I am not a good runner. I discovered this inconvenient truth in middle school during the cross country running unit in my physical education class. My teacher timed us as we ran one mile during class, twice a week. By the time I reached the finish line, I could hardly breathe and had sweat dripping down the sides of my face. The worst part of the experience was that I would have to continue the rest of my day with flushed, red cheeks and damp hair.
I am not a fast runner. To my surprise, however, I began enjoying running at the beginning of this semester. As a resident of CoRo and my first time living on Upper Campus (I lived on Newton freshman year!), I found the perfect 2.6 mile running loop down Beacon Street, around the Res, and back up Beacon Street. I enjoyed running outdoors so much that it took me four weeks into the semester to work out at the Plex. Although my pace stayed steady at 9:40/mile, I didn’t mind going slow.
I am a Color Runner. My friend and her mom had signed up to do the Color Run in Providence, RI and asked our group of friends to join them. I was definitely hesitant at first, but thought it’d be a great race to run for my first 5K. Plus, the pictures I saw from my Google Images search made the race seem like it would be a memorable experience. And a memorable experience it was. I honestly had the best time running with my friends and just running on the streets of Providence with hundreds of other people. The atmosphere is more lively and energized when you’re surrounded by that many people. The best part was obviously the color! At the end of the race, I was plastered in blue, orange, and red powder. Who knew I could be happy, even with blue powder in my hair and various colors of powder stuck in my teeth?
About the race: The Color Run was founded in January 2012 as an event to promote health and happiness! As an event that is less about your mile time and more about having fun, the Color Run is a 5K, untimed race where runners get covered in different colors at each kilometer. At the end of the 5K, there’s a huge finish festival with music and dancing! Sounds cool, right? There’s more! By running in one of the 5Ks they host, you’re giving back to local and national charities. The Color Run has donated more than $1 million to charity. I seriously didn’t think that the words “happy,” “running,” and “charity” could be used in the same context!
Some tips to make the best out of the Color Run:
- Eat breakfast beforehand!
- Get there early to find parking.
- Have someone pick up your race packet before the day of the race. The packet contains important things, like your t-shirt, tattoos, and color powder packets, that you’ll want before the race.
- Don’t worry about looking crazy in your outfit. My friends and I wore colorful tutus, and put on the headbands and tattoos that the Color Run provided in our packages. The point of the run is to look as colorful as possible. If you have bright colored knee-highs, you should definitely wear them! We even saw people with butterfly wings.
- Keep your mouth closed in the color zones. At every kilometer, there is a station set up where volunteers throw color at you. The color powder is just food grade cornstarch and is 100% safe, so if it goes into your mouth, it’s not a big deal. That being said, it does taste a little weird, kind of what you would think chalk tastes like.
- Bring a zip lock bag. If you want to take pictures during and after the race, you’re going to want to make sure that your phone and camera don’t get ruined! Before the race started, I put my phone in a zip lock bag and was surprised to see that I still got really great pictures! The last thing you want is to realize that there’s something wrong with your phone at the end of the race.
- You don’t need to bring water. For the Providence race, they had two water stations set up. One was at the halfway mark of the race and the other was at the finish line. You’ll be kept hydrated by the Color Run volunteers!
- Take as many pictures as you can. Let’s be honest. When’s the next time you’ll be able to run 3.2 miles in a tutu with color all over your body? You’re going to want pictures from this experience for your scrapbook.
- Don’t be intimidated by “5K.” Prior to the run, I had never run more than three miles in my life. But my training for the run, which consisted of me running three miles, five times a week, was enough for the race. Even if you’re not a long distance runner and don’t have very much endurance, the race is very doable! Just have confidence in yourself and keep running. Plus, if you get tired, there are plenty of people that walk it, too!
- Save the bag of color for after the race. It’s just more fun to be a part of the color festival at the end of the race!
- Give yourself a day after the race to get all of the color off your skin. I was in the shower for thirty minutes after the race and still couldn’t get the color off of my skin, especially from my hands and feet. You definitely won’t want to have any fancy plans for after the race.
- Bring towels and garbage bags! After you finish the race, you’ll most likely be covered in a ton of color. Because the color is a powder material, it can easily get onto the seats of your car. You might want to cover your seats with the garbage bags and wrap yourself in a towel for the car ride home!
Check out their website here to see if the Color Run is coming to a city near you! It would be a great way to spend a day with your friends from home during a break.
Sources: