Interview 3

The Middle-Aged Guy

An older gentleman with the look of a distinguished business executive comes up and mentions that he recognized me. He had e-mailed me to get suggestions, and among other things I had told him to park in a particular parking structure. But it had been demolished, as it turned out, in the months since last year's run. I apologize, we chat to establish recognition, and then I turn on the tape recorder:

You ran this time?

I ran. I wasn't sure I was going to, but I came prepared to.

Good!

I had my Mardi Gras outfit on, I had a kilt underneath on, pants that were easy to pull off, and as soon as a few runners started going through the crowd, I couldn't resist!

So where did you start from?

Washtenaw. [The traditional starting point, Washtenaw at South University.]

Oh, way out there? Because that's where some of the cops were heaviest.

Yeah, but once the lines had parted in that first block... I didn't start on the far side of Washtenaw but on the near side -- in that first block there. A crowd of about ten guys started going and I just tagged on behind them.

So, you thought, "There's safety in numbers, I'll follow along, and they're going to have to have ten cops to arrest all ten of us."

It was too thick for them to get through.

I think the big story tonight is how cops did arrest a couple of people, but other than that, they totally failed.

Man #2 [who had been listening in -- probably about 40, but could pass for late 20s]: I think it's total bullshit. I mean, people get naked all over the world, right?

Of course.

Man #2: So what are they concerned about? Actually, there's no evidence, there's actually probably more men running than women...

Man #1 [the runner]: Are there as many runners as last year?

I would say not a huge difference. Maybe 20, 40 percent less. At the very beginning, it was much thinner; the crowd took much longer to assemble, and I think a lot of guys didn't start at the beginning, they started part way into the run.

Man #2: There were a lot of what they call peripheral entries.

Man #1: Well, I did that too.

Man #2: I actually heard that they might run yesterday, instead of today, just to be sure...

[To #2:] Tell me more about yourself. Are you an alum, or a student here?

Man #2: Well, I know the University very well.

So you come here every year?

Actually, I usually get involved with these things when the students get involved with police and the police tend to get a little too excessive in their response. [My advice is,] always keep your hands out, so that the police don't have any reason to have any fear of you, but at the same time their response to these kinds of things is usually excessive.

Have you ever run naked in it yourself?

No, I actually haven't. I'm much too old for that; I don't think I could run a mile.

Well, after I turn off the tape machine, I'll have him [#1] tell you [#2] whether he's older than you or not!

[Everybody laughs.]

Man #2: I might be!

Man #1: I didn't do it all in one shot. I made it to the arch, and then I had to pull off to the side for a few minutes. And then after I caught my breath, I finished all the way up to the Cube. But it was a rush, it was just a rush!

Isn't it amazing?

You don't know who you're running next to, but you want to bond with this guy so incredibly!

[He laughs.]

The crowd was fantastic, going through there. Yes, I did get a lot of comments about my age [I had mentioned that last year several spectators saw me run a second time and said, "There's that OLD guy again!"]...

But what were people saying?

Well, they were saying things like "Oh! Is that my professor? You're too old to be a grad student." One of them actually got my age right. He said, "You look like you're 50!" And that's exactly right. But that was a joke. You need to do it once.

I was training for it this time, but I wasn't ready for the pace. From all the videos I had seen it seems to jam up around the arch. This time, it didn't; it was full bore when I was going through, there was no slowdown, and I couldn't keep the pace.

When you've got the track team behind you, you've got to keep running. They are going to run you down!

I probably could have done the distance if I had been able to keep my own pace, but going through the crowd with the crush, I just had to keep up with the people who were in front of me. I couldn't keep up the whole distance.

Cool!

It was fun!

Well, I'm glad you made it and everything turned out OK for you.

Thanks!