If you know me, you know I am not a runner. Not by a long shot. My version of a marathon is an all-day shopping trip on Black Friday. I pick running shoes based on what color they are. I think a 5K means $5,000. So my excitement about participating in The Color Run might surprise you. Before the race, I would have been the last person to joyfully wake up at 5 a.m. and drive two hours just to run.
Thankfully I was not alone; several Harding students also participated in the race in Memphis. Running alongside your friends makes the experience that much more memorable.
The Color Run is known as ‘”he Happiest 5K on earth.” As you run, volunteers shower you with colored powder. Don’t worry, it is only a mixture of cornstarch and food coloring and is not harmful in any way. Each kilometer of the course is associated with a designated color: yellow, orange, pink or blue. As you reach the kilometer color zones, volunteers and staff cover you in that color. I even saw some runners stop, lay down on the pavement to roll around in the color. The goal of The Color Run is to see how much color you can get on yourself.
The only rule in The Color Run is that you wear white, and the more white the better. I saw some pretty outrageous costumes. My favorites were the brides in tutus and veils. The boy wearing wings was fun, too.
You can complete the race any way you would like: running, walking, skipping and jumping are all acceptable. Which is good for a non-runner like me. I was one of the color walkers. They also do not time the race. So if you are a serious runner and like to keep track of your times, The Color Run is not for you.
As I ran, some drivers on the road cheered me on. And then there were others who were utterly confused as to why 9,000 brightly colored people were running through the streets of Memphis. Thinking back on it, if I did not know what was going on, I would have been confused as well.
At the finish line there is a celebration where everyone throws even more color in the air. The celebration at the end of the race was my favorite part. Every 15 minutes as racers finished, there was another color party.
So what do non-runners do after walking/jogging/running 3.1 miles in Memphis? Eat barbecue, of course. Lunch at Corky’s BBQ did just the trick. The waitress was extremely confused as to why I looked like a Na’vi from Avatar (by that point I was blue from head to toe.) I had to explain repeatedly what The Color Run was and that I chose to be this colorful.
I will admit that one of my favorite parts of the race was the race packet we received at the beginning. It contained a Color Run T-shirt, sweat band, wristband, tattoo and race bib. For a race that is not timed, they took the merchandise and attire seriously. Once decked out in all of my Color Run attire, I felt like I at least looked the part of a serious runner. Looking the part is half of the battle. You are told to dress for the job that you want and not the job that you have. At that time, I wanted people to think that I ran 5Ks every Saturday morning and I certainly looked at home in my sweatband and race bib.
The Color Run truly is the happiest 5K on earth, even if it was only my first 5K. It was the perfect mix of friends, fun, music and most importantly” color.
