I ran 14km through Sydney in my undies. Again.
This weekend I ran the full City2Surf — all 14km of it — in nothing but my Luckies. In front of 90,000 people. For the fourth year running.
I'm not going to pretend that sentence doesn't sound a bit unhinged out of context. So here's the context.
Why I keep doing this
Since I started Luckies, I've had no shortage of men sliding into my comments and DMs to tell me that talking about discharge is "too much information," or that I should "wipe my ass better," or — my personal favourite — messaging me from an account with their wedding photo as the profile picture to tell me I'm ugly.
Bro. I didn't ask.
I used to hide those comments. Now I run 14km in my underwear in front of most of Sydney instead. It's a better use of my time, honestly, and it says what I want to say a lot louder than a reply ever could: discharge is normal, women's bodies are normal, and none of it is up for debate from a stranger with an egg avatar.
How it actually felt
The bit I'm actually proudest of: it was easy, and not because the outfit sorted itself out. It was easy because I'm braver and more confident than I was in year one. I felt excited to get it done, and being in nothing but my undies in front of 90,000 people didn't worry me one bit. The gear helped too. Patterned gusset for stains, merino lining for scent, doing exactly what they're built to do for 14km straight.
I built Luckies because discharge-friendly, stain-hiding, scent-managing underwear shouldn't be a novelty — it should just work, quietly, in the background, even over 14km and 90,000 strangers. This weekend, it did.
The bit I didn't see coming
A journalist from Women's Agenda picked up the story ahead of race day — you can read it here: 'Bro I didn't ask': why this founder is running City2Surf in her underwear.
And at the start line, before I'd even taken a step, someone placed an order on the Shopify app on their phone. A stranger. At the start line. That one's going to stay with me for a while.
Why I'm telling you this
I'm proud of this one. Not because running in your undies is some huge feat — plenty of people do far harder things every day, quietly, with no crowd and no cheer squad. I'm proud because four years ago this started as a slightly mad idea to make a point, and now it's a business, a piece of press, and a stranger ordering knickers at 8am on a start line in Sydney.
If you've been following along, thank you for being part of it. If you're new here — welcome, this is genuinely what we're like.