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“I say ‘undie,’ you say ‘run!'” It was with these words from David Dosberg, the co-director of the annual Cupid’s Undie Run in D.C., that nearly 200 people dressed in their underwear took off down Water Street, Southwest, despite the cold, rainy weather.
The race, a District tradition for more than a decade, is a charity effort to benefit research for neurofibromatosis, or NF: a condition that causes tumors to form in the brain, spinal cord and nerves of a patient.
Dosberg said later that D.C.’s 2025 run raised more than $100,000 for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, the event’s beneficiary. It’s part of a national network of runs that raised more than $1 million cumulatively this year.
The race drew people from D.C., Maryland and Virginia — all of whom registered and raised money to participate.
Outfits ranged from boxers to sports bras and athletic shorts to lingerie sets.
One man showed up dressed as Gandalf, the famous staff-wielding wizard from J.R.R. Tolkien’s high fantasy “Lord of the Rings” series. He told WTOP it’s his tenth year running in support of the Children’s Tumor Foundation.
“I have benefited so tremendously from the help of the Children’s Tumor Foundation,” said Lilly Coltoff, an event co-director and someone who has lived with NF her whole life.
She praised the work of everyone who participated in the charity run, adding that she is hopeful for the future: “In fact, earlier this week, the FDA approved the second-ever drug for the treatment of NF. That’s the charity dollars at work.”
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