Olympics at Sandy Hook beach near NYC on the 20th of August

I thought that this month it’d be very appropriate to organize a sports competition, mini-Olympics of a kind – in the nude, of course – to remind about the origins of the Olympic games in Ancient Greece,

and very much in spirit of Active Naturists and our Gymnasium project.

 

We’ll  have a few events throughout the day on Saturday, 20 Aug (raincheck Sunday) at my favorite Gunnison beach on Sandy Hook peninsula (just across the bay from New York City) :

  • long jump around noon;
  • wrestling around 2pm
  • running and swimming races during low tide time – to run on wet sand/swim in shallower water – between 3pm and 5pm; 100m and 500m;
  • discus throw (frisbee) at 6pm;
  • + there are always volleyball games going on at Sandy Hook;
  • and maybe we can even have some gymnastics and capoeira!

Look out for our Gymnasium banner on the right hand side of the beach (looking at the ocean). See you!

naturist gymnasium 0005 Burning Man 2015, Black Rock City, Nevada, USA

volleyball in the nude… as never captured before?

Sports in the buff is fun, and volleyball is probably the favorite game among naturists – perhaps because it is also a perfect beach sport? There are numerous naked volleyball tournaments, with more and more appearing every year, and the major ones in North America are listed at nudistvolleyball.com. This weekend we have SunnyBowl at Sunny Rest Resort, where I’ve been many times for the 7k trail race. I’m going with my friends Casey, the winner of the trail race in 2014, and Dan, another contributor to this blog, but I’m also looking forward to seeing my numerous  friends from the naturist volleyball community. And although the uniting theme is volleyball, some participants contribute with other activities, such as DJing or fire-spinning, as I filmed at SunnyBowl last year. What is really nice about naturist volleyball events is that there are players of all levels of experience, from complete novice to professional, so you’ll surely find a team where you can fit well! The biggest naturist tournament in volleyball is held at White Thorn Lodge in Pennsylvania,  and when I visited it for the first time 2 years ago, the level of games simply blew my mind! But I also found it strange that none of that was photographed and filmed. I thought that awesomeness was too good not to be shared with the rest of the world, and dreamt to change that. Here is our first attempt: a friendly match of Tiki-Tomba teammates at the Banana Rum Cup in White Tail resort, Virginia. Hopefully you’ll get to see their finals someday too! Meanwhile enjoy our two videos: a one-minute promo (above), and a five-minute footage that should give you an impression of the full match (below).

A good game starts with a good serve,

naturist volleyball 0008 Banana Rum Cup, White Tail Resort, Virginia, USA

and when the players are nude, you can see how the whole body is engaged right away.

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Here, the volleyball classics meets the Ancient Greek athlete classics.

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It is equally impressive that after such powerful serves, the opposite team is able to respond!

naturist volleyball 0002 Banana Rum Cup, White Tail Resort, Virginia, USA

And in this photo below, you can get a glimpse of how we shot the video.

naturist volleyball 0003 Banana Rum Cup, White Tail Resort, Virginia, USA

This is how it went:

And just a few words about White Tail resort: it’s a large nudist community with permanent residents and a motorhome park, but also with a lot of space for campers coming for an event like Banana Rum Cup. Their party hall is probably the biggest I’ve seen at a naturist resort. There is a big L-shaped outdoor pool, a hot tub, and a pretty big heated pool with glass walls and ceiling – perfect for chilling in bad weather. We actually got pretty unlucky with the weather, as on the day of the finals it was unseasonably cold, but that pool area allowed us hanging out in the buff in comfort even while there was chilling rain outside…

In the other related news, my friend Josh and I installed the second volleyball net at our local Sandy Hook beach. There used to be two nets until the hurricane Sandy destroyed one them, and often enough it was hard to get on the one and only court to play volleyball when the beach would get busy during summer weekends. We played a bit with  a portable net, but it wasn’t very stable; and it’s quite a hassle to put it up and down every time… So, Josh and I independently had been thinking about setting up a more stable net, but when we talked about it, there was no reason to delay any longer, and just a week later we had everything ready.

