Y’all!
Last Saturday I got to do the Color Me Rad 5K in Little Rock and it was SO MUCH FUN!
I have never done a 5K before. Or any kind of K. In fact, if you have one of those stickers on the back of your car listing how many miles you ran in a marathon or a half marathon or a tri-something, well, hats off to you, but I have probably sneered at it.
Just a tiny little, silent sneer.
Because I seriously hate any kind of exercise that involves things bouncing or jiggling.
If it is not strolling around the lake or yoga, I can not be talked into doing it. If it involves special clothing or a trip to a store with the word “sports” in it, count me out. I will hike to the moon and back to see a pretty lake, but run on a treadmill? No way.
So when my friend, Kyran, asked me if I wanted to participate with a group of bloggers in the Color Me Rad 5K, I was hesitant until I clarified that a) It was going to be more of a party than a race and b) I could walk instead of run.
Then I talked my daughter into doing it with me and signed us both up.
In the flurry of emails that went around from our team, I was relieved that lots of gals seemed to be choosing a lower key walking option, and I completely ignored the emails where people used words like “training” and “running.”
In fact, instead of getting together to train, we gathered for drinks a few nights before the “race.”
Friends, this is how all exercise should be done. I think more people would go in for exercising if the picture was a little less sweat and bounce at the gym and a little more wine glasses and girl talk around a fire pit.
When race day arrived, I wondered if there would be a big crowd of folks with timing gadgets and protein gels, jogging in place in a claustrophobia-inducing jumble at the start line, but this was totally not the case.
Since I’ve never done a 5K before, I can’t really compare it to other runs, but the vibe at Color Me Rad is a little like the deck of a cruise ship. I couldn’t find the fruity drinks, but I’m sure they were hiding underneath the Red Bull table somewhere.
At the front there was some Zumba happening, along with lots of fun music, some party games and a few early color bombs to get you excited about turning your white clothes into a rainbow.
In retrospect, it’s funny how we were all rushing for a few little drops of color at the beginning. At the first few color stations, I would go through slowly because I was afraid I wasn’t quite getting enough. I wanted to be TECHNICOLORED! Silly me! At the end, you go through many puffy clouds of color and even get a few color pouches handed to you to throw on each other after you finish!
SO MUCH COLOR!
AND SO MUCH FUN!
Seriously, I don’t think I could ever bring myself to do a 5K now where someone wasn’t throwing something at me. I mean really, it would be so boring.
Now I totally want to get in on the other side and be a color THROWER! Right? I think that would be just as fun!
Have you ever done a Color Run? Did you LOVE it!?
Disclosure: I totally got to walk this 5K for freebies because I am a blogger, but I didn’t even have to promise to show up. However, I am glad I did, because it was SUPER FUN!
More Pictures!
All clean! Here’s a few more before pictures:
And…AFTER!
SO fun! Much thanks to Kyran for organizing and to my running/walking buddies: Mary Polly, Whitney, Sarabeth, Elizabeth, Kerri, Sarah, Amy and Jacklyn
