Events - Part 53

Nakukymppi 2015

Nakukymppi is a naked 10 kilometer (6 mile) running event that is held each year in the town of Padasjoki, Finland, a week before midsummer.  Today's photos are from the 2015 event.

Above, participants gathering before the run. Sepi and Pena are Finnish first names.

Nakukymppi means "naked ten" in Finnish.

And they're off!  The race begins at 7:30 pm, which sounds very late to us, but in Finland at midsummer, the sun doesn't set until 11:00 pm, so they have plenty of daylight for the run.

Here's a video of the start of the run.  Between 100 and 150 people participate each year.  Both men and women participate, but 80 to 90 percent are men.  Not everybody runs; some jog, some walk.  There is also an alternate longer route for those who want to run a full marathon (26 miles), but only a handful of participants do the naked marathon.

This guy led the pack at the starting line, but he soon fell behind.

Here he is farther along the route.  He's wearing a Superman-like cape, but strictly speaking, that's against the rules.  Participants are allowed to wear shoes, socks, and hats.  Women can also wear a top to keep their breasts from jiggling, but nobody can wear a bottom.

This guy is following the dress code ...

as is this guy with his stylish tricorn hat.

Here's the tricorn hat runner.

Here's a more original hat.  These guys ran side by side through the race.

The route goes around a loop through fields and woods and then returns to the starting point.  Here are two guys at the finish line.

At the end of the run, everybody gets refreshments.  Here's Sepi again with another friend, Keijo.  The runny happy face on Sepi's back tells me that he sweated quite a bit during the run, but I think a good time was had by all.

I have more photos and videos from Nakukymppi in other years, so we may see it again.