color run-ning

The Color Run. Saturday, August 4th.

6:00 am.

“Mommy! We’re going to go to the Color Run today!”

“Yes, yes we are. Can Mommy sleep in for a few more minutes and then I promise we’ll go and get all the colors you want?”

6:45 am.

Put on white clothes. Pack water bottle & pink goggles (you bet she picked those out herself) for Miss L.

Cover stroller in trash bags. Cover iPhone in plastic wrap. Eat bananas. Wistfully mourn the lack of coffee in the house. Jump in the car and drive to the yellow bridge.

8:30am.

(blurry photo from plastic wrap over the camera lens!)

Find friends in a sea of people wearing white. Squeeze in with the masses and inch our way to the start line.

9:15am.

START THE COLOR RUN!

The plan was to run/walk the event with friends. The problem was that there were way too many people to really run it in any normal fashion. And our normal stroller (covered in trashbags) isn’t exactly fit for running too well either. So we walked most of the way…

But little Miss L had a different plan. I let her out of the stroller to RUN through the first yellow color zone… and she refused to sit in the stroller again. And she ran and wouldn’t stop!

Eventually, her steam had to run out, so we walked at the end and someone wanted to be picked up more often than not. But that was after mile 2.5.

There was another little girl in our group, S, who Miss L was able to coax out of her stroller for a bit to run/walk as well. (Little kids holding hands is seriously the cutest thing ever!)

When we got to the end of the run, we took our “after” photos drenched in color.

And we even sprinkled our little color packets on each other – as opposed to going into the middle of the “color cloud” and driving home pretty much saturated in colors.

In all, it was a super fun Saturday morning with friends! We (the gals of the Gamma Phi Beta Sacramento Valley alumnae chapter) had decided to sign up for the event on a whim to support one of our national philanthropy partners, Girls on the Run. It definitely was something you should do in a group, and I’m certain I wouldn’t have been able to keep track of L and manage her for the 5k distance without them!

To sum up the experience, it went a little something like this…

If you have the chance to participate, I definitely recommend the experience just for a fun change of pace in life. Even if you end up with green and pink toes two days later, and blue stuff in your ears and nose.

TIPS FOR YOUR COLOR RUN:

1) If you can, wrap it in plastic!

Wrap your phone in plastic wrap before you leave the house. You can still use it, but you won’t worry about color getting into some tiny crack somewhere and ruining it forever! I also wrapped the stroller in two giant black plastic bags, and cut holes for the straps. So much less to clean when we got back to the car!

2) Lotion/Conditioner up!

Spray leave-in conditioner on your hair (especially if it’s blond!) and put on some lotion. The powdered color will stay longer in those little nooks of dry skin… mine was on my toes (yes – through my socks AND my shoes) and my belly button!

3) Bring baby wipes in the car, and towels as well!

Baby wipes worked miracles on everything for the easy clean – especially your hand/face. And have a towel for your car seat – you just don’t want to take the chance!

4) You have to work hard to get really really colorful

If you’re looking to be covered in color, you need to slow down through the color stops and seriously wait to be doused in color. Otherwise, you’ll probably just be “semi-colored.” This is good news for people scared of it being too much, but a good warning to those who are looking to create the most memorable photos!

5) Don’t do it unless you really are just up for a silly good time in the morning!

This isn’t a race. It isn’t a charity event. It’s just a silly excuse to put on white clothes and running shoes and get out there and do something with thousands of other people. There’s no BIG point to it, it’s going to be crowded with all sorts of people who have never registered for a run/walk/etc. in their lives, and there will be lots of people who don’t know what they’re doing or why except that they saw a cool video and signed up. Enjoy the day and experience and you’ll have a blast. Turn it into a race or even a weekend jog, and you’ll probably be annoyed.