A recap of my run with Winona, Calvin, Jack and Baby Summer
at the Philadelphia Color Run on July 8, 2012
Originally posted on FitFluential.com
Loading four kids into a minivan always feels something like wrangling a herd of pigeons, but it’s especially challenging at 5AM. Luckily, they were just as excited as I was about The Color Run in Philadelphia that morning, so it was a surprisingly uneventful task. Well, Baby Summer was more confused than excited, but she didn’t put up a fight. Mission: accomplished.
It was just a few months ago when I first caught a glimpse of The Color Run through a YouTube video. All the participants were dressed in white, running through the streets as rainbow colored powder was being thrown on them. It immediately reminded me of a Hindu religious festival called Holi that is celebrated by people throwing colored powder and perfume at each other. I’ve always wanted to visit India and take part in the festival, so this seemed like a fun best-of-both-worlds event; a 5K and a bucket-list item mashed into one. When my kids said that they would run it with me, I was over the moon. This would be my first race with all four of them.
We arrived in Philly with no traffic hassle and parked without a problem. I was nervous for days about whether or not we would be able to find a parking spot or hit heavy traffic. I really have to hand it to the organizers of the event and the Philadelphia Police Department. With 23,000 participants, making it the third-largest 5K in the country, that doesn’t happen by accident. The whole event was insanely well organized and directed.
Registration was easy-peasy, and we were whisked through in minutes. We were Color Run-ready with our new T-shirts, headbands and colored powder in hand. Marcela, a BexLife fan who drove from Toronto to run with us, met us at the starting line where the energy was electric. People of all different shapes, ages, levels of ability and walks of life were standing together, pumped to get started. We were gleaming in white, ready to get “colorized”.
This was truly a fun-run and not a race. Some ran, some walked, many pushed strollers, and a LOT of people danced their way through a course that literally took us over the Schuylkill River and through the woods. A color station was placed at each kilometer mark where race employees and volunteers would cover you with a colored powder (that they claim in safe, natural and edible, but I wouldn’t recommend the eating part). At each station, the crowd would slow down, do some dancing, and beg the volunteers to bomb them with some extra color. I can’t remember a time when getting dirty was so much fun… and pretty!
By the end of the race, the whole gang (including my poor, exhausted, sleeping Summer) were completely covered in a mix of blue, orange, yellow, pink and green. But we couldn’t leave before we hit the after-party to toss up some color of our own and dance with the other Color Runners.
I’ll never forget this race for so many reasons. I got to meet my first BexLife fan in person, who was adorable and sweet and a total inspiration with her own fitness story. This was the most fun I’ve ever had at a race, and the energy of the crowd will resonate in me for a long time. But the best part of the whole event was running with my four kids as a family; doing something fun, healthy and positive. It’s a strong belief of mine that a family that plays together, stays together.
Big thanks to The Color Run and the
City of Philadelphia for showing us such a colorful time!
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