The Pledge Mistress Ch 45

Chapter 45 -- A perfect lovers' triangle

As September drew to a close, President Tracy reminded her sorority that another important athletic event was coming up on the final Saturday of the month: the annual Tri-Alpha nude 10K run. The nude 10K run was a yearly tradition at the university and counted as an essential task of the fraternity's initiation for new pledges. What set the Tri-Alpha run apart from any other university-sponsored 10-K run was that all runners had to be completely naked throughout the entire race, as well as during the ceremony preceding the event. The only permitted items of clothing for anyone participating were running shoes and socks.

The run had been a yearly tradition since the early 1960's, when the Tri-Alphas began incorporating nudity as part of their initiations. During the first two decades of its existence the 10-K route went not only through the university, but also through Fraternity Row and a couple of nearby commercial streets.

In the late 1980's there was talk of banning the nude 10-K race, given that most of the universities around the US that had nude student runs were stopping them. However, the push to abolish the race came to an abrupt end when a fraternity alumnus and multi-millionaire died and left a huge grant to the university. The benefactor deposited his money in a trust fund, stipulating that $ 10 million would be paid out each year until the account was exhausted. The grant had two conditions. The first condition was the entire amount had to be used to pay the salaries of non-tenured professors and Teaching Assistants. The second condition was that the Tri-Alpha nude run had to be held each year, kept at its original 10-kilometer length and held in the middle of the day on the last Saturday each September.

Whatever moral objections there might have been to the spectacle of naked runners streaking through the university each year, no one in the Board of Regents was going to argue against $ 10 million in guaranteed salary money for instructors. Money talks, and bullshit walks. So, the Board of Regents negotiated the details of a revised race with the directors of the Tri-Alpha fraternity. The race would take place within the confines of the university, but would remain a full 10-K run. The starting line was at the Memorial Stadium. The runners would do two laps around the football field, then leave the stadium to follow a route around the university, pass through the old part of campus, then circle back to the Stadium and do a final lap around the track to the finish line. The event drew a large crowd that filled the stadium and lined the race route around the university. Attendance was restricted to students, active alumni, faculty members, and reporters. The campus was sealed off to outsiders during the race, but even with the restriction, typically between 50,000 and 60,000 spectators attended the event each year.

Participating in the race and running the full 10 kilometers non-stop was a requirement for all Tri-Alpha pledges. The fraternity encouraged other students to participate by offering a trophy and $ 1,000 in prize money to any non-Tri-Alpha member who managed to win the men's race. A second prize of $ 1,000 was offered to the winner of the women's division, as an incentive to encourage female students to run. The male 10-K winner usually was a Tri-Alpha pledge, because the fraternity forced its prospective members to train for the race.

Lisa narrowly won the women's division of the race the previous year, but she was not participating because she wanted to. Her friend, RA, and rival Cecilia Sanchez needed to recruit participants from her floor to satisfy the dorm director, and the way she got her runners was to defeat them at a game of strip poker. Lisa was a good card player herself because her father worked at a casino in Reno, but she made the mistake of bragging about her card-playing skills to Cecilia. Lisa's talk of cards gave Cecilia an idea, because she too, was a good card player, having learned Poker at a very early age from her brothers.

Cunning little bitch that she was, Cecilia got her own boyfriend Jason, as well as Lisa, Ken, and Mike, who was Lisa's boyfriend at the time, to play strip Poker in a game of elimination. Lisa and her friends did not know it while playing, but waiting for the game's four losers were registration packets to participate as runners in the Tri-Alpha race. The guys were eliminated first and forced to stand naked with their hands behind their heads, while the real game ended up being played between Cecilia and Lisa. When Lisa lost, Cecilia first took her into the hallway to photograph her. Afterwards came the night's awful news, those registration packets and the knowledge of having to run naked on a clear autumn day in front of approximately 60,000 spectators.