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As soon as we made the measurements and started digging a hole for the first pole, we got a couple more helpers = new friends.

naturist volleyball 0002 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, USA

And there it was –

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just ready before the nightfall! Having two nets will surely make it easier for Sandy Hook beachgoers to get engaged with volleyball.

naturist volleyball 0004 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, USA

So, whether you are at a nudist resort or beach, keep calm and play naked!

naturist KEEP CALM & PLAY NAKED

our Gymnasium project at festivals and beyond

The preparations for our second time at Burning Man with our theme camp Gymnasium are in full swing. If you’re new to this blog, you can read about the idea behind our project on its webpage, and make sure to check out the blogpost about our amazing first experience last year! Our schedule for 2016 will be available soon, and we already know our new location: 8:15 & D.

We also went as Gymnasium camp to FreeForm Festival a month ago, but unfortunately we had to cancel our famous naked oil wrestling – big success last year – due to terrible weather. A chilly drizzle lasted almost the whole last day of the festival… We still had lots of fun the day and night before though.

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But we’ll go on with this project beyond the festivals, and on this coming Monday, the US Independence Day, we are hosting a wrestling session at our favorite beach in NYC area – Gunnison on Sandy Hook peninsula. We shall have a workshop on different wrestling styles and then a fun match in the afternoon. Look for us on the right side of the beach, with an orange banner that says ΓΥΜΝΆΣΙΟΝ (Gymnasium). The workshop starts at 3pm.

naturist gymnasium 0005 Burning Man 2015, Black Rock City, Nevada, USA

Fifteen shades of tan… on Sandy Hook beach

naturist 0002 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Finally, summer weather has come to New York and it’s time to open beach season here! My favorite beach around is Gunnison on Sandy Hook peninsula in New Jersey. I’ve written about it on multiple occasions already (just make a search on the site for other blogposts), but I have some nice photos to share from last year – in anticipation of yet another great beach time this summer!

The best way to get to Sandy Hook from New York City is by Seastreak ferry.

view 0003 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

I used to post the discount coupons for it, but it seems there’s no need for it anymore. According to the ferry website, starting this year, with fist departure of the day, you always get a $30 return ticket to the beach (regular is $45). A sad news is that there is no late departure from the beach anymore – the last ferry to the city is at 5:45pm, while it used to be 7:45pm – no more sunsets on the ferry? However, there is a shuttle to the late ferry departing from the town nearby. Update: the late ferry is back on the schedule!

The ocean water is probably still too cold to swim properly this weekend, but there are plenty of other activities to do on the beach! Volleyball is very popular at Gunnison beach, as expected from a naturist location.

naturist acro-yoga 0017 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USAnaturist acro-yoga 0016 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

But our favorite pastime last summer was acro-yoga.

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It was great to see how engaging it was, as a few strangers joined,

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while I was practicing acro-yoga with my friends David, Eddy, Antony and others. (Remember our spontaneous handstand class 3 years ago?)

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Acro-yoga creates a great connection between the ‘flyer’ and the ‘base’,

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and it’s even greater when done in the nude.

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It’s quite an amazing experience,

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if you  do it in the open air, especially in a place like this beautiful beach

view 0001 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

with Manhattan skyline in the background.

view 0002 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

But we also experimented with a log as the base –

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floating in the air yoga?

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Probably the most entertaining acro-yoga pose is ‘the laughing dragon’ (you might remember some more pics of it from last year’s Burning Man post).

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Well, the more participants the merrier!

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So, Sandy Hook is a perfect place for socializing and getting your all-over tan!

naturist 0001 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

PS Sandy Hook is also good for watching airplanes coming to NYC airports. Who can spot an airplane on one of the photos in this post? Where does it seem to be landing? 😉

PPS If you like to bring a lot of stuff with you to the beach, which can be difficult while walking on sand, you should support this campaign for funding of the extension of the matted walkway!

celestial bodies at Sandy Hook

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Now that the beach season is open in NYC, here is a recap of last year’s fun times at Sandy Hook, and to complete the full circle (and start the new one!) – a couple of photos from the first beach day this year. (Well, first beach day here – as you know, I was in Miami in March :-))

Before I forget, here are useful links for the Seastreak Ferry that goes to Sandy Hook: two $25 dollar offers – Groupon 1 and Groupon 2; and $30 coupon from  website (regular price for return ticket is hefty $45).

