A friend asked me if I would join her in a 5k. My first reaction was “whattttt?? A 5K, you are joking right?” though those were not the words that came out. I am more of a try-anything-at-least-once kind of girl, even if I end up regretting it later (so long as my integrity is not at stake). It sounded like a 5k may have been one of those “regretted it later” scenarios, but it was not!
I signed up for the Color Me Rad 5k and it was one of the best times I have had with my girlfriends, ever. The marathon benefits a local charity, in our case, Boys Town New England, meaning you help a local organization while you have fun. A win-win scenario to me. What do you think?
The idea of this marathon is to get pounded with colored corn starch as you run (or in my case run and walk the rest) the marathon. That seemed like fun enough but when you actually experience it, man, it is like nothing I have ever done. We arrived early in the morning to line up for the race and there was music blazing from a cool stage where Zumba was taking place.
People were starting to throw around extra color packets they had purchased and the atmosphere was telling of a fun time. The staff let runners go in waves, groups of perhaps 100 people. Prior to letting them run, they counted down. You could hears 100s of people shouting 10..9..8. So exciting! When we were up to run next, we ended up being front row. We were getting pounded with colored powder and loving every second of it. The more on us, the more fun. We counted down and …run!!
As wimpy as this will make me sound I did not run the whole 5k. I am not in the best shape. I am a banker with four kids who goes to school. Not much time for training. The good news is, I was not alone. A lot of people walked. Some walked fast, some walked slow, but they walked none the less and I felt not so bad after all. The best part about this was I got to be more active than normal, have fun while I was doing it, and benefit Boys Town New England.
Once we were done, we were greeted by staff handing out color packets that were to be used in a mosh-pit of color. You enter the mosh-pit and there is a countdown to throw more color around. 3..2..1 WHOOOH. So fun. I had so much adrenaline, I could not get myself to stop moving. I walked 17000+ steps that day. If you are considering getting more active and experiencing a 5k without the pressure of “winning” or looking like you can win, this is the run to sign up for. You will be so glad you did.