World's most prolific streaker ends his streak

Written By venus on Saturday, February 9, 2013 | 11:16 PM

Mark Roberts, the English man who streaked 519 times over the past two decades, has decided to keep his clothes on and streak no more. Roberts, a Liverpudlian father of three, said he enjoyed the fun of it.

Wimbleton Tennis Championships

"I don't have a compulsion to take my clothes off. It's only the laughter that matters. It's nothing like flashing. There's nothing sexual about it--it's just comedy nudity," Roberts told the Daily News of London.

The Daily News reported on the end of his career in its February 9 edition.

His first streak began in 1993 when he was watching saw a woman streak during a rugby game in Hong Kong. He shrugged off the event to his bar mates, saying, "Anyone could do that." The next day one of his mates showed up at his door with a taxi and took him to the stadium. He stripped, dashed onto the field, grabbed the ball and ran the length of the field to score.

"What I realized that day in 1993 was that while I could make four or five people laugh by telling a joke in a pub, I could, just by doing something daft on a pitch, make tens of thousands of people laugh," Roberts said.

He has shed his clothes at, among other venues, Wimbleton, Wembly and Ascot, a live TV show, and Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston.

Now middle-aged with a potbelly, Roberts decided to end his career at 519 streaks as a result a conversation with his 15-year-old son. "'Dad, when are you going to stop?'" his son inquired. "So I replied, 'What's the problem then?' He just said, 'Well, you're my dad.' That really hit home."

Roberts recommends streaking to others. "Everyone should try it once. I've never had any history of nudity. I'm actually quite shy. On a beach, I'm coy and I'll get changed under a towel. But when I perform, I'm quite a different man."