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I’ve written on Gunnison Beach of Sandy Hook on multiple occasions (just do a search for “sandy hook” on this website for more); so if you’ve read my blog for a while, you know it’s a kind of beach where you go with with a group of friends, and even if you go alone, you end up with with a few friends anyways 🙂

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… just sometimes you need to dig them up from the sand!

naturist jump

With my friends, our beach day is rarely a passive pastime, as we literally jump around, and frolic in all ways possible.

naturist 0009 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

While I did some acro-yoga with one David, I was happy to see another David to be almost fully recovered after his surgery and back to do his gymnastics tricks, including a backflip.

naturist flip

Looking forward to doing more gymnastics and capoeira with him this year, just like we did it two years ago! If you’re there, feel free to join us 🙂

I did report about our ball games at Sandy Hook last year, and I hope to do only more of these year. It’d be awesome if we could manage to play foot-volley,

naturist 0007 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

though unfortunately one of my best friends who was good at football juggling has moved to Hawaii.

naturist 0010 Sandy Hook, NJ, USAnaturist 0008 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

As the evening approaches, the beach is emptying out and calms down.

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If you stay till sunset, you may be a witness of a grand show provided by our two brightest celestial bodies.

crescent moon 0001 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Last year, I discovered that there is a campground on Sandy Hook. Unfortunately, if you want to stay on the weekend, you have to reserve it well in advance (most Fri and Sat nights for this summer have been booked out already)! The campground itself is not nude-friendly, but you can go back to the beach and experience it like never before.

night naturist 0001 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

These are pictures from Christian and Giorgio –

night naturist 0002 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

they were inspired by the full moon.

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But if you are not lucky enough to capture the full moon,

night naturist 0000 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

you can enjoy the lights of a different kind:

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New York City at night provides quite a spectacle too.

night NYC view 0001 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

However, I was looking forward to seeing sunrise at Sandy Hook, as the beach faces eastwards.

sunrise 0000 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Arriving to the beach just before sunrise, to our surprise we were not the first ones, but it was still very different from a day scene there.

sunrise NYC view 0000 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Well, and even the ‘city that never sleeps’ looked kind of sleepy in those pale morning colors. But the sun was about to come out,

sunrise 0001 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

and we looked away from the city skyline. I don’t see sunrise very often, and there is always something inherently exciting about seeing the rise of our parent star.

sunrise 0003 Sandy Hook, NJ, USAsunrise 0005 Sandy Hook, NJ, USAsunrise 0006 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

It was even more exciting to experience that naked; not to mention that even in August, dawn time is a bit chilly, so the first rays of the sun were very much welcome on my skin!

sunrise 0007 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

The  beach was still pretty empty,

sunrise NYC view 0001 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

and shorebirds such as plovers certainly took advantage of that.

plovers

It is always funny to see how they follow retreating water in search of newly revealed food

plovers 0002 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

and then hastily run away from approaching waves. They literally live on the edge… of the ocean.

plovers 0003 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

And here is a couple of photos from my first day at Sandy Hook this year – this past Monday. That was apparently the last week until the end of summer when Gunnison Beach was open in its entire length, as already this weekend part of it was closed for an endangered plover species to build nests in the dunes.

shrine 0000 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

No, this is not how plovers’ nests look like. Somebody had built parts of this construction, but then I found it destroyed by the strong wind later in the day. I repaired this “shrine”,

shrine 0001 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA adding an animalistic twist to it. Well, to me it was just an artistic expression, but I can bet that if it ever gets fossilized and then later discovered by future archaeologists, they will get some twisted story to explain it 😀

naturist 0015 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

By the way, I have a strong suspicion of who might have initiated this construction, as someone I got to know last year built something of this kind but even more impressive. This summer has just begun though, so surely we’ll have more stories to share from this amazing place!

a creative sunburnt man at Sandy Hook

naturist juggler 0023 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

This blogpost is our little tribute to the huge festival in the desert that is drawing to an end at this moment. I’ve been to Burning Man only once (in 2012) and would love to come back with my own camp, even though lately I’ve heard and read a lot of controversial opinions as to whether the festival still holds to its creative and accepting principles. Regardless, the idea of encouraging creativity, personal participation and acceptance of any [non-harmful] practices is very attractive, but I’m even more enchanted by people who live by these principles without having visited Burning Man.

