A color run finally came to town, so we did it. Even though it was scheduled for June 1st. People, in case I haven't been clear, June is not racing weather in Texas. I signed up for it back in, oh, April, and I can't even blame the cooler temps at the time for my weather delusions/amnesia - I knew it was going to be ridiculously hot on June 1st. And yet, there we were, along with at least 2,500 other fools, waiting to run three miles and have colored powder thrown at us. Whee! I think this picture pretty much sums up the trepidation that Amy and I were feeling beforehand:
"What in the heck were we thinking?!" "The music is too loud!" "Why are we wearing cotton?!" "I'm melting already!"
Happy campers we were not - at least, not in the beginning. This race had a 9:00 am start time. We normally run in the early morning, before the sun comes up - yes, it's warm and humid, but at least we don't have a burning fireball in the sky, searing our skin. So there was that negative thought swirling around, plus the fact that we were wearing our cotton race shirts, which pretty much everyone was, to show off the color as we were pelted with it. We don't normally wear cotton to run in; technical fabric is our friend on these sweaty days.
Oh, and there was a DJ who was playing some good music, but it was way too loud. So we were cranking about that as well, when we noticed this:
Amy's girls, dancing away...enjoying the music, the event, and not appearing grumpy at all. Fine, fine - take a lesson from the six-and-under crowd and just go with it!
Attitude adjusted. What a way to spend the last day in my forties, eh? Here's some before shots:
Four before - so clean!
They were handing out Pixie Sticks in all the colors of the rainbow!
Close up of how I protected my hair from the color - my Hoo Rag came in handy! Blonde hair takes color a little too well, and I didn't want to spend the summer with rainbow hair. This set up worked great!
Random runner - I was too shy to go take his picture, but Julia grabbed my phone and approached him...and got an awesome pose as well!
The race was so large that they ended up starting it in waves - in fact, we stayed up on the hill when the first group was sent off...with a bang of colored ribbons:
And they're off! Up the same hill that Jenny and I have used for hill repeats on Tuesdays!
We finally got into the starting area and took off at 9:24 a.m. We started off running but came to the first color station
(yellow) pretty quick. Walked through it - I think I closed my eyes, as I was worried about the powder bothering my contacts. Made it through and none of us could shake the feeling that we were covered with pollen - it was the same color! We ran a bit, but honestly, it was hot and very crowded, so we walked way more than we ran. We went quite a way before the next color station
(green). This time, I raised my arms up and did an eggbeater move through it, to get full coverage. Oh yeah, I was getting skilled with this!
After that dusting, there was a water stop - but it had a line of at least 40 people waiting for water! I've never seen anything like that at a race, even the big ones I've done. Hopefully they will add additional water tables/volunteers next time. We didn't stop for water - probably should have, but who wants to stand in line? Anyway, just beyond the water stop I heard a familiar voice - it was my dentist! So random and funny, especially because I've got my six-month cleaning next week! Gave him a colorful, sweaty hug and we were off to the blue section. Then we ambled through the park and ended up at the pink section, where Julia laid down on the pink ground and rolled her way through! She was committed...or should be committed? Ha!
The last section was the purple station, Julia's favorite color
(her bridesmaids wore purple, that's how much she loves it). Guess what? They were OUT OF COLOR. So disappointing! We came around to the finish, where they were handing out color packets for the "color party" afterward - we all snagged purple packets so Julia could get her purple on! We ended up having a good time, but all agreed that it was a once and done type of race experience.
More pics:
Four before...and after!
Free cotton candy - yes please!
Julia with her rainbow armpits - we came up with our new slogan for our running club after seeing this pose: USAFit BCS - We Sweat Rainbows!
Just another Saturday run?
I was blasted with green the most and it was still on my neck, even after a good scrubbing in the shower!
Jeff assuming his traditional post-race position...
Amy's girls and her husband had their own color party!
Our shirts - they looked pretty cool after (Jeff's, especially), but even though I tried to set the color with vinegar, most of it rinsed out. Good thing I took this picture before trying that!
This ended up being a fun way to not only end our Spring racing season, but also end my forties!