300 nearly naked Santas brave wet, cold weather in Columbus for charity run

12/15/2013

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Neither sleet nor slush stopped more than 300 scantily clad runners in Columbus.

They braved temperatures in the mid-30s, wet weather and slippery streets on Saturday for the second annual Santa Speedo Dash.

They wore little more than tennis shoes, socks, colorful speedos and Santa hats as they ran the 5K race, or 3.1 miles.

Despite the weather, The Columbus Dispatch reports that attendance this year was higher than the 200 runners last year, who ran in 40-degree weather.

The run raised about $20,000 for the Central Ohio Diabetes Association.

The Santa Speedo Run began in 2000 in Boston with five runners and draws about 700 runners in that city.

It has inspired similar events across the country and beyond, from San Francisco and Denver to Atlanta and Toronto.