I’ve been in an introspective mood lately. Can you tell? Maybe it’s the slow march to fall, the chillier nights, the slightly shorter days. Today, I am exhausted and sore from Spartan training (just one more week, guys-I’m racing next Saturday!) and I’m so happy the weekend is here. Because I plan to give my muscles a rest, sing my heart out at the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros concert, revel in the sunshine, eat some yummy food, and crawl out of my little fall shell. This weekend will be about enjoyment and underthinking.
In the spirit of fun, I want to share some photos from a very colorful race my friends and I ran a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been waiting for a good time to post them. And this lovely Friday, when I think we can all use a mental break and a bit of fun and color, seems like the perfect opportunity.
Color Me Rad is a 5k run that’s popping up in different cities all over the U.S. and Canada. Basically, you run (or walk) and get pelted with different colors every kilometer. The best part is they leave out big boxes of color so that you can pick up handfuls of pink, blue, green and purple powder and turn your friends into walking rainbows. Some people even rolled around in the stuff! It was so much fun.
As the guy at the starting line told us: This is not a competition. If I see you racing for time, I’ll kick your ass! We heeded his advice and ran in the spirit of fun and color. Here are some highlights:
Why, hello. Just your friendly Avatar Rian here. Guess what, guys? I found out later that blue is the only color that doesn’t wash out right away. Oy.
Hot pink clouds of color.
Rad. Time to bring it back?
At the end, they give you more packets of color to throw. Because they know–once you start, it’s hard to stop.
Everyone throws their color packets at the same time for a color explosion.
So colorful. So happy.
We started out like this…
And ended up like this. Straight out of the 80′s!
Here’s a list of the 2012/13 cities and dates. Check it out and see if Color Me Rad is coming to your town. I hope you have a wonderful weekend full of whatever recharges you and makes you happy. Remember: don’t race for time, race for fun! See you next week!
Never in my life have I wanted to do a 5k as bad as I want to do one of these. Thanks for bringing them to my attention, Rian! Now I just gotta wait until one comes my way.
Oh, I hope you one comes to your area, Jessica! You’ll have so much fun. As Becca points out, there’s another, very similar race called The Color Run. Maybe keep an eye on both to see if one is coming to SoCal. I don’t think the summer 2013 dates are a complete list, I’m sure they’ll add more.
I am doing a similar (maybe the same?) run in November in New Orleans. The color run. I was excited. Now I am even more excited! Glad you had a blast.
New Orleans and a color run, what an awesome combo! I love Nola. I’ve heard about The Color Run–I think they’re very similar. I hope you have a blast, Becca! And take some pics (I put my iPhone in a plastic bag, which seemed to work well).
Thanks for the tip, I certainly will!
This looks beautiful! It’s like the Indian Holi festival!
Looks like a bunch of fun loving excited people. Hope that you rest up adn have a great weekend!
Thanks, you too June!
If outdoor exercise and colourful adornments are your thing, maybe you need to keep an eye out for the World Naked Bike Ride series (link NSFW http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/). It’s clothing-optional with most people decking themselves out in extensive body paint. And it is really fun. :D
…Just putting that out there.
Ha, thanks for the heads up, Claire! I’m not really into public nudity myself, but it would be pretty fun to watch. Are you implying that you yourself have partaken in such an event? If so, kudos to you ;)
Wow, that looks like fun! Glad the blue eventually washed out, lol, I have an image of smurfette but who could run in those heels she wears! Have a great weekend, Rian :)
Signs we are getting old: I kept referring to myself as a smurf and everyone else kept calling me an Avatar. Hope you have a great weekend too, Kristy!
Rian, that’s awesome! I would love to do one of these races and checked their schedule, but the closest ones to me are sold out. I will definitely keep it in mind for their next tour though! I love the cloud image…what a fantastic shot, so glad you didn’t leave your camera at home :) Good luck next week, can’t wait to hear how your race goes!
