Monday, October 13, 2014

The Color Run Race Recap

Saturday morning Ryan and I ran The Color Run down in San Diego. This is our THIRD time doing this specific race. If you haven't read the past recaps, please check them out. (And yes, the links below are ONLY for The Color Run races... We have done many other color races as well :))


I actually won two entries to this race from Larisa Dixon's blog - 0to26point2. YAY! Ry and I LOVE The Color Run, but wanna know what we love even more?! FREE RUNS!! Score 2 for the McDots!


I have to be honest, this might be the last color race we do. Although we always have a blast, I think some of the novelty has worn off. 

The day definitely started off on the wrong foot (haha, I'm so PUNNY). And the reason you ask? TRAFFIC! We left our house around 6:40am. All was well and dandy until we got 1 MILE from Qualcomm (the race was held in the San Diego Chargers' Stadium parking lot). We got in line for the exit (at this point our iPhones said we were ONE MILE from the stadium) at 7:15am. I was thinking we were going to be EARLY for the race, since it started at 8... That was until we didn't move... FOR-EV-ER! No, I am NOT exaggerating... We didn't pull onto Qualcomm's property until 8:40am... ONE HOUR AND TWENTY FIVE MINUTES TO DRIVE ONE MILE! There were so many impatient drivers out there, not willing to wait in the line of cars, so were causing many issues with trying to cheat and get into the exit ramp from the further lanes of traffic. I have NO idea why they didn't have some sort of traffic assistance... It was freakin' ridiculous. I mean everything seemed so disorganized. When we pulled into the parking lot, there were few (if any) parking attendants directing people where to go, so we were almost driving on the course... 

The original race information said that the race would start at 8am and the last wave would have to start by 8:45am. Well, since we didn't get onto the property until close to 8:45am and there were still TONS of cars behind us (like I couldn't see the end of the car line in my mirror), they had to keep the starting line open for a lot longer than intended. Let's just say I am extremely happy I drove down to San Diego Friday to pick up our bibs the day before the race.

So fresh and so clean, clean.

Normally we always try to be in one of the very first waves that start the race. This isn't because we are super fast or are trying to win, but because the crowds definitely grow the later in the race you start... Not to mention the large pockets of people around the color stations. Unfortunately, due to the traffic, we started in one of the last waves there was. This meant there was a LOT of weaving (at this point, they should have called it The Color Walk. PLEASE don't take that the wrong way! I am stoked for ANYONE with WHATEVER fitness level they may have. The issue is, when I am actually trying to run and am having to turn a 3.1 mile race into a 5 mile race because I am having to run in and out of hoards of folks walking or stopping to taking a million and a half selfies, it becomes a little "much"). 

As you can see, we were not the only ones late. 

Starting line SELFIE.

Not only were there large amounts of people on the course, but the color stations were pretty bare bones... Obviously I don't know how they looked at the beginning of the race, but by the time we went through there were more volunteers giving out HIGH FIVES than spraying color - LAME SAUCE. I even saw some volunteers SCOOPING COLOR OFF THE GROUND BECAUSE THEY RAN OUT... Yum...

This was the only time I took my phone out DURING the race, and it was
because Ryan's beard was COVERED in blue... Like he ate a Smurf... 

There were a couple things I was excited about this year. A. The Swag. We got tons of great things - a messenger bag, a cute shirt, a rubber bracelet, and a fun sweatband. B. Some of the color had GLITTER in it. Okay, Ryan wasn't too pumped on that part, but I thought it was cool (it really did make everyone look like they were glistening on the course). 

The Color Run Participant Gear
Source

Don't get me wrong, we still had a great time - but honestly, Ryan and I can make a good time out of just about anything :) And I would still recommend folks try them out, but I think for us, we have had our fill of them for a while.

Finish line SELFIE.

The finish line was super busy... Everyone just sort of stopped...

There was confetti on the ground... So I picked up a bunch

And Ry decided to do a burst of pictures

So why not make it rain confetti?! 

The Happiest 5K, right?! 

PARTY!

I didn't get too colorful this time, but maybe it was the lack
of sweat so it didn't stick as much ;)

Ryan always seems to get covered! LOVE IT!

The color throws at the finish line are definitely my most favoritest part of the ordeal. The colors only stay separate for a few seconds, then they all combine and it just becomes a big dusty cloud, but during the first few seconds it looks amazing!




PS I know I ALWAYS wear PRO Compression socks,
but I didn't want to ruin any of my precious pairs, so wore an old
pair of soccer socks instead :)


There was a kaleidoscope available for pictures... (It was called the Kaleidoscope Tour this year) Pretty cool idea! WARNING: The pictures may make you a little dizzy ;)

Source





And then one last color throw before we decided to head out for the day. (Oh yeah, and on the way home Ryan bought a truck ;) so we are no longer a 1 car family!!)

Ryan had the yellow and blue color on the bottom right hand side

Or what we could call MAIZE AND BLUE!

The girl on her friend's shoulders had a packet of blue that
looked AWESOME once it opened

And now the green is opening

You can already see it starting to cloud up

PARTY TIME!

Last shot before I ran away so I didn't inhale #AllTheColor

Have you ever done any colorful races? 

1 comment:

Laura said...

I've done 2 color me rad races. Though I did have fun the second time, I agree with you that the novelty had worn off by the second race. They are a great, fun way to get people active, but I think I have done enough of them myself :)