crippen, a junior sociology major, said he did not mind the colder temperatures and was thankful it was not has cold as it had been.

Along with his twin brother, Scott Crippen, a junior sociology major, and their friend John Aloff a sophomore psychology major from the College of DuPaige, the three men ran in the Nearly Naked Mile Saturday.

Beginning in Carman Hall’s parking lot, runners – roughly 30 registered – took off up Ninth Street, around Johnson Ave., down 12th Street and through Roosevelt Dr. to end at Carman Hall. In total it was approximately one mile of running.

Even with the cooler temperatures, the runners also provided a twist to the run – as they went through the race, they could shed off pieces of their clothes to donate to charity, ending with only a scant few articles.

Aaron Hollis, a first year graduate student in the College Student Affairs, hit the finish line first, continuing into Carman Hall’s parking lot to cool down.

He said it was not the cold weather that motivated him to run, but instead the reason for running.

“It’s an extraordinary cause,” he said.

The clothes were donated to Standing Stone Community Center, while the shoes were donated to Nike Reuse-a-Shoe and the money from registration went to the Charleston Food Pantry.

Hollis said one thing that inspired him was the idea of his shoes being grounded up by Nike Reuse-a-Shoe and then recycled into new pairs of shoes for others to use.

While most of the runners showed up in clothing, Eric Palmer, a senior family consumer sciences major, arrived wearing only athletic shorts, socks and shoes.

Palmer said he was not worried about the cold weather and he was participating because he loved to run.

“It’s my last semester and I love to run,” he said. “I always want to help out a charity.”

Kari Clark, a senior sociology major, said she donated more clothes than she was wearing initially because of the cause.

She said she donated hats, gloves, pants, shirts and other items to the various charities.

Clark was also not bothered by the cold weather; instead she said the idea of it being a good cause outweighed personal discomfort.

“I wouldn’t strip if it wasn’t for a good cause,” she said, laughing.

Some students showed up wearing running attire – jogging pants, sweatshirts and gloves. Others showed up in more extravagant gear – pajamas, buffalo-horned hats and multi-colored skirts.

Matt Crippen, Scott Crippen and Aloff all showed up with pajama pants and bandannas and sunglasses. The last two items were still present at the end of the race.

Matt Crippen said the whole spectacle of them skipping at the end was planned.

Scott Crippen said the cold was never an issue and the three of them were going to run no matter what.

“It wasn’t really bothering us,” he said. “We got through it, but I can’t tell you my secret how.”

Bob Galuski can be reached at 581-2812 or dennewsdesk@eiu.edu.