Get ready to watch on Saturday as hundreds of ho-ho-homosexuals and straight allies spill out of Sidetrack bar in Boystown like bees from a hive and spend 10-15 liberating minutes dashing through the snow in nothing but bikini swimsuits and Santa hats. Welcome to the Most Fabulous Santa Speedo Run, an annual 1-mile trek that started in 2000 as a charity event in Boston and has since spread to a half dozen cities nationwide. While a hetero version benefiting the Chicago Diabetes Project, the Santa Speedo Run, also happens Saturday at Shenanigans in the Gold Coast, the Boystown edition is the first to exclusively benefit LGBTQ charities. It has raised more than $30,000 since its 2011 inception, and this year's beneficiary is the Center on Halsted's new senior center. We sat down with co-founders (and boyfriends) Jeffrey Colgan and Karl Sponholtz to talk about freezing their jingle balls off during the most wonderful time of the year.
The Santa Speedo Run has been around for ages; why do an LGBT version?
Karl Sponholtz: Men in Speedos has gay written all over it. The better question is why hasn't it happened before 2011? [Originally], we wanted to go to the one in Atlanta, but couldn't make it so we got some friends and our volleyball team together a few weeks beforehand and said, 'Hey, let's go do this stupid thing and raise a few hundred dollars,' and we ended up raising a few thousand and packing host bar SoFo [in Andersonville].
Why do both gay and straight versions have such large appeal?
KS: Straight men go to see girls in bikinis, and gay men go to see boys in bikinis; it's that simple. It's especially fun that it's cold outside and the colder it is, the more challenging it is.
Jeffrey Colgan: Everybody is looking to do something for charity during the holiday season and this isn't a black-tie event that costs $500. It's $25 to register and you buy some raffle tickets and have a couple beers. Boys haven't been in their Speedos since Labor Day, so this is a perfect mid-season reason to break one out and have a good time.
What do you say to the person who says, 'I don't look good in a Speedo'?
JC: It's not just for gym boys, it's for everybody. So many people come the first year and don't dress or dress down, and when they get there they kick themselves because when they see these crazy outfits, and so the next year they come and they just bring it even more.
What are some of the most outrageous costumes you've seen?
JC: We've had fantastic leather guys show up in harnesses with tinsel going through them and reindeer antlers. We have rubber guys showing up in tight rubber pants.
KS: The first year we had a guy show up in a Christmas tree with box presents.
JC: Last year, we had the Jewish contingency come with menorahs on their chests and they wrote on their backs, "The Jew Crew," which was funny.
How do people on the street react?
JC: Every time we run, people come spilling out on the street to watch, and every time we pass a salon, these women with curlers in their hair and things like that all run out of their chairs. Cars are honking, people are waving; they scream, they cheer [and] they high-five runners.
Last year it was freezing and in 2012, it was balmy. Does it make a difference?
JC: In 2012, people hung outside of Sidetrack for like 30 minutes at the end of the race. People were sweating after running that race because it was 56 degrees. We thought because of the weather last year the numbers would be down, but exactly the opposite happened.
KS: People run a lot faster when it's cold.
The Most Fabulous Santa Speedo Run takes place Saturday, Dec. 6, at 2 p.m. at Sidetrack (3349 N. Halsted St.); doors open at noon. Register ($25) online at mostfabuloussantaspeedorun.com.
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The Santa Speedo Run has been around for ages; why do an LGBT version?
Karl Sponholtz: Men in Speedos has gay written all over it. The better question is why hasn't it happened before 2011? [Originally], we wanted to go to the one in Atlanta, but couldn't make it so we got some friends and our volleyball team together a few weeks beforehand and said, 'Hey, let's go do this stupid thing and raise a few hundred dollars,' and we ended up raising a few thousand and packing host bar SoFo [in Andersonville].
Why do both gay and straight versions have such large appeal?
KS: Straight men go to see girls in bikinis, and gay men go to see boys in bikinis; it's that simple. It's especially fun that it's cold outside and the colder it is, the more challenging it is.
Jeffrey Colgan: Everybody is looking to do something for charity during the holiday season and this isn't a black-tie event that costs $500. It's $25 to register and you buy some raffle tickets and have a couple beers. Boys haven't been in their Speedos since Labor Day, so this is a perfect mid-season reason to break one out and have a good time.
What do you say to the person who says, 'I don't look good in a Speedo'?
JC: It's not just for gym boys, it's for everybody. So many people come the first year and don't dress or dress down, and when they get there they kick themselves because when they see these crazy outfits, and so the next year they come and they just bring it even more.
What are some of the most outrageous costumes you've seen?
JC: We've had fantastic leather guys show up in harnesses with tinsel going through them and reindeer antlers. We have rubber guys showing up in tight rubber pants.
KS: The first year we had a guy show up in a Christmas tree with box presents.
JC: Last year, we had the Jewish contingency come with menorahs on their chests and they wrote on their backs, "The Jew Crew," which was funny.
How do people on the street react?
JC: Every time we run, people come spilling out on the street to watch, and every time we pass a salon, these women with curlers in their hair and things like that all run out of their chairs. Cars are honking, people are waving; they scream, they cheer [and] they high-five runners.
Last year it was freezing and in 2012, it was balmy. Does it make a difference?
JC: In 2012, people hung outside of Sidetrack for like 30 minutes at the end of the race. People were sweating after running that race because it was 56 degrees. We thought because of the weather last year the numbers would be down, but exactly the opposite happened.
KS: People run a lot faster when it's cold.
The Most Fabulous Santa Speedo Run takes place Saturday, Dec. 6, at 2 p.m. at Sidetrack (3349 N. Halsted St.); doors open at noon. Register ($25) online at mostfabuloussantaspeedorun.com.
Want more? Discuss this article and others on RedEye's Facebook page.
