My First 5K: Color Run

I did it! I have been working and working to get myself where I could run three miles without stopping … or dying. I finally ran three miles straight last month. It felt so good to make my goal! But I only had that goal in order to get to my real goal of being able to run a 5K (without any walking).

On March 1, Travis and I were in Columbia, South Carolina, to do the Color Run. I really wanted my first 5K to be fun, and the Color Run looked so fun! We woke up really early because I thought we had to be there way earlier than we actually did. Oops! I couldn’t sleep the night before anyway — I don’t know if it was nerves or just being in a hotel with a new bed or what. Luckily though, getting there early meant we got a great parking spot! The morning of the race was really cold! But during the race, I didn’t notice the cold temperatures, so that’s good.

If you are going to do the Color Run, I suggest you read this Guide to the Color Run — it really helped Travis and I get prepared for the race and know what to expect. We definitely used the suggestion to put sheets over our car seats so they wouldn’t turn rainbow!

Here are the parts I didn’t like:

• The course had SO many hills — and I’m not talking baby hills, these were actually really steep hills. Even my husband said he thought it was tough (and he’s like a pro!). I wanted to stop so many times! Every time I realized there was yet another hill, I was whining like crazy to Travis. “I can’t do this. I don’t do hills. I have to stop.” But I didn’t — thank goodness — or I would have been so disappointed in myself.
• With 4,000 people doing this race, the course was full of people at all times. A lot of people were walking, which is fine, except I wish walkers had stayed to the right so runners could get by on the left. It was really frustrating trying to keep my goal of running the whole thing but having to weave through people the whole time. At one point, I had to run over to the sidewalk and pass people that way.

What I Liked about this 5K

• I loved the Zumba dance warm up before the race. It would have been more fun if my cousin Aubree had been there to dance with me. (We really want to do a race together!)
• I loved that we got a T-shirt, headband, bracelet, and tattoos. It made it so exciting going through all our goodies. The handbag wasn’t really my thing though.
• It seemed like they were giving out so many prizes. I would have loved to get some tall socks — they looked so fun.
• I liked that we were just the second group in the starting shoot. I would not have wanted to wait an hour just to start the race. Thank goodness we got there quickly.
• The finish line was my favorite part probably. Because I was done? Yes. But also because they had music pumping and confetti coming down and everyone was clapping and taking your picture. It felt really good to know I had accomplished my goal!
• I loved that they had water available, a granola bar, chips and salsa, and a cookie — all for free! We definitely took advantage of that!
• The color throw was really neat! We couldn’t believe how we literally couldn’t see anything during it, but we definitely got a lot more color on us from it. I really enjoyed watching it from the outside and getting photos.

Check out our photos!

Have you ever done a Color Run? How about a 5K? Did you run the whole thing?