Color Run 2012
Best 5k of all time!
Shea ran with me and she was just sooo happy the whole time.
We started off and I am use to trail running and dodging all kinds of crazy shit (yes, shit too) but here I am down at the state capitol, start the race and I hit a rock. I HIT A FUCKING ROCK. Don’t even know where it came from, but if it was going to be in the road, I was going to be the one to trip over it. Really though, the size of my behemoth head rock in the middle of a paved street?
I never run with my ipod or music (need to hear mountain lions and bears) but since I was on a street and everyone else was doing it, I turned mine on and off I went…and it died like 2 minutes later. I have had zero luck with music on my runs so I said fuck it and just ran.
I put on my WS100 bandanna every time I ran through a color station so I wouldn’t inhale so much of the powder. It didn’t work. She danced through the station, spinning around and I followed lead. The first one was yellow and it looked orange. “LOOK MOM! i’m Snookie!” She looked more like she was raped by Chester Cheeto.
The next few color stations I taunted the volunteers with, “Is that all you got!? come on! GET ME!” and they took my challenge and I was covered!
Towards the end there was a old folks home/hospital and this old man sitting outside watching everyone run by. He was way off the course and kind of in the door frame and he looked thrilled to just be sitting there watching the excitement. I yelled to Shea, “Come on! we are going off course and going to go high five that old man!” So we did, we left the course and headed over to him and high fived him and thanked him for coming out to support us. I had no idea how this one action would change the race for not only me, but a bunch of people that saw what we did and started cheering for Shea and I and then jumping off course and joining in with the high fiving of the old man.
I turned around and saw a smile I can’t even describe on his face as people were lined up to just run past him, give him a hug or high five. I started to cry a little bit and I picked up my speed thinking about the man in the wheel chair.
I put that on facebook as the highlight of the whole race and was brought to tears by my friend Bonnie who was about a mile back who said she too saw the old man who was still getting high fives and was looking pretty colorful from all the hugs he had gotten.
Shit, just got teary writing that.
I finished the race still feeling pretty good and all smiley. There was Lester at the finish line with a smile for me. He wasn’t going to hug and kiss me this time. Sweat is one thing, but 5 different shades of sidewalk chalk is another!
This was hands down the best race so far!