At first Lisa was horrified at what Cecilia was forcing her to do, but when she walked naked to the stadium in front of a procession of the residents of Huntington Hall and then started running, she discovered that she was thoroughly enjoying the experience. She found out that she liked being naked and liked having people look at her body. When she won the first-place trophy of the women's division of the race and stood in the nude for the winner's portrait alongside Jason, a profound change took place in her soul. Lisa realized that she enjoyed being without her clothing, especially in public places. As a result of the race, Lisa became both a nudist and an exhibitionist. When she was in her room or running around the women's wing of Huntington Hall, Lisa never wore any clothes. When she went out she began experimenting with wearing the most revealing clothing she could purchase, starting with low-rider jeans during the winter and moving on to skimpy dresses during the summer.

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There was no question that Lisa wanted to participate in the race for a second time. The thought of spending several hours in the nude in a totally public setting was a complete turn-on for her, but also there was the enticement of the $ 1,000 cash prize for the first place winner of the women's division. There was no question that Ken would participate as well, given that he was a Tri-Alpha and every bit as much an exhibitionist as Lisa.

Lisa was tempted to order all 40 pledges sign-up. However, she decided against the idea because they had started their pledge training just one week before and were not yet conditioned to run 10 kilometers. Instead she told her pledges about the run and made participation voluntary, although she couldn't see that anyone in her group would want to participate.

However, an idea occurred to Lisa that would get at least a couple of additional female runners to run the race for the sorority. She decided to contact the 10 women on the pledge alternates list. If any of the alternates was willing to participate in the run and could go the full distance without stopping, Lisa would offer her a pledge contract. Yes, it would increase the number of pledges to more than 40, but as far as Lisa was concerned, any woman willing to run 10 kilometers in the nude was worthy of joining the sorority. When Lisa brought up the idea to Tracy, she got the president's full support.

Lisa called the alternates and received three positive responses. She told the three aspirants to go to the Four-Beta house and pick up race packets. Assuming they completed the race, they were to show up at the sorority the following day and would be sworn in as pledges.

There already was one woman in the Four-Beta house who would be a perfect candidate for the run: Kathleen. Lisa's lover was the best runner in the sorority and was almost assured of winning the race if she participated. As much as Lisa wanted that trophy and prize money for herself, she knew that it was her duty to make sure the sorority's best runner was in the race and motivated to win. Lisa would still participate, but the best she could hope for would be second place. Lisa handed Kathleen a registration packet and flatly told her that she was participating:

"As far as I'm concerned, you're gonna be taking the trophy for the sorority. I'm running and I'm sure I'll do well, but that trophy's gonna be yours. You're the best runner we've got, and this'll be the chance for you to prove it."

Lisa was pleasantly surprised to find out the Four-Betas would have several additional runners representing the sorority in the run, including Elaine, a couple of juniors, and one that was a huge surprise: Bernadette.

The freshman class president explained that she had several reasons for wanting to participate, including the need to set an example for the incoming members of her class. She also was genuinely curious to see what running naked in public for an hour would be like with her newly acquired good health and a body that had gone nearly five months without smoking.

Also running would be Cherine, Brittany, and Erin. Cherine was running for a very simple reason; Jacob was running. Wherever Jacob went, Cherine went, even if that meant participating in a nude marathon. As for Brittany and Erin, they wanted to run for the same reasons Bernadette was running, to see if they were capable of running such a long distance and put their physical training to the test.

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Saturday morning the Four Beta Sorority members and pledges dressed in their PT outfits, with the exception of the runners, who remained naked except for their shoes and socks. The entire sorority waited to be escorted by some of the Tri-Alphas, who by tradition marched to the sorority to pick up any participating female runners before going to the stadium.

Among the Tri-Alphas there were about 30 naked members and pledges. The pledges were required to run, but typically there were about 10 members that volunteered to run as well. Among the runners was Ken who, like Lisa, was participating in his second race. Also naked was Jacob, the fraternity's vice president, and Arnold, who still was serving as Pledge Master.

