Crazy Fun Color Run

You guys....

I did the Color Run.

Here's the proof:

Up bright and early.  It was chiiiilllly outside.

All decked out in our white duds. They look so sparkling white.  They won't stay that way for long though.

6,000 Color Runners.  And this was a small one, or so one of the officials told us.  People of all ages.  Kids too!

We got near the start of the line.  Oh, the excitement!

And then, we were off!  Every kilometer there was another color station with color volunteers ready to douse you with beautiful colored powder.  Oh, it was incredible.  And fun.  And amazing.  I had to take a photo along the way so I could remember the cloud.

Here we are after the blue station, headed to the finish line.  The DC run was right along the Potomac.  Beautiful!

Almost finished!

Crossing that finish line was such a fun thing.  A big deal for me, it being my first 5K.

And then, the Color party at the end.  Talk about a color fest.  Every 10 minutes or so there was a color throw.  And yes, it was that beautiful every single time.

Tons of free stuff is thrown out like fanny packs, sweatshirts, T-shirts, socks, head bands, bags, color packets, you name it.

There's lots of fun music playing and everyone is dancing and throwing color and laughing.  

All the runners get a color packet to throw at the end.  And then they throw out 100's of packets to keep the color fest going for a while.  It's crazy how happy a little packet of colored powder can make you.  AND happy you are.  Ecstatic.  Tossing it about like you are the happiest, messiest person on the planet.

I didn't pull my iphone out while we were in the cloud because it got dark as night and the dust would have destroyed it.  It was tough to breathe, so you just had to hold your breath and laugh until it disappeared.

Thankfully, we had a perfect weather day and the breeze just swept the color away after a 30 seconds or so.  You were just left covered in glorious color, laughing and dancing to the music.

One of my favorite shots of the day.  Tara could either be at a Hillsong concert or trying to snag some more free stuff.

Ben decided that he wanted to be first across the finish line.  Mission accomplished.  Very first.  He ran that thing FAST.

The aftermath was even pretty.  Color splattered/covered asphalt.  We picked up the trash, of course.  And eventually the color was swept away with leaf blowers.

Before and after.  Oh my gosh, I would do it again this weekend.  And every weekend.  It was incredible.  I love my running buddies, Michelle and Tara. We just had fun.

So if the Color Run comes to your hometown, GO!!!  It's ridiculously fun.  You don't even have to run.  So many people walked or pushed strollers with kids, jogged, danced.  It's just for fun and no one times you.

*All photos were taken with my iphone. I just put it in a Ziploc when I wasn't taking pictures.  It got powder on it, but I just dusted it off and it was fine.

***We had one more friend who came along, but he got snagged by the Color Run people to take photos for them for the day.  He had been taking photos of us with his fancy Canon and they saw him and hired him on the spot when 2 of their photographers didn't show up for the day.  

******All the color cleans up pretty easily.  I got most of it out of my clothes and shoes with OxyClean and cold water.  Only an old white cotton shirt had a few stains, which I kind of love.  And there are a few spots on my shoes, that I could have gotten out, but I kinda like the little happy reminder there permanently.  That white, long sleeved zip-up in the photo above is totally white again.  All that beautiful color....