Thousands of people will take to the streets this weekend to run. Some of those people will be wearing less than others.
That's because the Santa Speedo Run and the Bill Rodgers Jingle Bell Run are on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The first race involves a few hundred men and women racing through downtown Boston in little red swimsuits. The second race involves a few thousand people, some dressed in red-and-green holiday attire, running through Davis Square in Somerville.
Let's start with the Speedo Run.
The first Santa Speedo Run in 2000 was essentially a meaningless stunt conjured up by five friends in their mid-to-late 20s who thought, "we should do something stupid like we used to do," said Jonathan Ianelli, one of the founders of the race.
Their "stupid" idea was to run around the city wearing nothing but red Speedos while taking turns holding a portable stereo that played Christmas music by the Muppets. Passersby were stunned and amused by what they saw. Holiday shoppers stopped to cheer for the scantily clad pseudo-athletes.
"Just from that reaction, we realized people really liked it and that we could probably do something good with it," Ianelli said.
The fivesome began recruiting more friends to join the run and decided to charge a registration fee that would be given to a local charity. In 2003, they raised $14,000. In 2005, they raised over $50,000. This year, they're giving the money to the Women's Lunch Place in the Back Bay.
"It's great because we'll actually run by the church where they have the shelter," Ianelli said.
The day begins with morning drinks and registration at Lir, an Irish pub on Boylston Street. Participants have to raise (or pay) $250 to participate. It's free to watch, of course, and over the years, spectating has become part of the day's fun.
The run starts at about 1 p.m., and since the race is short, it's usually over within a half hour. Then it's back to Lir for more partying.
Kelly Fitzgerald, one of the first women to have run the Speedo event, says participants and spectators should expect to be social. After all, she met the man she married at one of the runs.
"The first day I saw my husband, he was in a Speedo," Fitzgerald said.
The greatest compliment to the group of friends who originally started this race as a gag is that other cities have copied the idea. Runners in Austin and Toronto have contacted Ianelli about starting up Speedo races in those cities, and the Springfield-area rock station Lazer 99.3 is running its own Santa Speedo race on Sunday in Northampton. Ianelli doesn't mind the copycats.
"As long as they're doing it for charity," he said.
That brings us to our second race for local charities, the Bill Rodgers Jingle Bell Run, which is in its 30th year. To be specific, this is actually the 30th time the race has been run; last year organizers took a break because they couldn't secure a permit.
Paul Collyer, a member of the Somerville Striders Athletic Club, worked with Rodgers this year to revive the race. At one point in its history, up to 4,000 people ran the Jingle Bell in downtown Boston. It was a fun run, so there were no winners or losers, and many of the participants ran in holiday costumes (there were always a few Santas and human candy canes).
"I ran quite a few of them at the end of the 1990s," Collyer said. "The times I ran it, it was out of Kenmore Square. Back then, it was a little different. After it was over, everybody scurried into a big pub."
This is the first time the race will be run in Somerville. Davis Square has agreed to host the 4 p.m. 5K walk and run, and a number of local bars around Davis, including the Sligo Pub and Toast, will welcome spectators and participants, who this year, will compete for prizes.
Collyer said it will probably be cold, but running (or rooting) with thousands of people warms you up. Plus, everyone will be in winter gear (no Speedos) - unless they've attended the wrong race.
Registration for the Santa Speedo Run is still open. For a schedule of events for runners and spectators, visit santaspeedorun.com. Registration is closed for the Bill Rogers Jingle Bell Run, but the race welcomes spectators. For a schedule and a list of participating pubs, visit baevents.net/jinglebell.
Meredith Goldstein's column on going out runs on Wednesdays. She can be reached at mgoldstein@globe.com.
