Runners are a unique bunch. We’ll do almost anything to get our run in, and sometimes we finish a run with no time and/or place to properly shower and dress like civilized people. That means we have to get a little creative. Luckily for me, my teenage years in FFA taught me to subtly change clothes — once you can go from jeans and hoodie to full official dress (skirt, pantyhose, button-down shirt, scarf, jacket) in the back of a moving van without flashing the other occupants, you can do anything. Who knew my education would pay off so well.
Here are some strange places I’ve done the post-run baby-wipe bath and wardrobe change:
Decent public restrooms at:
- Panera
- Starbucks
- McDonalds
- A hotel lobby (of a hotel in which I wasn’t staying…)
- Grocery stores
- The school where I taught until last year
- Jeffco Stadium
- State park visitor centers
Sketchy public restrooms in:
- Parks
- Trailheads (outhouses, usually)
- Gas stations
- Campgrounds
- A subway station in Boston
In my car:
- At trailheads
- In parking garages
- In parking lots of race venues
- On the side of the road (actually, I’ve never done this in my car. I did it once in Logan’s car, when I paced her at last year’s Hideaway 100, and once in my parents’ car, while they wandered up the road)
Other places:
- In a tent on a high school soccer field (during Chase the Moon)
- In a tent at a campground (not so weird)
- Hiding behind a space blanket at a finish line
- In the middle of the crowd moving from the Boston finish line to the family meeting area (not a full wardrobe change; I just had to get my sweaty shirt off and my jacket and sweats on because I was FREEZING)
- On the side of the road, not in a car (this was also when I paced Logan, before my pacing shift. It was the middle of the night and really, really dark).
No matter how weird or awkward the post-run cleanup is, the run itself is always worth it!
What are some weird places you’ve changed post-workout?
What’s a weird “skill” you’ve learned?
Rural Running Redhead 
This is funny! I’ve changed in my car in a busy parking lot before, and when I ran Ragnar I did the whole “fully strip down, wash with baby wipes, and dress in new clothes” in the handicap stall of a sit-down restaurant.
So glad I’m not the only one who does baby-wipe baths in semi-public places!
Oh man I have changed in the car and changed outside the car with someone holding up a towel! I have also changed outside the car while wrapping myself in a towel and just careful taking off certain items at a time so I am always somehow covered!
Yes, you definitely have to have a keep-covered strategy.
Since I live out in the middle of nowhere and often the only one parked at the trailhead, I’m able to strip down, head-to-toe nakedness, right there in the parking lot. My biggest claim accomplishment: I’ve become an expert at changing from soggy running clothes outside without getting the bottoms of my feet dirty again.
That is quite the accomplishment! Where do you live?
This is a great post! In NY we have “a convenience store” that has a family air to it so it is not a typical convenience store that people normally think of and I have changed in there after a 6 miler so I could meet friends for breakfast! I have also changed in a car. I don’t think I have changed anywhere else that was weird, but I have gone to the bathroom and some weird places! When nature calls… 🙂
Maybe you should do a “weird places I’ve gone to the bathroom” post. 😉 P.S. Your blog won’t let me comment for some reason, but I am reading!