Nudists by the Hundreds Turn Out for Vancouver Beach Run

VANCOUVER, CANADA– Hundreds of dedicated Vancouver ‘naturists’ turned out at Vancouver’s famed nude beach Sunday to take part in the 12th annual Wreck Beach Bare Buns Run.

The five-kilometre run around the sun-drenched beach below the University of B.C. was a fundraiser and publicity event for the Wreck Beach Preservation Society, according to spokesperson Judy Williams.

She says the event is held for people to “celebrate their bodies and the joy of Wreck Beach and the joy of social naturism.”

Williams says that celebration will continue on Aug. 23 with “Body Acceptance Day” so “people can start discounting body shame that they’re raised with.”

She says it’s a way of celebrating the body.

For 64-year-old runner Walther Haberl, Sunday’s event was about shedding pretensions.

“You see every movement in a person’s body. I enjoy this more than anything else,” he says. “I had lots of fun. I appreciate what people are doing here. We need to do it a bit longer.”

The crowd also ran to the younger side of the population as well.

Ten-year-old Kevin Kunimoto says he’ll be back to do the run again next year. “I just wanted to see how it was,” he says. “I ran all by myself.”

Occasionally, the epithet ‘textile’ was uttered during the event. That’s the word the beach buffs use when referring to those in clothes.

Registrar Judy Ellery says people come from all over the world to take part in the run.

“Last year, we had a whole family show up from Hong Kong,” she says.

She says the run is part of a group of three that includes similar events in Issaquah and Spokane, Washington.

The society has also been working to fight the development of buildings on top of the cliffs above the beach.

The society’s concerns also include cliff erosion, potential impact on bird populations, the privacy of nude sunbathers on the beach and the view from the beach itself.

Part of the funds raised from the day’s event will support that fight, Williams says.

Last year, the American Association for Nude Recreation listed Wreck Beach as nirvana for nudists.
It was ranked second on an international listing of clothing optional beaches.

Courtesy of Canadian Press