Four students added a dash of color to campus by reddening their cheeks on an invigorating run this past St. Patrick’s Day.
Wearing only thong underwear and a smile, the quad raised the ire and eyebrows of numerous passers-by as they sought to proclaim their school spirit.
“We’ve been doing this run for two years now,” Mark Irwin, a sophomore in material science engineering, said. “A group of us got the idea while living on the second floor of Becton Hall.”
The runners certainly appeared confident and experienced, as they vaunted up Hillsborough street from their home base located on Chamberlain Street.
However, a certain amount of doubt hung in the air, as the group greeted passersby out on the sidewalk prior to their 1:15 p.m. run.
“This is going to be terrible,” David Woolard, a senior in mechanical engineering, said. “I’m not in the greatest of shape.”
The pack kept their formation tight as they covered the various school grounds on campus.
At first crossing through a quiet stretch of the design school, the four soon found themselves face-to-face with a touring group of prospective students and parents in the Court of North Carolina.
A Hollywood scriptwriter couldn’t have penned it better. The festive four frolicked in the general direction of the befuddled group and their tour guide, offering hugs and high fives.
“You need to go to N.C. State!” Adam Olejarczyk, a junior in construction engineering, shouted to the group. “You’re going to love it here!”
After giving numerous hugs, taking pictures and receiving high fives from the surprised high-school students, the pack made its way through the court and back up onto Hillsborough Street, where they were met with honking horns and jubilant yelps.
“The girls were all like ‘Oh my God’ and the guys were like ‘Yeeeeaaaah,'” Micah Garner, a junior in parks, recreation and tourism, said.
Bobbing up and down campus’ busiest street, the group made every effort to highlight their attention-getting attire.
“We bought our thongs at Priscilla’s,” Irwin said, “Although, I think that David already had his picked out.”
Woolard, wearing a navy blue thong with the “Top Gun” logo printed on its front, didn’t seem the slightest bit embarrassed.
“The only thing is that I need to keep shifting in order to avoid tan lines,” Woolard said.
The remaining members of the group tastefully opted for thongs likening their private parts to a crocodile, a black-crested rooster and a disco ball.
“I really should have bought some baby oil,” Garner said. “I didn’t expect to be running so much.”
Indeed, the infallible four continued their run into the Brickyard, where they paused to take a few photos with the all-female cheerleading squad and various other students and campus workers.
“I love to see it swing,” Sharee Shaw, a food service worker at Lil Dinos, said. “Those boys are crazy!”
The group split off into sets of two, as they gave out hugs and high fives and jump-kicked off of stair steps and benches. Apparently reenergized by their break, the group decided to run up the Harrelson Hall ramp. After running up onto the second floor, the group ran into a classroom that one of the runners recognized.
Making their presence known and drawing a shamrock on one of Harrelson’s infamous curved chalkboards, the group soon left in hooting, hollering glory. The lecturer, clearly aware that any attempt to resume her class would be futile, decided to let her students leave early.
“We practically liberated that classroom,” Olejarczyk said, after being told of the classroom’s early dismissal.
Onward they ran, or jogged, or simply ambled in times of exhaustion. Their hand-painted shamrocks muddied with activity; their palms sore with high fiving; their vocal chords destroyed from proclaiming their school spirit in earnest honesty — the four men carried on.
As the runners neared their final destination, they were interdicted by Campus Police. Citing the group for disorderly conduct, the officers informed three of the four gentlemen that they had two days to report to the Office of Student Conduct.
One of the runners was too quick to be caught, emitting cartoonish gibberish as he fled.
The runners assured the officers that they had maintained a state of semi-dress for the entirety of their journey.
“That’s why you’re not going to jail,” Campus Police Officer John Seay replied.
Officer Kevan Anderson wore a green master marksman’s badge on his uniform as he wrote out citations.
“I put this on today, just in case anyone got the idea to pinch me,” Officer Anderson said, laughingly.
Proud and defiant, the group made its way back to the house on Chamberlain Street where the adventure began.
In the crisp, summery light of a fresh Friday afternoon, Olejarczyk looked up to the sky and stretched his hands out into the air and recounted the history he had helped to make.
Suddenly, a car horn honked and an angry driver yelled for him to move out of the middle of the street.
“He didn’t seem to have any St. Patty’s Day spirit, did he?” Olejarczyk said.