Carey Hepler is proud to be an Aloha dude

Don Burk/The Times-Union

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On Saturday, a sea of runners will participate in the annual Gate River Run. And among the mass, you’ll see a bunch of guys, or as they call themselves, the Aloha Dudes, running the race outfitted in grass skirts, Hawaiian shirts and leis.
The organizer of the bunch is Carey Hepler, who has run the Gate since 1998. He is the co-owner, with his brother, Brian, of a leather and vinyl repair company, Hepler Bros.
The brothers also have another venture outside the business — they collect used running shoes prior to and after the race and donate them to a local charity. The Heplers estimate that they’ve gathered up more than 4,000 pairs of shoes to be donated.
Skirt! recently talked to Carey Hepler about running the race in a grass skirt and what inspired him to organize the shoe donation program.
What made you want to run the Gate in Hawaiian-inspired attire?
In 2002, I had trained really well, and I was in great shape. I was working for CitiBank at the time, and we had this conference over in New Orleans before the River Run. And I came back completely hung over and dehydrated and tried to run that thing, and it was just awful. Right around the five-mile mark, I’m feeling terrible, and these two guys dressed as hillbillies with fake teeth and overalls passed me, and they’re just having the best time. So I thought, next year I’m going to do a costume.
Why the grass skirt?
I was at a garage sale one day in Ortega. There was a grass skirt there, and I thought, “Maybe that could be the costume.” I asked the lady how much, and she said, “It’s 50 cents, but if you wear it, you can have it for free.” I thought that was priced right, so I ran home in that and I thought, “I can wear this, I can do this.” And that became the costume.
Does the costume make it difficult to run?
You’ve got to be careful the grass skirt doesn’t get between your legs too much because you could end up with a bad rash.
When did you begin to collect the used running shoes?
I was reading this article in Runner’s World about this girl who started collecting used shoes. She started when she was watching a news clip about the war in Afghanistan and saw they needed shoes. ... She was partnered with her track club and sent used running shoes. And I thought, I can do that. … I called up Doug Alred of 1st Place Sports ... they gave us the space to get inside the expo. Now we have regular people that every year they bring us shoes and look for us.
Do you collect anything other than shoes?
T-shirts. The shoes for the homeless shelter are much more valuable, but they’ll take anything we give them ... After the race is done, we bring over the shoes to St. Francis Soup Kitchen. They have a clothes closet and on Tuesday they give out clothes. We load up the van and fill it up with shoes.
How does it make you feel to have organized such a massive shoe recycling program?
It’s fabulous. I love helping out. And the reaction we get from the people down there is one of great gratitude, and I always wish we could do more. I wish we could bring twice the number of shoes all the time. The difficult part is just coordinating it and getting it all done, but my brother and I have gotten it down to a science, and we can get it all done really quickly ... the hard part is getting the word out.
What do your wife and three teenage daughters think of you running in a grass skirt?
The girls, they were so young when I started doing it, I don’t think they remember me not doing it. I think they actually think it’s kind of funny. Patty and Sally, the younger two, did a 5K one time and actually wore a skirt. They’re absolutely cool with it ... I’m a very confident man, as my wife would say, so running in a skirt really doesn’t bother me, and I think that kind of rubs off on the kids.
What’s your favorite thing about wearing a skirt?
The guys I run with will agree with this as well — chicks dig it.

Look for the Hepler brothers outside the entrance of the Gate River Run Expo at Jacksonville Fairgrounds Thursday from 11 a.m. to6 p.m.; Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m. There, they will be collecting used running shoes and will immediately be donating them to St. Francis’ Soup Kitchen.

tracy.jones@jacksonville.com,
(904) 359-4272