Born to Run Story Event 2025 Support Thread

[WaxPhilosophic]

Is there an official story page for this yet? I want to make sure. Use the corrrect “notes” field.

This is the official support thread. The first post has the details. The important points about submission and tagging are...

The stories will be posted on Aug 25th (the anniversary of the album's release), so please be kind to the site admins and have your entry in the queue at least a week prior, with Aug 1st through Aug 18th being ideal.

Use "BornToRun" in the notes to admin section of the story submission form to signify your taking part.

Use the tag "Born to Run 2025" to help group your submission with others participating in the challenge.

 

[BryanRichardson]

It was there the whole time…

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

It was there the whole time…

Or as The Boss might say: "Is that you, baby? Or just a brilliant disguise?"

 

[Aoife_from_Ulster]

Hey @WaxPhilosophic thanks for doing this. I enjoyed this one. Made me dig deep and find creativity again.
And had me listening to some good damn music again

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

And had me listening to some good damn music again

I'll admit, I was singing Born to Run tracks under my breath for weeks. Unfortunately, it was never the whole song, just bits here and there. I probably sounded like a skipping record to anyone overhearing my personal Springsteen concert in my head.

 

[BryanRichardson]

Would anyone be willing/ able to beta read my story? I wrote it for the bdsm category, but I think it is pretty light for that category.

 

[YDB95]

Would anyone be willing/ able to beta read my story? I wrote it for the bdsm category, but I think it is pretty light for that category.

I'm willing, but fair warning, I don't have a whole lot of experience in that category myself.

 

[StillStunned]

The official announcement is up: https://www.literotica.com/s/born-to-run-2025-coming-soon (although the tagline mentions the 25th anniversary).

I'm a bit stuck with my story. It needs some plotting, and I'm really bad at that.

 

[Aoife_from_Ulster]

Would anyone be willing/ able to beta read my story? I wrote it for the bdsm category, but I think it is pretty light for that category.

I am open and of course would offer the same. I have mine back from edits just running through spelling and grammar checking via MS. Message me if you are interested in swapping stories

 

[Aoife_from_Ulster]

The official announcement is up: https://www.literotica.com/s/born-to-run-2025-coming-soon (although the tagline mentions the 25th anniversary).

I'm a bit stuck with my story. It needs some plotting, and I'm really bad at that.

I just saw it and am very excited!!

 

[Coachofmany]

Love this idea. Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a dodge drinking warm beer in a soft summer rain …..one of the best lines ever

 

[YDB95]

Love this idea. Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a dodge drinking warm beer in a soft summer rain …..one of the best lines ever

That very image appears in my story.

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

I'm very excited to start reading these stories. Love this imagery.

 

[GoldenMaia]

I'm ready to strap my arms 'cross those engines...baby.
edit: I guess it's 'hands' vs 'arms'. Whatever. You get the vibe. VroomVrooom!

 

[SithLordSexyPants1]

My all-time favorite Bruce song is Thunder Road. I'm using the line "You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright" but then it strays quite far from the story in the song. I'm still working on it, hopefully it's not too far off the rails.

 

[SithLordSexyPants1]

As a slight distraction - if you haven't heard the Feb. 1975 version of Thunder Road, when fans were calling it Wings for Wheels, with the extra verse and different ending, you can watch it here:

 

[SithLordSexyPants1]

There's also the 1974 Jungleland with different lyrics and no sax solo

 

[Wonderer67]

I had to go down rt 33 to get to 34 the other day. Got me thinking about Bruce and I wrote a poem about my experience.

Route Thirty Three

Driving through Central Jersey
The real Central Jersey that I remember as a kid
Farmland and farmstands
Jersey corn and tomatoes
Heat waves on asphalt and farmfields
Driving cross the waistline of Jersey

It ain’t new anymore

But jersey has a new crop now:
Housing developments and distribution centers

Fuck em

Cremee Freeze ice cream is still here
Jersey Freez too
I remember going there as a kid
Begging my parents to pull over
On road trips to Avon by the Sea
To see gramma

The Jersey heat and humidity driving those memories home

Still a few farm fields left
An old timer mowing hay
On an ancient tractor

Glad there’s still farm stands out the wazoo
Which makes me smile

The sun beats down
Coming out of Freehold now, towards the shore

Tracing the route that Bruce once took
A real rock ‘n’ roll troubadour
I know what it feels like to be young and misunderstood
Looking for greasy lake
And in hate with the world

I got a little bit of young and misunderstood in me still
Always angry
But now I’m old and doing the misunderstanding

Offa my goddam highway!