Bummer, Bonnie. It looks like they’ve only listed one or two of their summer dates for 2013. I’m sure they’ll have a ton more so maybe check back in a couple of months to see what’s in the works. Thanks for the support–I will certainly let you know (as soon as I can move again) ;)
P.S. Check out these dates for The Color Run. Maybe they have one near you? http://thecolorrun.com/locations/
I love the pictures! Truly happy, bright and almost magical!
What Fun – Loving your colorful photos! Happy Friday:)
Wow! Very unique and fun. Hope they will have something like that in the Philippines.
this looks like so much fun,but i can’t help but wonder how environmentally friendly this event actually is? do you happen to know?
Good question–I’m not entirely sure, though I know the powder is non-toxic and made from corn starch.
oh no corn starch is horrible, so bad for humans… :(
I’ve heard of this in Austin, but in my brain I turned it into solid paint..which perhaps it is, here. The powder looks so cool- I bet it would be amazing in conjunction with some type of strobe light or laser show…endless possibilities! Looks like such fun, congrats on having a fun time and not competing!
They had some liquid paint that they squirted at us as we ran, but it was mostly powder (made out of corn starch). You’re right–it would be a fun idea to have an after party for all of the colorful people to gather. It was pretty fun seeing people out and about in the city afterwards–some people went to the beach still covered in color :)
I also want to do a Color Me Rad now- it looks like so much fun! Love the pics, especially the 5th one. There is a phone brand in Switzerland that uses a very similar pic for its advertising.
Bon courage with your spartan training and enjoy your weekend- underthinking sounds like a good plan :-)
I know Cécile–in retrospect, we should have signed you guys up! ;) Hopefully one comes to New Zealand. The Color Run is making an Australian tour, so you never know. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
What fun you had! I could not have fun as I don’t consider running fun; however, that doesn’t mean it isn’t, just not for me. It was the same when I played volleyball so much; people looked and shook their heads, but I was having fun!
Good luck at your run.
Scott
Ha–I used to despise running, Scott. Funny how we can learn to enjoy (or at least embrace) these things at different phases of life. I’ll tell you what–this certainly made running a lot more fun! And if you’re interested, you can always walk! Enjoy your weekend.
I have great difficulty even walking. Looking into some things to, hopefully, change that. I used to walk about 3-4 miles a day. With the cane and the pain, it’s just no fun at all.
Scott
That looks like so much fun :) I’m going to see if they’re coming to Puerto Rico, in the meantime I’m doing a 10k mud run. It promises to be fun [though I have to say I've not been a good trainee]
PS. I nominated your blog for the Super Sweet Blogger Award, you can see the post here: http://dolacotidiana.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/www-wednesday-a-special-kinda-post/
Good luck with your mud run! My race is tomorrow and I’m a tad nervous ;) Hopefully all of that training paid off, we’ll see! Thanks so much for the award–I appreciate it! Take care xx
I love these runs. It reminds me of the Holi festivals in India. I might even run a 5K if I could sprinkle myself if color!
Becca
That’s just like The Color Run…sooo fun!!
They are not in Europe yet. :( What a pitty! Cause it looks fun…
Bummer, hopefully soon!
Amazing pictures! You brightened my Monday :)
Oh my goodness,I did the colour run, which appears to be the same kind of a thing! It is so much fun :)
Great photos!
Love the pics!!! Blue suits you!! ;)
I began to run last month, how many time took you the 5k???
Xoxo
Carla
It wasn’t a timed race, just for fun :) How awesome that you’ve started running, Carla–are you enjoying it?
Yes I do! I really enjoy the feeling, the wind, and the early sun in my face. Never the less I’m not seeing any change in my body, and that’s no so good beginning springtime…. I have to stop eating! Thanks for the reply!! Have a nice week end!
You do the most amazing things!
I LOVE the photos! The colors do inspire a certain joyfulness, no? Looks like so much fun :) xo