Runners will give back by stripping down to their skivvies at 6:30 p.m. Thursday night.

The Alumni Association and University of Wisconsin-Platteville Student Ambassadors are hosting a run where participants show up wearing as much new or gently used clothing as possible.  They will then remove the clothing to donate to charities.

“I signed up because I’ve heard of similar events taking place at other schools, which sounded fun,”  UW-Platteville graduate Jonathan Predaina said. “I‘ve been cleaning out my closet and piling up some old clothes I never wear anymore. Soon after doing this I saw the ad for the run and I figured I may as well run around campus after donating my clothes.”

In order to participate, runners must wear attire that is swimsuit appropriate, and depending upon the weather, they may need to wear more clothing for warmth, according to Savion Kirk, a student ambassador who is on the planning committee.  Participants will be given attire guidelines upon registration.

Nearly naked people and teams of five will then run a half mile across campus at 7:30 p.m.  Runners will begin at the MPSC, then run around Boebel Hall, past Doudna and Ullrich Halls, around Karrmann Library and return back to the MPSC.

“I’m excited to see the students and teams get involved and give back,” Kirk said.  “I’m also excited because we ordered thousands of glow sticks, and it will be fun to see everyone covered in them.”

Teams and participants will be awarded points for the amount of clothing they donated, their team outfit and their team name.

“Its actually kind of funny because there’s not much that you are wearing, but if a team is wearing all blue, they will get spirit points for their team outfit,” Kirk said.

Pizza Hut, Walgreens, Jimmy Johns and UW-Platteville Dining Services donated prizes for the winning team, the person who donates the most clothing, the team with the best outfit and the team with the best name.

“There’s a lot of free food and a lot of free stuff,” Kirk said.  “So, come on out.”

Registration for the Nearly Naked Run is free and open until Thursday.  Visit alumni.uwplatt.edu/events/event_details.asp?id=273037 to register for the run.

Clothing will be donated to the Family Connections, Family Advocates, Grant County Homeless Coalition, Social Services and the Women’s Shelter.