Color Me Rad 5K Recap

All clean before the race

This is a few weeks late but I wanted to share a Color Me Rad recap.  I’ve gotten a lot of comments/questions on the race so here’s my opinion. LOVED it!!  My roommate and I got up at 5:30am to drive to this race in Jacksonville, FL and it was so worth it.  Kelsey grumbled the entire way there about me making her get up so early to run this race.  However, at the end of the day she was thanking me for making her go.  I think she was even more excited than I was right before the race.  I’ve never seen her so giddy about something ever…especially running..she’s not usually a fan.  We got there 2 hours before race because we were told that we had to pick up race packets the day before but we were unable to do so.   I was worried they wouldn’t allow us to get set up without going the day before so I emailed and they first called me a procrastinator and then said yes we could still go just get there super early so we did :)  We were actually first in line at the registration table.  The volunteers were super helpful and got us everything we needed: bib number, RAD tattoo, Sunglasses, and the best part: dyed cornstarch (ammunition).  After registration we waited around and tried to avoid all of the people who were ripping into their color before race start (this really annoyed Kels)  We didn’t want to get colored before it was time.  Looking back at our before pics I think we were pretty successful at staying clean haha The race itself was a lot of fun, it was my first experience running in a forest.  What a work out..I’m so used to streets and sidewalks.  At every 1K, you’re attacked with color my advise is to not breath as much during this part especially through all of the powder.  Run on the outsides for more color and the inside for less.

I also liked the laid back atmosphere of the race.  It isn’t timed, everyone is just out there to get colored and have a good time.  The announcer even said over a megaphone at the start of the race “if anyone comes up to me after the race asking for their time or what place they finished I’ll punch you in the face. This is for fun people! So you there at the front, jockeying for position, knock it off! You however sir, yes you in the tutu, you win”  hahah  If you can’t tell from their website it’s a super sarcastic race, if you don’t like that, this is NOT a race for you.  You’ll probably just leave feeling like it’s the most unorganized, obnoxious races.  After the race, everyone gathered together and threw color around…we all left looking like aliens.   It took 4 showers to get all of the color off and sometimes I still think I have some in my ear.  Surprisingly, after only 2 washes most of the color came out of my white shirt.  It still has a slight hint of pink in some places but for the most part its restored.  I really wasn’t expecting that.

 I’m looking forward to doing another color run the day after the half marathon in Dec.  It’ll be a nice recovery run.  Just waiting on the registration to open :)  So in short I’m a fan of COLOR ME RAD.

Seven months ago I never thought I'd say this but I'm loving running :)

Here are some pictures and possibly a video (if I can get it to work)

One of my favorite shots.  Definitely captures the race.