We set the alarm clocks for 5:45 .. & thank goodness my body is just used to getting up that time, because I set the alarm for Saturday - not Sunday... I woulda been MAD if we overslept.
But up we were & getting all the gear on. & by gear, I mean bandanas to cover Julie's blond hair & coconut oil in my hair to keep the powder from sticking. I braided mine but it looked like I hadnt washed my hair in DAYS with the oil that was in it.
We were debating on whether to take the boys with us. The idea was that Ricky would push the boys in the stroller, but we were worried. First, Isaac isnt a big fan of getting dirty... & plus, they were going to be cranky getting up at 6 am.
They ended up waking up fairly easy - & by easy, I mean Julie dressed Luke without him even knowing he wasnt in bed.
On our way & found a great parking spot thanks to my hubs who knows secret parking areas in Downtown... Off to follow ALL the people in white...
(This was taken by a local photographer who captured the race) |
It was kinda weird seeing so many people, looking the exact same. White everywhere...
Ricky was still debating about the boys, but when he tried to ease the stroller in the crowd, he knew it was a no-go... so he just headed the opposite way so he could be at the finish line & watch all the color activities...
Julie & I eased our way up front....
They were letting the crowd go in 1,500 intervals, every 5 minutes so the color areas wouldnt be overwhelmed at once.
Julie & I started in the 4th wave... but weaseled our way up to the front of the 2nd wave. Not sure how we did it, but we did... & I'm not sure of the rules for that? No one seemed to care...
(Start Line.. all clean & crisp.... wouldnt stay this way for long) |
I felt bad for the DJ guy in the booth at the starting line - he kept trying to get the crowd going - but I know for a fact, at the back of the line, there werent speakers so they couldnt hear anything....
But when our wave was up, they reminded us that it wasnt a timed race - this is just a FUN RUN - so have FUN!!!!
We were off....
It seemed like no time & we came up on Orange.
Now, it was a little creepy seeing a big cloud of smoke ahead & knowing you would run into it. & orange in cloud? Looks more like brown... it looked eerie.
But we ran in & realized this stuff is THICK!!!! Its hard to breath in these clouds... but luckily, we're moving so its not long.... I dont know how the volunteers stayed in it the whole time.
We got really lucky too - its been HORRIBLE with the heat & humidity & this weekend, it broke. It wasnt 'cool' by any means, but the humidity was tolerable & it wasnt 103 by 8 am. But when you got in a crowd of 9,000 people, it got a little stuffy. Perfect sweating conditions for powder to stick even more.
Yellow powder... still running towards the sun... HOT!
The route was straight, flat & nice. There was a turn around point & then you headed back. I thought it was cheesy that some people realized there was no color at the turn around point, so they just cut over & didnt do the full 5k... dont know why I care, but I wanted to point & yell, CHEATER!!!!! ... I didnt... out loud... in my mind, I was making a huge scene though.
Pink powder ... we still cant figure out if it was red or pink... it just blended to a weird color.
After that color cloud, was a water stop - THANK YOU JESUS... but the water was so hot. eewww... I actually just used it to rinse the powder out of my mouth.
onto the Blue... Julie said that my tongue was blue when we went through there. My mom, the blue freak, would have just sat in an Indian style position in that color all day long & let it soak into her skin.
This picture was taken through a plastic bag... & in the midst of the blue powder... but was trying to show my blue tonue for my mom |
Finish Line... it seemed like it was no time & we were done. We kept an eye out for Ricky & the boys... & of course, missed each other. He was at the finish line, but we didnt see them. It was so crowded ... with 9,000 people & their family waiting at the end? It was the biggest 5K I've ever seen in my life.
Onto the COLOR BURST!!!!
(Me & Julie are right there in the middle of the cloud) |
We'd thought the boys might want to get in on this... nope... the grumpys had taken over & they wanted no part of any of this. So what do we do? Leave them with Pappy & run & do the color burst anyways. We earned the right to be colorful.
We got our packets - I had green & yellow... Julie had yellow & another color... (I cant even remember... does powder destroy brain cells???) ... but we were looking for someone with purple & pink. We ended up being next to girls with blue & red & another girl with purple behind us. We were set...
While the DJ was pumping everyone up with music & counting down, I kept taking finger pinches of color & throwing on people's backs... it made a cool pattern, but this one girl saw me do it to her friend & she looked at me like I was insane. Hello young lady - if you dont want color on you, then get out of the crowd of 1,500 people who are going to throw powder on you...
3...2...1... COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was NUTS!!! Everyone threw their powder in the air, on each other, some may have just snuffed it up their nose... everything was just a weird brown shade all around. Julie was like "We gotta get outta here!!!" so we ran into fresh air...
& here was our final result of color
I think we look beautiful! :)
& yeah, maybe Julie had the right idea with the covering of her hair... here was mine at the end of the day....
Yep - that's green & yellow... with a dash of red...
But with the coconut oil, it honestly just washed out. That water was the coolest water EVER to come off my head.
I knew a few friends were down running the race & my friend Lynn sent me a text & said to get ahold of Carly... we found each other & then she said, "nice socks"... haha! We had on the same ones. Great minds think alike...
We look like oompa-loompas in that picture above...
I'm just glad I wore sun glasses....
Ricky had covered the seats in garbage bags & we had towels to sit on so the car was good.
But Ricky made us strip down in the garage.
Here's Julie's legs after taking off her shoes & socks...
It even soaked through her socks onto her toes!!!!
I had on 2 pairs of socks so my feet were good...
Off to the showers though...
We were clean & sitting around relaxing, tired... & then Julie got up to walk out of the room & we noticed her back...
It wouldnt come off either. Ricky SCRUBBED with alcohol & it STILL wouldnt come off...
(She told me yesterday that she still found purple on her ears too)
I have to say, if this race comes to your area - do it...
it was so much fun... hoping it comes back next year. But I also know it sold out in Nashville in a few hours & sold out in Cincinnati already for next year!!!!
Its the place to be....
Now, I've got to spray down our shirts with vinegar so they hold their color... want to keep this memory...
& instead of getting a medal for this run, we got something even better.... these headbands...
No joke, mine is going with all my other medals... & it may be my favorite...
I am a COLOR RUNNER!!!! |