Color Me Rad Recap

From my 101 in 1001 list: Complete a 5k.  We did the Color Me Rad 5k on Saturday.  We arrived at around 9 for our 9:20 start time.  We would have been there earlier, but traffic was awful.  They actually split up the waves because during the first wave, there were bottlenecks on the course, so they actually did a 9:10, 9:20, and 9:30 split, and then split the next wave up into three waves, and then the next.  So there were almost always new runners entering the course.  They asked for walkers to stay to the right and runners to stay to the left.  We stayed to the right.  My foot has been really bothering me for the last few days, so we decided not to try to run.

The course was set up with several "color stations."  As you ran through each one, volunteers threw color at you.  Sometimes the color was wet (sprayed or dumped from a pitcher) and sometimes it was powder that they threw at you.  We got through orange and green and Jon hadn't gotten much on him at all, so when we ran through purple, some guy had a handful of powder and just nailed Jon right in the side of the face with it.  He got the stuff in his ear and down his shirt and everything!  We also watched someone pour an entire gallon pitcher of green over someone's head.  The people participating were very interesting.  There were all kinds.  It was clear that there were some "color run" hardcore fans there.  Some were wearing tutus, some had wings, and some guys were wearing white body suits.  I'm sure they got hot before it was over!

There were families with children, dads pushing strollers, people who have never run before (like us) and people who were obviously runners.  There was music playing the entire time, and a guy was on stage entertaining people as they crossed the finish line.
We actually did really well, although we just walked.  We finished in under an hour and didn't feel fatigued or sore afterwards.  We held hands and walked at a fairly rapid pace most of the time, and talked a lot while we progressed down the course.  The weather was beautiful, and we had some great quality time, which I think was so important for us.

As we approached the finish line, volunteers handed everyone a packet of color and we were directed to the stage.  There was a countdown, and when we got to 1, we all threw our color at each other.  We got two free color packets each from a promo I found after we registered, so we each had three to throw at the end.  Jon used all his on me and I used mine on him.  It really was so much fun.

I would certainly do it again, and maybe I can even convince Jon to do it.  We had several friends and family members participating too, but we didn't actually see them.  I was sad I didn't get to see anyone else we knew, but it was still a great time.

Me at the finish line!

Colorful Hubby!