The fraternity had an agreement with the local police that allowed it to march its runners in the nude along a pre-designated route towards the stadium, crossing the boulevard in formation, and walking across Old Campus towards the stadium. Normally the naked participants marched double-file with a line of dressed fraternity members walking along either side before they got on campus. Once on campus, by tradition the runners were required to walk in the open ahead of the main group and fully expose themselves to the spectators lining the sidewalks. This year there would be 11 female runners from the sorority participating as well, a number much higher than during a typical year.

The eleven naked women were quite nervous as they lined up and walked down a public street behind their 30 male counterparts. They were only partially concealed by the walking arrangement as they made their way to campus, and they knew that imperfect veil of modesty would pull aside completely once they crossed the main road and walked across Old Campus. There would be a 10-minute walk completely in the open, then about an hour at the stadium participating in the opening ceremony and stretching, and finally the naked run itself. After the run ended there would be more time recovering and cooling down on the stadium field as the fastest runners waited for the stragglers to come in. Finally all participants finishing attended the formal presentation of the race winners, and posed for the final group shot before they could retrieve their clothing. For the Four-Betas, there would be another naked walk back to the sorority house before they were allowed to get dressed. At the very least the eleven female runners could expect to spend between four and five hours in the nude along with their Tri-Alpha counterparts.

In spite of the cheering and whistling coming from the spectators lining the sidewalks, the walk across Old Campus was one of the happiest moments of Lisa's fall semester. She loved the feel of the warm sunshine and cool breeze blowing on her body, wishing that she could walk across campus like that every day. Yes, she was usually naked inside Burnside's office, and always naked in the Four-Beta house, but Lisa wished that she could be naked all the time, especially outside, and especially on comfortable autumn days.

Lisa looked around at her fellow Four-Betas. She could tell that Bernadette and Erin were enjoying themselves, but Elaine, Brittany, and Cherine were very nervous. Jacob seemed indifferent about walking naked in such a public setting, but Arnold and Ken enjoyed the daring feeling of exposure as much as Lisa. As for the other Tri-Alpha pledges, some seemed much more nervous than others. However, from the beginning they had been told that the nude 10-K race was a pledge challenge that needed to be completed as part of their requirement to join.

The stadium loomed ever larger as the Tri-Alphas and Four-Betas passed the Student Fitness Center. Already crowds were filing through the gates and finding seats. Down in the field several Tri-Alpha seniors and Four-Betas were setting up the stand where the six trophies were displayed, the announcer's microphone and podium, and the platform where the winners would stand once the race was over. Several Tri-Alpha juniors and a Four-Beta were erecting three large "A's" that would serve as the backdrop for group photos of the runners that would be taken both before and after the race.

Although many spectators were still looking for seats, the crowd cheered when the Tri-Alpha and Four-Beta runners entered the stadium with their escort. The 41 naked college students filed down the bleacher stairs and made their way to the football field, where other runners were beginning to gather. Campus Security had several officers walking along the track to make sure that the only people on the football field were participants in the race. Among them was Sergeant Polk, who was directing several photographers to step off the track.

The number of runners was higher than it had been the previous year. A total of 197 runners would be in the race: 132 men and 65 women. Lisa was satisfied to see so many women participating, but of course that meant more competition for the women's trophy. As she looked at the physiques of some of her competitors, Lisa realized that she probably would not have had any chance of winning the race. Definitely this group looked tougher than the runners from the previous year. It would be up to Kathleen to win for the sorority, and even she would be hard-pressed by some of the women on the field.

Lisa realized that she was relieved at the thought of not having a realistic chance of finishing among the top three women. She could run the full distance at a leisurely pace and enjoy herself. The run would be little more than a lengthy jog, probably shared with either Ken or Bernadette.

Kathleen on the other hand, would run hard because her competitive instincts would kick in as soon as she started moving. She would stick to her strategy of thinking about things in her life that upset her, get angry, and then run aggressively. This year it would be Kathleen, not Lisa, who would be the runner the other women would need to try to beat.

