Weekend recap: I'm a Color Runner!

Note: I intended for this entry to go up tomorrow, but in my busy weekend exhaustion, I accidentally posted this last night and it went into people's readers before I could reschedule it.  So I'm going to go ahead and share it now.

A few months ago, I saw this video:

It looked like so much fun.  I knew I wanted to participate in a Color Run.  But when I looked at the list of locations, the closest ones were Minneapolis and Kansas City.  I'm not opposed to weekend roadtrips, but I held out on registering because I didn't know if I could commit to that kind of trip at that point.  Then ... they announced a Des Moines date.  I signed up to be notified when registration was opened for Des Moines, and the moment I got that e-mail, I registered.  The race sold out really quickly.  In fact, they ended up having two races and more than 27,000 runners .... the largest Color Run so far!!

The day of the race, I arrived on the State Capitol grounds at 11 a.m.  I wanted to be in the earliest wave of runners so I could get back home for some college football.  My planning worked out perfectly - I got home to see all of the fun ISU victory over TCU.

Anyhow ... I had to wait in that start chute for 90 minutes, but I was indeed among the first 1K runners on the route.  After some dancing, prize giveaways and general fun, it was finally 1 p.m. and time for the run to start.

At first, I wasn't sure I'd be able to run the whole thing.  It was only about 35 degrees, and I have never run in weather that cold.  (I'm a wimpy runner.)  But I was determined to run at least to the first color station (orange), and once I got there, I then aimed for running to the next one (blue).  Pretty soon, I had run through the pink and yellow stations too and was headed for the finish.  I will say the color stations made the run seem very quick.  The route ended with a horrible hill, and as everyone around me started walking, I just kept running.  I just wanted to be done, so I could get warm again.  It was a battle getting up that hill, but I made it.  And when I looked at the time on my fitbit, it was 1:33 p.m.  I finished that 5K  in 33 minutes.  I was pretty shocked because I didn't feel like I was going that fast.  And I even had to stop to tie my shoe before that last hill.  Not too shabby.

And now for the fun part ... the photos:

Before the madness.  My dad didn't tell me my headband was upside down.

Right after I finished running.  My time was roughly 33 minutes!!!

Everyone has a color packet to throw in the air after the race. This is what it looks like.

After participating in a color throw.

It was such a fun event.  If you have a chance, definitely check it out.  You don't have to be a serious runner to enjoy it.  In fact, it's best to go into this race with the knowledge that it will not be a serious one.  It's just plain, colorful fun! I loved being a part of it.  I would definitely do it again, and I'll be looking for more fun runs like this.  That's what running is for me -- a fun way to get exercise.  Sure, the personal records and challenges are nice, but if it's not fun, I'm not going to keep doing it.