Austin Gorilla Run is back
Hide your bananas! Gorillas to take over downtown Austin and break a worldrecord
People look at me funny when I tell them I want to dress up like a gorilla and run through downtown Austin.
I swear I'm not crazy. I'm just one of hundreds of people excited about running in the second annual Austin Gorilla Run.
Yes, it's silly, but thats the point. Themeless 5Ks are boring — you can run 3.1 miles in a t-shirt and shorts any day of the week. This Saturday, Jan. 21, is your only chance this year to do it dressed as an ape with 1,000 of your primate pals by your side (without getting arrested).
Plus, you could be among an elite group of gorillas to proudly say you helped break the Guiness Book of World Records for most people dressed as gorillas. Austin needs more than 1,100 gorillas to show up on Saturday to break Denver's record, set in 2009.
Registration ($100) comes with a gorilla suit perfect for your next Planet of the Apes viewing party. If you happen to own a gorilla suit (and I'm not sure why you would) your fee is only $50. Perhaps dressing up as a banana is more appealing to you. That's totally acceptable.
The race starts and finishes at the 1st Street Bridge with a block party on 4th and Guadalupe and free lunch at Fado Irish Pub.
There is a point to all this monkey business. Funds raised go toward the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fundpreserving the highly endangered Mountain Gorilla in the jungles of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The mission doesn't exactly hit close to home but you know Austin, we'll do just about anything for a cause and the chance to dress up and trump another city.
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Registration for the 2012 Austin Gorilla Run ends Friday, Jan. 20 at 6 p.m. Suits are limited. Register here.