Recap of the Color Run 5K

After all the "serious" races I've run, it's nice to have a slew of no-pressure 5Ks lined up for this year....like the Color Run 5K this past Saturday. What could be more fun at a 5K than getting splashed with a different color at every K you pass? And in case someone did show up being all "serious" about their finish time, they would have been disappointed to find out that the race wasn't even timed at all (and it certainly showed, because at least 50% of the people there were walking).

We showed up in all white...




















...and left like this!

Congrats to my friend Sarah for running her first ever 5K! She's proof that the Couch to 5K program really works!











While I definitely had a great time, here are my 'critiques' of the run:

1. I'm fine with people walking a 5K--sometimes it's just about being active and allowing all family members to participate--but volunteers should have instructed all walkers to stay to one side of the street. Families and friends were leisurely walking like 5 people wide, so all of us runners had to run on the grass just to get around them. The biggest workout of the day was just weaving in and out of walkers--and again, it's not like I was sprinting, I was just trying to maintain a slow jog, but that was almost impossible at times. Plus, I almost took out a few kids...not safe.
2. The bottleneck at the end made it extremely anti-climactic. We were in the last wave of people to start, so earlier people may not have experienced coming to a complete stop around mile 2.75 like we did. People need to be instructed to move THROUGH the finish line.
3. After all the promises of "There will be PLENTY of color in the race," we were let down. At the first color station, all I got was a speck of orange on my shoulder. Most of the color on us was from our own packets that we threw at the end.
4. The run in between each color station was pretty ho-hum. It was oddly quiet. I know it's only a 5K, so I don't expect to have bands set up at every street corner like the Mini, but would it hurt to have had a little entertainment or cheering throughout the course?

Just some suggestions for next year. I know Indianapolis was thrilled to finally be added to the list of cities that the Color Run visits!

Next 5K on the agenda: Wine at the Line! Sign up with me! (They also have a 5 mile option if anyone is interested.)