Will someone please think of the pumpkins!

[Tev]

And the nudists that wear them!

BOULDER, Colo. -- This city has always taken pride in its liberal-to-the-point-of-loony reputation. But this Halloween, one of its wackiest traditions is under siege: the Naked Pumpkin Run.

The event is exactly what its name implies. Scores of men and women pour into downtown streets for a late-night jog, wearing not a stitch between the jack-o'-lanterns on their heads and the sneakers on their feet.

For nearly a decade, naked pumpkin runners did their thing unmolested, stampeding through the frigid dark past crowds of admirers who hooted, hollered and tossed candy. But last year the run attracted more than 150 participants, and Police Chief Mark Beckner fears things are getting out of hand. "It's a free-for-all," he says. So he intends to stop it.

He will station more than 40 officers on the traditional four-block route tonight, with two SWAT teams patrolling nearby. All have orders to arrest gourd-topped streakers as sex offenders.

Runners and their fans are outraged. This is not the free-spirited Boulder they know and love. "It kind of reminds me of what's happening in Tehran," says Andy Schmidt, a lawyer. "They're pre-emptively outlawing a gathering."

Even Mayor Matt Appelbaum, who supports the police, admits to a tinge of worry that arresting Halloween streakers will tarnish Boulder's reputation as, well, Boulder.

"I'm a little old for it, but it could be pretty cool to be running around with a pumpkin on your head and not much else," says the 57-year-old mayor.

This saddens me. I personally have always been a fan of Boulder, Colorado. My family has a summer home a few miles outside of town and I always had fun hanging out in this crazy place over the summer. It's pretty shitty of the cops to crack down on a tradition that whole town is known for. Hell the city council and the mayor are for this thing.

[Bells]

Tehran!? Overkill much?

But really, maybe it wouldn't be such a great idea to flat out end the event... but they could make it a bit more organized. If you have groups of 150 and up running nude in your streets with pumpkins in their heads the police, of course, will want to keep an eye out for that... but it's not like this could go so out of control that you would need Swat Patrols... just a bit more planning.

[Krylo]

They should just apply for a lawful protest against anti-streaking laws... along the route they would streak.

Cops wouldn't be able to touch them, then.

[Tev]

Originally Posted by Bells

Tehran!? Overkill much?

Well to be fair, liberals are just as prone to poor analogies as their more conservative brethren.

Either way, it's not quite like, but similar to if Baton Rouge, Louisiana police went "hey, you know what, no more Mardi Gras. All you bead collectors are now sex offenders." Except the pumpkin run is not at all a "sexually construed" event.

[Smarty McBarrelpants]

There's no way they could get that charge to stick. You got get them for indecency but how can you charge them for sex offending when they just walking around naked? The police would just be asking for trouble once they took it to court.

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Smarty McBarrelpants

You got get them for indecency but how can you charge them for sex offending when they just walking around naked?

Pretend there were children around, actually. Indecency can become sex offending if there are minors in the area, from what I hear.

[Loyal]

Has nobody thought to simply compromise and have them wear shorts or something in addition to the pumpkins?

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Loyal

Has nobody thought to simply compromise and have them wear shorts or something in addition to the pumpkins?

I think it's less about the streaking and more about the stampede. I mean, if the mayor is totally for running about with nothing but shoes and a pumpkin, one would think it's the numbers.

[Loyal]

The only remarkable difference between this and any parade is the choice of garment.

150 people might be enough to warrant an escort or some form of marked organization, but not at all to warrant it being shut down.

[Funka Genocide]

Originally Posted by bluestarultor

I think it's less about the streaking and more about the stampede. I mean, if the mayor is totally for running about with nothing but shoes and a pumpkin, one would think it's the numbers.

no I'm pretty sure it's about the nakedness. There's no laws against public assembly in America... sort of one of those uh, rights or something.

so a fair compromise would be having everyone cover their legally determined naughty bits before marching around.