The opening ceremony was the same as it had been the year before, with the naked participants walking a full circle around the football field while the Tri-Alpha Fraternity song was played. The runners carried banners and were grouped by the organizations they were representing, which included several university departments, some of the dorms, the women's volleyball team, and a couple of rival fraternities.

As the 197 competitors gathered at the starting line, Lisa looked across the football field at the line of photographers waiting to catch the runners in action as they circled the track. As always, the bare bodies of the race participants would be well-documented in pictures and videos that would be splashed all over the Internet. The race definitely was not an experience that anyone with any modesty would have been able to endure.

Lisa took her place behind Kathleen and put her hands on the girl's bare shoulders. She quietly spoke into her lover's ear:

"Run the best you can. That's all I want from you. Not to win, but to do your best. You know what your best is; I don't. But I want you to give me a performance that will make everyone proud of you when this is done."

Kathleen took a deep breath and nodded. She was tensed up, but Lisa could tell that she was ready to run.

When the starter pistol went off, the runners began moving forward, but there were so many of them clustered at the starting line that the ones in the back started out very slowly. Lisa and the other Four-Betas were in the middle of the group, but they knew that in a 10-K race endurance was much more important than a fast start.

As the runners moved around the track to complete their first lap, the photographers lined up at the base of the bleachers rapidly took pictures of the group. By the end of the first lap the runners were somewhat spread out, but still concentrated enough that the viewers could get the perspective of nearly 200 naked bodies either approaching or running away from the camera.

Lisa, Ken, Arnold, and Bernadette decided to run the race together. During the previous year Ken burned himself out early by running too fast during the first two miles of the race and barely finished. This year he was not in any rush, so he would keep a much slower pace and finish, instead of rushing to the front only to be humiliated later on. Lisa decided to let Bernadette set the pace and to make the race little more than a casual long jog with a group of friends. Lisa was in no hurry to finish, because she thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of having her body uncovered in a place where she normally would have to be dressed.

Once the runners left the stadium and made their way towards the dorm area, they spread out as they ran along the university's sidewalks. The entire route was planned in advance and lined with spectators, many of whom had cameras or camcorders. There was no rule against photographing or cheering for the runners, but reaching out at them or getting in their path was strictly prohibited. A long line of orange construction ribbon along the sidewalk separated the runners from the spectators along the entire 6.6-mile route.

As Lisa enjoyed herself in the company of her friends, she watched Kathleen pull further and further ahead in the race. Once the group hit the 5 kilometer mark, Kathleen picked up her speed and soon her thin body disappeared from Lisa's sight. As Lisa had foreseen, it was obvious that Kathleen was competing to win, whereas all of her other group mates were simply running to participate in the event.

As Lisa's small group exited Old Campus and made their way towards the stadium, they heard a cheer coming from the crowd inside as the fastest runners crossed the finish line. All three of the male trophies were taken by members of the fraternity. First place went to a Tri-Alpha junior, the second-place prize went to one of Ken's fellow pledges from the summer group, and third place was taken by a member of the fall pledge group.

Very shortly afterwards came a loud cheer for the first and second place winners of the women's division. Kathleen and one of the university's Varsity Volleyball Team members were running hard against each other in a closely fought finish for the women's first place trophy. The race was a repeat of the finish from the previous year, where Lisa's long legs and tall body were matched against a shorter woman that was a better runner. Although Kathleen was much shorter than her rival, she was the more seasoned runner. The two women stayed close to each other until the very end, but Kathleen had been in similar situations throughout her time in high school and knew how to eke out a narrow victory. At the very end she put forth one last burst of energy and passed her opponent just before crossing the finish line. The Four-Betas cheered wildly upon seeing one of their own take the first place trophy. They cheered again twenty seconds later when Elaine bolted across the finish line to take third place.