I’ve run a lot of 5Ks over the past few years. I’ve donned fake mustaches and tutus. I’ve run in 14-degree weather and I’ve run in 80-degree weather. I’ve run great races and I’ve run not-so-stellar ones.
When I registered for the color run, I knew that it was going to be different than any race I’d ever done before… and oh, how right I was.
Here are some things you should know about the color run:
It will exceed your expectations. The amount of fun you expect to have? You’ll have more. The amount of people you expect to see? There will be more. The amount of color you expect to be covered in? You’ll get more.
You’ll get color everywhere. Seriously, everywhere. And it won’t go away the first time you shower, either. I was still scrubbing orange out of my ears three days after the race.
The color you get during the race won’t even compare to the color you get after the race. During the race, the only time you’ll have more color thrown on you is when you go through the color stations. And unless you move through that area at a snail’s pace or roll around on the ground, you won’t get that much color on you. After the race, though, you and your group and everyone around you will be throwing color all over the place. That’s when you’ll really be covered.
The color run feels like a huge party. There’s music playing, everyone is in a good mood, and pictures are being taken everywhere you look.
Everyone is friendly. Generally speaking, runners at races are pretty nice people. I especially noticed how true this was during the color run. Accidentally back into someone? You’ll both politely apologize and smile. Need a picture taken? The nearest person will probably be happy to oblige.
It doesn’t feel like a 5K—it flies by. When I crossed the finish line, I felt like there was no way I’d just run 3.1 miles.
When you go through the color stations, take your time. Make your way to the outside (where the color throwing volunteers are standing) and go through slowly in order to get the most color possible on you.
The glitter will never ever go away. For those of us who ran a SHINE tour color run, the glitter that coated our bodies will haunt us forever. You’ll find it in your car, you’ll find it in your shoes, you’ll find it in your hair, and you’ll find it in various places that you don’t even remember going while covered in glitter. It will never ever disappear entirely. Hope you like glitter!
Your shoes, like the rest of your body, will be covered. My shoes are the one thing I didn’t think much about before the race, so when I finished and noticed that my beautiful running shoes were covered in color, I was a little upset. Fortunately, after a few runs (runs where color isn’t being thrown at you, that is), the color will disappear almost entirely, so don’t shy away from wearing good running shoes to this race.
If you use the right hashtags, the Color Run team will reply to you. They’ll tell you what hashtag they want everyone to use—probably #WeShine—and if you use it, you’re more than likely going to get a response from their team.
Most people walk this race. Nearly everyone around me walked this race, so if you’re not a runner, that’s no reason not to participate in the color run—tons of other people are in the same boat as you. For runners, the fact that there are so many walkers just means that you’ll need to be prepared to dodge and pass people the whole time.
You need to take something to cover your car seats. Towels or sheets would probably both be good options. If you do forget to bring something (I don’t recommend forgetting, but just in case), high-pressure air will blow most of the color away.
You should bring some snacks. Maybe this was only the case in my city, but when we finished the race, there wasn’t really a snack station. Only water bottles and granola bars were offered. Most of the races I’ve run gave out a lot more snacks—granola bars, bags of Sun Chips, fruit, etc.—so I was caught off guard when I finished running a 5K and then wasn’t immediately presented with plenty to snack on.
Don’t be that person who doesn’t wear white. Everyone else wears white, and you get a white shirt in your race packet. Don’t be one of the only people to not wear white.
Wear lightweight, quick drying clothes. Sweat makes the color less pretty, so it’s best to avoid letting your clothes become sweat-soaked. Lightweight, quick drying clothing should help.
Toss the color from your packets, don’t dump it.
The after-party was like what I imagine a rave to be like. I’ve never actually been to a rave, but if they’re anything like what I experienced after the color run, I am so in. We were all inches apart gathered around the stage at the finish line, and everyone was jumping to the beat of the song and throwing color around. The color cloud was so thick that you couldn’t see, let alone breathe. Despite that, it was an absolute blast.
You’re going to inhale a lot of color. There’s no way around it—you’re going to breathe in some color. It tastes disgusting, but you’ll live. Just accept it.
You might not have any luck sealing the color into your clothes. Before we did the race, we did a Google search and discovered that the best way (supposedly) to seal in the color was to spray your clothes with vinegar and heat them. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for us, and our clothes are pretty much back to the bright white that they were when we bought them. Don’t set your hopes for permanently colorful clothing too high.
The Color Run is SO worth the $35-50 you spend. To sum it all up, the Color Run rocks. I’ve noticed that many times, the anticipation of an event ends up being more exciting than the event itself, but when it came to the Color Run, that wasn’t the case at all.
