Run or Dye

I hope everyone had a fantastic fourth of July and got to wear some red, white, and blue race gear. I contemplated running a race on the fourth but sleeping in sounded much better. I know I'm lame. I did run 5 miles at the lake on Friday but it didn't feel too good after a few drinks. To each his own.

Have you ever done a run with colored chalk? If not I highly recommend you participate in one. Actually I insist that you sign up for one right now. It's not just for runners. It's for anyone...young, old, male, female, big, small, runner, walker...well maybe not for germaphobes. Although I do consider myself a bit of a germ freak I welcomed the color with open arms and sometimes mouth (not tasty).

There are different variations but the concept is all the same: wear white (preferably) and get covered with colored powered chalk. Most of the fun mess happens before and after the run/walk and not so much during. There were 5-6 color stations to go through along the 3 mile course. This Run or Dye event had about half a dozen volunteers at each color station throwing the powder at participants. I believe this was the reason why so many people were walking. In order to get some of the color we had to slow down and make sure the volunteers had time to "reload". The competitor in me wanted to run so badly she was screaming to get out, but I told myself to enjoy the time with my kids and have fun. Two of my kids left me in the dust so I stayed with my oldest and did a walk/run combo. It was all good.

A few tips for parents. I'm not sure that my 5 year old would have appreciated the chalk in her face so I probably was safe by not bringing her. A lot of kids had bandanas over their nose and mouth and wore sunglasses. It wasn't really sunny but I'm glad I wore mine because they were colored instead of my eyeballs. Apparently kids were also free. I didn't know this prior but my sister-in-law said she was told her kids didn't need bibs because they were free. So check into that if you plan on taking the kids along. I would recommend all the family participating. I didn't bring my younger two but I wished that I at least brought my 11 year old- the 5 year old still not so much. You'll have to make that call based on your kids tolerance.

The most fun was at the stage by the finish line.There was music, kids dancing on stage, color packs being tossed (lots of free color), and tons of picture taking. Hubby gave his spot up for one of our girls so he took over 200 pictures of all the colorful fun. Lots of random people too, so if any of the ones I post are of you let me know and I can email them.