Soooo, I did the Color Me Rad 5K in Morgantown, WV on September 7th, and it turned out to be pretty darn rad!
Let me tell you a little bit about this race, for those of you who weren’t present to be “rad” that day. When I picked up my packet the day before, I was told that parking at Mylan would be crowded and that I should take the shuttle from the Mountaineer Mall, to the race. So, Saturday morning that is where Josh and I went, we got on the shuttle and drove for about 15 minutes until we hit traffic… Thank you to everyone who decided not to ride the shuttle and think that you would be able to park at Mylan, for backing up all of Morgantown. Josh and I ended up re-routing the bus and making it to the race by about 9:30, only 20 minutes after I was supposed to run, but thankfully the start times weren’t strict so I was able to run at 10.
Before my heat started, the hype man with the mic threw out “color bombs” so we could practice throwing one (I didn’t know I needed to practice throwing colored dust in the air). When we got the go-ahead, everyone threw yellow powder up in the air, and I began to struggle to breathe. (maybe wear nose plugs and a respirator mask next time?) I immediately tried to blow the powder out of my nose, it kinda burned… not a good feeling. Anyway, then the race started and it was a nice downhill and in the middle the first color station showed up and it was blue colored water! It wasn’t super hot outside, but boy did that squirt of water feel good, because soon after I began a death trot up a loooooooooong hill, thankfully someone was handing out water. Once I made it to the top, it was flat, and I hit another color, pink, and then another, purple! I ran down that same hill I ran up, got splashed with more blue, and then I ran up the first hill I ran down (I was over hills at this point).
I saw Josh and thought I was close to being done, nope! I got dusted with orange and ran around the back of the school where I got yellow water sprayed on me, so refreshing, and then I went down a super steep hill to the finish! The race was un-timed, thankfully so, because the turn out was so large, and many people walk or run/walk the race. At first I was frustrated that I couldn’t run the whole thing, but West Virginia is the most obese state in the country, and anything that would make 8,000 West Virginian’s spend a half hour or so outside was great.
After the race, Josh and I got back on the bus to go to the car, and traffic was much less hectic. Clean up was pretty easy, I wore a hat so I didn’t have to worry about any dust in my hair or falling out in the car. I also brought wipes and wiped my legs and arms down and changed my shirt and shorts. I had a really good time overall, and sometimes a fun run is just what you need to make you really enjoy running again!
RunNurseWorld 