But like Jonathan Richmond, I’m in love with the old world

The adult bookstore is now a barbecue smokehouse
I remember always looking out the side of my eyes when we passed it
Careflul not to let my parents
Or sisters see me looking
Wondering what was inside
Probably far worse than I would’ve ever expected
Knowing now what I didn’t know then
I just wanted to see tits and fucking
Even tho I didn’t know what that was…

The hubcap place is still there
I didn’t even know that was a thing anymore

Collingwood flea market…
Where I used to get matchbox cars
Wall stadium - Saturday night stick car races

Times have and have not changed
And so have and neither have I

The heat and humidity pushing 90
Wishin my speedometer were too

A memory spree
On route thirty three

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

I had to go down rt 33 to get to 34 the other day. Got me thinking about Bruce and I wrote a poem about my experience.

Route Thirty Three

Driving through Central Jersey
The real Central Jersey that I remember as a kid
Farmland and farmstands
Jersey corn and tomatoes
Heat waves on asphalt and farmfields
Driving cross the waistline of Jersey

It ain’t new anymore

But jersey has a new crop now:
Housing developments and distribution centers

Fuck em

Cremee Freeze ice cream is still here
Jersey Freez too
I remember going there as a kid
Begging my parents to pull over
On road trips to Avon by the Sea
To see gramma

The Jersey heat and humidity driving those memories home

Still a few farm fields left
An old timer mowing hay
On an ancient tractor

Glad there’s still farm stands out the wazoo
Which makes me smile

The sun beats down
Coming out of Freehold now, towards the shore

Tracing the route that Bruce once took
A real rock ‘n’ roll troubadour
I know what it feels like to be young and misunderstood
Looking for greasy lake
And in hate with the world

I got a little bit of young and misunderstood in me still
Always angry
But now I’m old and doing the misunderstanding

Offa my goddam highway!

But like Jonathan Richmond, I’m in love with the old world

The adult bookstore is now a barbecue smokehouse
I remember always looking out the side of my eyes when we passed it
Careflul not to let my parents
Or sisters see me looking
Wondering what was inside
Probably far worse than I would’ve ever expected
Knowing now what I didn’t know then
I just wanted to see tits and fucking
Even tho I didn’t know what that was…

The hubcap place is still there
I didn’t even know that was a thing anymore

Collingwood flea market…
Where I used to get matchbox cars
Wall stadium - Saturday night stick car races

Times have and have not changed
And so have and neither have I

The heat and humidity pushing 90
Wishin my speedometer were too

A memory spree
On route thirty three

If the submission system will let you enter poetry for an Author Challenge, you should put this in.

 

[Aoife_from_Ulster]

I just have to say I am counting down the days until I press the submit button sharing my very romantic sapphic story. I look forward to reading your stories as well.

Cheers to a great list of stories spurred on by rock and roll!

 

[YDB95]

Mine is submitted.

I'm confident one does not need to be a Springsteen fan to enjoy it, but the more you know about the man and his music, the more inside jokes you'll catch. So it'll be a special treat for any hardcore fans out there.

As late as this past weekend, I was still thinking of new allusions I could throw in. I'm cautiously optimistic I haven't repeated any, but we'll see. Also, just the other day, I realized one of my allusions got a word wrong. But as is often the case with mondegreens, I liked my version better, so it stayed in. (It's not a BTR song anyway, although it is an outtake from the same era and apparently was considered for inclusion at one point.)

 

[BryanRichardson]

My story just switched to “Published 8/25/25”.

Now I’ve just got to wait for the days to drag on…

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

Today is the day, peeps! The first opportunity to submit your stories for this challenge has arrived. And, as @BryanRichardson has pointed out, they should queue until the official date of August 25.

Use "BornToRun" in the notes to admin section of the story submission form to signify your taking part.

Use the tag "Born to Run 2025" to help group your submission with others participating in the challenge.

 

[Omenainen]

Ugh, don’t I feel stupid now! I have a story for this. I was all gung ho to have it published pretty soon, and then I read the instructions more carefully and realized the stories won’t come out until the 25th I keep wondering, why I need to repeat the rules for my event even though they’re clearly stated in the event announcement, and here I am, being just as dumb in other people’s events…

Anyway. I do have a story.

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

Ugh, don’t I feel stupid now! I have a story for this. I was all gung ho to have it published pretty soon, and then I read the instructions more carefully and realized the stories won’t come out until the 25th I keep wondering, why I need to repeat the rules for my event even though they’re clearly stated in the event announcement, and here I am, being just as dumb in other people’s events…

Anyway. I do have a story.

Happy to have you onboard. Even if we do have to wait a little longer to read it.