If you have never heard of a color run, here is a breakdown. It’s just like your typical 5k run, except not really. This race is not timed, so you just have to finish before it’s dark out. During the run you go through different color stations, where you are covered with colored powder (cornstarch). By the time you reach the finish line, you look like a rainbow, of sorts.
Here we are before leaving the house. They suggest you were white so your colors show up well throughout the race.
Aren’t we Rad?
We arrived at the race about an hour and a half early. This was perfect timing because we were able to find a great parking spot. People were still showing up 15 minutes before the run, and I have no idea how far away they had to park, since there was a HUGE turnout!
Justin and I ended up hanging out in the car until about 30 minutes before it was time to start. I got an awful lot of Pinning done, and he completed a ton of email deleting. We are so productive.
At about 9:30 we headed to the park to stretch and get ready for the race to start at 10:00. We stretched a little, stood around looking awkward and stared in disbelief at the amount of people wearing Tu-Tu’s. It was amazing. There was a spot at the park where people were warming up, under direction of the announcer… by doing Zumba, and by having special contests like some contest that included seeing who could eat a roll of fruit by the foot the fastest? I dunno. I didn’t participate.
At 10:00 we started to line up and all of the runners were released in waves. We stood in line for about 10 minutes before we were sent on our way.
We ran for about an mile before reaching the first color station… I was starting to wonder when this was going to happen! When going through the color station volunteers would throw colored powder on you until you are a new beautiful hue.
I thought all of the colors were powder… turns out, I was wrong and I found that out when I was sprayed with some green water. It was a shock for sure! Take it from me, the water and the powder are not as delicious as they sound. Honestly, nothing tasted like anything, but I did get some green in my mouth. Because I’m a dork, mostly.
At the end of the race, you are handed a “color bomb” at the finish line. Which is a plastic bag filled with colored powder. Everyone meets at the announcers booth, so you can wait for everyone to throw their powder together. While waiting the announcer threw out lots of extra powder bags to the group. I feared for my life once or twice. Picture being at a wedding and being surrounded by 100 early single ladies when the bouquet is being tossed. Ok, just kidding, it wasn’t AS deadly as a bouquet toss, but almost.
When the announcer counted down, everyone released their color at the same time. This caused a huge “dust storm” where everyone gets covered head to toe in color.
All in all, it was a blast. And I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Here are the after pictures!
And here are some tips I have to share for your first color run.
1. Wear something old and plain white! If you are wearing any dark colors, you won’t see the colors quite as well. We threw our clothes in the washer when we got home and just about all of it washed out.
2. Put Olive Oil in your hair. This is supposed to keep the color from sticking to your hair and staining it. I used olive oil and it all washed right out!
3. Get an arm band for your phone. And then put your phone inside a Ziploc bag BEFORE putting it in the arm band. I have to give Justin credit for that idea, this protected his phone from the color powder during the race, and he still got to use a Bluetooth headset to listen to music. I didn’t have my phone and I would have loved to use it to take pictures. A lot of people had fanny packs, so that’s an option if you are into that sort of thing. :)
4. Arrive early to get a parking spot!
5. Bring baby wipes to wipe off your face afterwards. We went to Quick trip on the way home for some lunch, and I forgot the baby wipes at home. We got so many crazy looks from other customers.
6. Bring something to sit on in the car, such as old towels or old blankets. (This is something else we forgot to do.)
7. Have fun! It’s ok to act goofy and take your time on the course, and to look like a fool when you are done!
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