naturist juggler 0026 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

I had such an encounter this weekend at Sandy Hook. He built a sort of Woodhenge, if you will, away from the crowded part of the beach, with a bench facing the ocean and a seat facing the sunset; and it was decorated by ornaments of shells on the sand. I was inspired to continue with these decorations, and who knows how it will look like in two weeks, if  it doesn’t get destroyed in a storm… By the way, Burning Man itself started at a nudist beach too, Baker Beach in San Francisco.

naturist juggler 0024 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Meanwhile, the creator of Sandy Hook’s Woodhenge is also learning the art of juggling. Let’s follow the example and let our creative and playful inner self flourish!

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New Nude Yoga class in New York! Nude Yoga retreat is coming to the Woods again

naturist yoga 0002 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

After having maintained a nude yoga group with my friends for almost two years at private locations, we are finally going public. Starting from this Wednesday, we will have a weekly class in Harlem at 9pm with Michael. He is a very experienced and talented yoga instructor, and we are very lucky that he will teach us. He will also join us again for the second yoga retreat at the Woods campground on the first weekend of August 1st-3rd.

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Feel free to comment here or contact me by e-mail for more details about the class and retreat. You’re also welcome to just stop by. We are offering $15 per class for frequent visitors who are ready to buy a 10 pack for $150 or single class for $20. As for the retreat, you’re also welcome to just join us at the Woods campground, but if you drive from New York City, we’ll appreciate any carpool options. The retreat is purely donation-based, and all costs will be shared!

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Meanwhile, get inspired by these pictures of Michael stretching out at the great Sandy Hook beach!

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His routine includes some sophisticated poses and transitions that require advances flexibility,

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but don’t worry, he’s a good teacher and will make sure that everyone is comfortable at their level of experience.

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The doggy yogi classics is certainly on the menu too.

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However, it’s always nice to see something challenging to aspire to.

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We also like partner stretches and acro-yoga; below are photos from our spontaneous session last September at Sandy Hook.

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Partner exercises turn yoga into an interactive experience

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and allow deeper stretches.

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Some poses even involve more than 2 partners.

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Join our nude yoga group, and your body and mind will thank you!

Bouncing Balls at Sandy Hook

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Gunnison Beach at Sandy Hook was very crowded last sunday, but not all beach-goers just lay in the sun: we spent most of the day playing with balls, namely volleyball and football (soccer for you Americans :-)) We had lots of fun and are planning to come back there this Saturday, please join! See my previous post for discount ferry tickets from Manhattan.

naturist volleyball 0005 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

We worked on some good (and beautiful) serves,

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from both sides! It wasn’t often trivial due to changing wind.

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Those followed by not less beautiful defense moves,

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that sometimes required sand dives,

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not always successful though.

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A focused two-hand rebound might look less effective but was usually more efficient.

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Given the tall height of some of our players and low height of our net, it was sometimes easy to shoot the ball down from just above the net.

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There are lots of techniques that we have to learn and practice, and who knows, maybe we’ll be strong enough to participate at the Naked Volleyball Super Bowl? We had success at the “Bouncing Buns” trail race, so maybe we’ll be lucky with bouncing balls too.

After playing a few matches of volleyball, we decided to switch to football. However, we made a smooth transition by first playing (or rather trying to play) footvolley (futêvolei), a pretty new Brazilian sport that combines aspect of volleyball and football. It proved to be very difficult for us, so we moved on to football (soccer).  Inspired by the ongoing World Cup, we might stick to it this Saturday, especially if we get more players, although I’m also keen on playing some touch rugby.

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Here is a pic of our free kick 🙂

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If you want to join the fun, look out for some bouncing balls at a beach near you 🙂

naturist football kick 0010 Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Discounted tickets for the ferry to Sandy Hook :-) Let’s show up in big numbers and play some ball games!

