Race recap: Color Me Rad 5K

Today I completed the Color Me Rad 5K at the Oklahoma state fairgrounds. On paper, this sounded like a blast. Who doesn't like the idea of having paint thrown at you while you are gasping for air? I love a good 5K with a twist (I will never forget the Warrior Dash...you know that one time I came home from running looking like I had been beaten up), but what should have been organized chaos ended up just being pure chaos (see urban dictionary: clusterf*ck).

(Nice and clean pre race. I'm the giant)

I like the idea behind this. No timer, no music, just running. Unfortunately what it came off looking like was an unorganized mess. The starting line was in a giant parking lot with over 7,000 participants. There were no corrals, or even a marked area directing people where to line up.

They attempted a wave start, but because it wasn't based on one's mile time, the large groups of walkers throughout the course were never ending (human beings of the slower variety, not to be confused with zombies).

The color bomb stations were fairly organized and fun, but I personally don't want powdered anything being thrown in my face after I just ran a mile. Plus, I can't think straight when I'm running so I panicked and thought it was deadly poison for a split second...

The course itself was nothing exciting (we were at the fairgrounds...) and I didn't appreciate running on gravel for a large part of it.

There was one water station, and they were handing our BOTTLES of water. People were opening them, taking a few sips, and throwing them away. What a waste of water & money! There was water at the finish line, but there were also color bombs going off everywhere. Can I get some corn starch with my water please?

(Post race. That is not facial hair.)

I strongly support any initiative that promotes physical activity and raises money for a good cause, however a lack of organization at an event with thousands of people is not fun.

I did get something out of this besides a purple stained bra. I came to terms with the fact that I do not enjoy races. Running is very personal for me. It's my opportunity to tune out the world and try to do better than I did yesterday. It's so hard at races to be in that state of mind.

I won't be running this again next year, but it was certainly an experience and I'm glad I did it. Don't be scared off from running it yourself. Hopefully there will be some organization next year and the race shirts are pretty awesome. Plus, they give you sunglasses. I would do just about anything for free sunglasses.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to scrub my hair again.

- Sarah