Let me just say, The Color Run was one of the funnest things I have ever done. You don’t know what The Color Run is? That’s ok, about 6 months ago I didn’t either. First, a little back story on me. A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to get in shape, and as part of that, I wanted to run a complete 5k. But even though I was working out consistently, I kept making excuses not to start running. My big excuse was that I was too heavy and I would start running when I reached 175 pounds. Finally at some point I just said screw it, and started doing some running. Good thing too, as of this writing I still haven’t reached 175 pounds (very close though). Since I’ve started running, I’ve signed up for and competed in in quite a few 5k’s. But I have yet to ever run the complete 5k. I like the feeling of accomplishment when I complete a run, but I do find running to be very boring and sometimes it’s hard to keep going just because of that.
Ok, back on track, earlier this year I was listening to a Racine radio station and they talked about an upcoming event called The Color Run. Frankly I didn’t think too much of it and I chose to pretty much ignore it. It came and went, and afterwards, like always, I was more interested in it. After doing more research on it and seeing some photos from the Racine event, I thought ‘Damn, that really looked like fun. I hope it comes back next year because I will for sure run it’. And according to their schedule it is suppose to be back in 2013 and I will be there for sure. However, a couple of months later I saw a post from a friend on the facebook, looking to form a team for the Milwaukee Color Run in August. Holy Crap, are you kidding me!!!??! There was no way I was going to miss it. Because Color Runs pretty much sell out every time, I was sure to register the very second I could.
The event itself, even before the run is a spectacle. It was held at Miller Park (home to the Brewers) in Milwaukee Wisconsin. And good thing, because they needed room for the 10,000 runners to park, run, and party afterwards. What I found interesting though was it was not a timed event. That’s ok with me, because I time every run on my own. It took awhile before we were able to even start the run as they would only let off waves of about 1,000 runners every 10 minutes. But the whole time you are waiting there is a DJ and loud pop music blasting to keep everyone entertained. Once the run started you would go though a different color station approximately every 1k. You haven’t seen nothing until you’ve seen the approaching colorful cloud. It was just too cool. I wish I would have taken pictures during the run, but I was too focused on the actual run. I did take some video though as I ran through one of the color stations. Like I expected, I did not run this complete event. But I did run most of it. I stopped to walk only twice. Once for a big uphill climb, and the other because the patch narrowed to go under the highway and it got really jammed up with runners. According to my gps running app, I went a total distance of 2.93 mile (short of 5k) in 39:30. Not a stellar time by any stretch, but I didn’t care, I just had completed the funnest run of my life. I was completely covered in colors, and I simply had a blast.
After the finish, then it’s just about the party. They had a stage set up playing all that pop music that the kids seem to like, and every 15 minutes to would do a color launch where everyone throws a different color in the air at the same time. I sat through three of those! :) Once just to watch for myself, another to capture on video, and lastly one to participate and throw my color in to the air. Have I mentioned how much fun it was yet?? If I had any complaint, it would only be that the Milwaukee event was held at night, and all the color launching just didn’t have the same effect as it would have during the day.
Do you understand what the Color Run is yet? If it comes to an area around you, it is very much worth it to experience it. You do not even have to be a runner. There were plenty of people there that walked the entire course. And it is family friendly. I’ve already to talked to my kids about it and as of right now, 2 of the 3 want to do the next one with me. I’m all for it, but because I plan to run it, I will be getting them ready beforehand with plenty of training and running.