Rhea Borja in photo below.

On the morning of the Capitol Hill Classic 3K in May, I dressed in typical female runner gear: running shoes, socks, sports bra, and a skirt.

Well, OK, perhaps running as fast as you can in a skirt is atypical.

But it may not be for long. Companies such as Brooks Sports, New Balance, and Nike have come out with running skirts over the past year, hoping to attract women who want both performance and style from their sports gear.

If you're shaking your head and asking yourself who would wear a skirt to run in, of all things, the answer is: plenty of women.

Tennis, golf and field hockey have long accepted skirts. But the skirt's transition into running started with the mountain biking community, when female cyclists began wearing skirts over their shorts more than five years ago. Now, more women are finding out that skirts can be as sporty as shorts, but more flattering.

Consequently, 70 percent of stock of Brooks' Motion Skort, sold through Activa.com, were purchased within two weeks of the skirt's introduction, according to the company. And New Balance's Andare Run Skirt was so popular that the company had to speed-order a second shipment to meet demand, said Cara Shortsleeve, a New Balance product apparel manager

Robust sales of the running skirt surprised the company, she added. "For us, it was a total black horse," Shortsleeve said. "We knew there was some potential, but as soon as it got out there, we had an awesome response, and it hasn't slowed down yet."

Perhaps one reason is because the skirts look nice enough for jaunts around town, not just for pounding pavement.

The Andare, for example, is an A-line skirt that sits a little lower on the hips than most, dips into a V in the front, and has white piping on the sides. Made out of technical, fast-wicking fabric, it has built-in Lycra shorts and a small back inner pocket big enough to hold a credit card and a house key. It comes in dark blue, red, and light blue, and the Andare's successor, the Flex Skirt, will be available later this summer in teal, black, white, and other colors.

Brooks' Motion Skort in stretch-woven poly-Lycra comes in gray with red accents, has a flat front pocket, and also has a pocket on the attached Lycra shorts that can carry an MP3 player or even a small cell phone. Both skirts are a few inches longer than typical running shorts. Others made by companies such as Moving Comfort, SkirtSports, and RunningSkirts.com, are similar, although some skirts don't have attached shorts, but briefs instead.

Shorts vs. Skirts
But why buy them at all? Aren't shorts good enough? Can a running skirt withstand the wear and tear of a runner who logs 30 to 50 miles a week? And must women look sexy while pounding out their daily six-mile pre-breakfast runs?

Companies are finally wising up to the fact that women want to wear serious but stylish sports gear made just for them, not smaller sizes of men's running wear in pastel colors, says Lara Dittoe, the product line manager for Brooks Sports. Many women also don't have the time to change between running and doing errands. So they need clothes that take them from the trail to the mall to coffee with friends at a local Starbucks.

"It's made for women with very busy lives," she said. "Women who are taking their children in and out of car seats, running into the grocery store, but also getting [in] their three to five mile run around the lake."

"It is such a functional piece. It's cute enough and sporty enough that you get people into adopting it," Dittoe went on. "But you also have the woman who is conservative and who doesn't like shorts, but who would wear a skirt. I think of some of my mom's friends, who are in their 60's."

The trend in running skirts is also part of a larger one merging athletics with fashion. Clothing brands such as Juicy Couture and Stella McCartney are getting more sports-oriented, for instance.

But Dittoe emphasized that despite the fly look of running skirts, they're serious enough for a marathon. "At the end of the day," she said, "we have to be true to the run."

The Verdict
All of that sounds good and well. But what does the average recreational female runner think? On running blogs such as Runner Susan (breakingthetape.com/runnersusan) and The Running Blogfather (completerunning.com/running-blog-mark), the opinions of the blogerati ranged from an enthusiastic thumbs-up (especially from men) to outright derision.

Pamela Herbert, a running blogger (21stcenturymom.blogspot.com) from Walnut Creek, CA, at first hated the idea of running skirts.

"My initial reaction was 'Screw these skirts,' because it should be about being athletic and being fit, not about looking good," she said. "Then I thought, 'Well, from a functional perspective, there's something to be gained there.'"

I road-tested both the Andare and the Motion Skort. I wore them in several 6-milers, a 12-miler, and one track workout. After some initial hesitation (would the other runners laugh at me?) I made my skirt debut in the Capitol Hill Classic 3K.

The verdict? They're way more comfortable than shorts, which tend to bunch up on me, and the skirts' seamless waistbands mean no chafing around the waist, a common occurrence when I wear shorts.

The skirts are also actually more modest than most running shorts; both the Andare and the Motion Skort ended a couple of inches above my knees. They never flew up, even in a strong wind, and because of the built-in shorts, I didn't have to worry about showing more of me than I wanted to.

They also looked so good-especially the Brooks skirt-that I wore the skirts to brunch, to go shopping in, and on a cross-country road trip, where even after 12 hours sitting behind the wheel, the skirts felt comfortable, not constricting.

My only complaint is not with the skirts themselves, but with their prices. Ranging between $40 and $55, they don't come cheap. So it's a good thing they're versatile. Local stores such as Fleet Feet in Adams Morgan, Metro Run & Walk, and Potomac River Running have them in stock.

Oh, and the 3K? No one laughed, and one woman asked me where she could get one. The icing on the cake: I crossed the finish line in 13 minutes and change, good enough for 3rd woman overall, and first in my age division-the first time I've ever placed.

Perhaps it's just my imagination, but maybe, just maybe, running in a skirt hasn't just made me more stylish--but also a little faster.

In Photo: Susie Kinnecome (42) Bethesda, MD raced to a top ten finish at the Germantown 5 Miler in May.

Rhea Borja lives and runs in Alexandria, VA. She can be reached at borjar@yahoo.com.