Sandy Hook is undisputedly the favorite summer gathering spot for nudists of New York, New Jersey and even Philly. For New York City dwellers, there is a convenient ferry (rightfully called SeaStreak) that departs at two locations in Manhattan, but the cost ($45) may be discouraging. Luckily, this year there is not just one but two discounted ticket options. After some pressure, SeaStreak has release a coupon for $30, as in previous years.

Seastreak ferry coupon 2014

But this year, you can buy an even cheaper ticket with Groupon for $25, which is limited to only one per account, however. Nonetheless, there are two independent links that allow buying two tickets actually (or is there more?) – go and get ’em:

Groupon Seastreak Ferry to Sandy Hook 1 and Groupon Seastreak Ferry to Sandy Hook 2!

I’ve written about Sandy Hook on multiple occasions, so just use the “search” option to your right on this website and get inspired for some beach activities. Volleyball is a must, but after playing some touch rugby at Sunny Rest resort, we’d like to add rugby to our beach routine too! Given the ongoing World Cup, football is also on the list. Come and join us 😉 Why naked? Because what’s the purpose of clothes at a summer beach? None! Rugby and soccer players don’t usually wear protective gear anyways (besides mouth guards, but they are not necessary for touch rugby), so what’s the point in wearing anything at all? Run free and enjoy!

some upcoming events this month

WNBR NYC 2014

World Naked Bike Ride will gather thousands of cyclists in many cities of the Northern Hemisphere to promote cycling as a mode of urban transportation, as well as body acceptance. The dress code is “as bare as you dare”, but in my opinion being naked is the best way to get the message across: cyclists use the power of human body for commuting in the city – so, show that body! – and yet we are the ones who are most prone to the truly indecent exposure to the traffic and vehicle pollution. In most cities, the ride will be held on Saturday, 14 June, but in New York City, it’s on Friday the 13th. This will be a hell of a fun ride: an awesome way to finish off the work week, to say the least! You can see my reports from WNBR in NYC last year and 2012, as well as from Madrid in 2009; Philly Naked Bike Ride is in August, and with 3500 participants last year is the biggest one I’ve participated. Although I don’t know the reasons why WNBR is held on a different day here in New York than in most the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, I’m glad that it’s on Friday, because it lets me go for the weekend to yet another amazing event.

Free Form Festival brings together the vast East-Coast creative arts community from 12-16 June at at The Schuylkill County Fairgrounds, Pennsylvania. With its aim to “increase diversity in our local artistic landscape”, it will surely be interesting and fun, and by the way, it is an officially clothing-optional event too! Tickets are still on sale and may be purchased by clicking here. Who else is going?

I’m also looking forward to ‘Bouncing Buns7k Trail Race in Pennsylvania for American Cancer Society on the 21st of June. 7km is the longest distance that I’ve seen for a naked or clothing-optional race – it’s good to be challenged, moreover for a good cause. Well, in 2012, I passed the challenge pretty well, coming in third! I ran a bit faster last year, but with fiercer competition, I had only 7th result. This year, I cannot hope to run faster, as I’m still not 100% recovered after my ankle injury, but will I have less fun? Of course not! With 150 or so naturist folks of all shapes and ages, everybody can feel comfortable in their own skin. However, I’m going with a couple of fellows again, and it doesn’t hurt to have some healthy competition, just like with the friends in ‘Team America’ that I got to know last year. The event is organized by Pretzel City Sports and you can register for the race at their website: $25 before June 9, $32 after. Part of your registration fee will support American Cancer Society, and afterwards you get an opportunity to hang out at Sunny Rest naturist resort, where the trail race will take place. It’s a great opportunity to run just the way you like. The event is clothing-optional, and we’ll certainly opt for the style of the [authentic] Olympic runners 😉 Also, if you have any doubts about running naked, have a look at my brief overview that links running and our naturally naked (furless) body from an evolutionary perspective – I hope it’ll make sense to you. Besides participating in the race, we also plan to do some yoga at Sunny Rest, as well as play badminton and volleyball.

Last but not least, as the beach season has commenced, it’s worth mentioning that there is a Groupon sale for the Seastreak ferry from Manhattan to Sandy Hook beach: $25 instead of regular $45. Unfortunately, unlike in previous years, there is no $30 coupon on Seastreak’s website, and you can only get one groupon ticket…