There is glory in stripping to your undies and running a mile for charity. The kind of glory that leads to national magazine covers, when it comes to Bobby Gill, co-founder of DC-based Cupid’s Undie Run.
Gill is one of two winners of the magazine’s 2015 cover search, the other being Michelle Hercules Walker, a New Yorker who lost 112 pounds through running. The cover search was initiated by Runner’s World to find “the two most awesome runners in America.” After identifying ten finalists, the magazine chose Gill as their male cover winner.
Gill co-founded Cupid’s Undie Run in 2010 with a plan to raise money for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, an organization which is dedicated to researching the cure for neurofibromatosis, and to date the run has raised nearly $8 million dollars for the cause. So when Runner’s World went looking for their December star, Gill’s love of running–he went from couch to marathon in 2008, and has completed ultramarathons since–and his use of the sport for a good cause landed him the cover.
“The process was brutal,” said Bart Yasso, Runner’s World chief running officer in a press release. “There are no losers, but we had to choose a winner.”
Come this February, Gill plans to host with over 25,000 runners in their undies in 36 cities across the country for Cupid’s Undie Run. To read more about Gill, check out his Runner’s World cover profile.
Caroline Cunningham joined Washingtonian in 2014 after moving to the DC area from Cincinnati, where she interned and freelanced for Cincinnati Magazine and worked in content marketing. She currently resides in College Park.
