Color Run Baltimore Recap

As I read my new issue of Runner's World this past week which featured the popularity of Color Runs on the cover, it was only fortuitous that I was planning to run my first Color Run on Saturday! I had signed up with my boyfriend and bunch of my non-runner friends for the "Happiest 5K on the planet".

In case you haven't heard of it, the Color Run is an untimed 5K in which you are run through color stations where volunteers spray/squirt dyed cornstarch at you.  It mostly makes for really awesome photos when you are covered in a rainbow of color.  It was a drizzly morning in Baltimore as I was waiting in line for the 9 AM race (there was a 2 PM one as well due to popular demand).  I knew the event had sold out with about 25,000 running during the day. I hadn't slept well the night before so I was a little extra cranky and irritable.

I had rushed down to the start  line near Camden Yards baseball stadium to find a massive line (if you could call it that?) of people waiting to run.  It's nice because these kinds of runs are solely for fun so there was lots of teams, kids, and families running together.  I was really disappointed though because I thought the whole event was very unorganized.  It seemed at first they were letting really small waves of people start causing me to wait in line for almost an hour before I started.  There were also lots of people jumping a nearby gate and just starting to run which really messed things up.  I didn't think there was enough Color Run staff monitoring the crowd.  

Finally it was my time to start and I started running/walking with my friends.  I mostly talked and slow jogged/walked whenever my friends need a breather since they hadn't trained or run in a longggg time.  I wasn't planning on racing anyways, just because of the nature of the event and the number of people who were walking, etc.  

Thankfully it only drizzled a little through my run and ended up being a lot of fun trying to get the most color squirted on you as you passed through each Color Station.  The use of colored corn starch made it really unpleasant if you forgot to close your mouth though! The course was pretty much just around the stadium which was a little boring, but probably due to the mess logistics of the whole event.  Afterwards it was time for lots of lots of photos and dancing to the DJ as people were instructed to throw more color on each other.   

The Color Run Baltimore 2013 Finish Line

Overall it was a fun event, but I'd only do it again if a big group of people wanted to run. The color totally washed off of you pretty easily and out of your clothes too, in case you were wondering. Although with my blonde hair, there were some spots of blue that I really had to scrub out.  I think if you are looking for a fun way to get active and have fun with your friends, even if they aren't runners or big into exercising this is a great event! The Color Run is the original I think run like this but there is also the Color Me Rad run which is the same concept. There's now a slew of different style fun 5Ks floating around due to their popularity!

This post was linked up with Race Recap Link-Up #11. 

Have you ever done a color run or a fun run 5K? Do you like getting dirty or is it not for you?