It was EARLY.....holy cow! I am not a morning person, but we had to get up and be out the door by 6am. We stopped by to pick up my daughter's fiance and we were off. The event was in Chicago so there were THOUSANDS of people.
Once we got there, we had to park about a mile away and walk to the event. It was a pleasant walk along the wharf and water. It was kind of hard to find but once it was in view, there were flags everywhere. Since we were there fairly early, wait was minimal. We picked up our bag with our shirt, powder packet and temporary tattoos. We took a look at the merchandise table. Everything was reasonably priced but we opted to just buy some extra powder. That was an ordeal. Apparently, someone took off with their WiFi hot spot box (intentional or not, I am unsure). Therefore, they couldn't connect to the internet to run our (or anyone else's) credit card. We waited for some time. While they had plenty of volunteers, they seemed to be clueless.
We had to wait an hour or so, therefore we sat and watched the beach and water. There was a DJ making announcements. We soon headed towards the start. They let groups go in waves. That made it nice. We were crammed like sardines but at least we didn't have to fight through to move. We were about the third group to go. Showered with powder, we were off.
This event is a fun, family event. It is not timed nor is it expected to be a "competition". Therefore, I was perplexed as people ran past me. I even had a lady that yelled over and over "on your left" as she trotted past us - a runner's exclamation that one makes while passing someone in a race. I yelled back that we heard her.....and I thought I was going to have to throw down by the look she gave me. Some people.....
We made our way through the color stations - yellow started us, then blue, pink, green and orange. It was a lot of fun. While we walked, I have to admit that it took everything in my power not to be one of those fools running. I wanted to just take off and run. It was a race, afterall. Races meant running, right?
It seriously seemed like this event was 10 miles long. I kept thinking that it was the longest 3 miles ever. When I mentioned that to my husband, he said - you are used to doing 3 miles in 30 minutes.....of course walking is going to make it seem longer.
Finally, we reached the finish (and they were still releasing waves at the starting line!). We got a water. The volunteers handing out the waters were rude. They were getting irritated with the participants because they weren't taking the water. One volunteer said - "Just take the water! Stop waiting for us to hand it to you!" Rudeness!
The DJ was thumping and there were soooo many people. I couldn't stand it, honestly. Besides, I was starving. So we left.
It was fun. I went in with no real expectations except to come out colorful!
So the review of the event Color in Motion 5K in Chicago:
Terrain - some paved, some gravel, some mud - it weaved through a park area
Organization - it was as good as could be expected
Cost - $20 per person, received a packet of powder and a tshirt and temporary tattoos
Time of Race - 9:00am
Overall - I didn't expect much going in. It was fun.
Award - none - it was not a competitive event
My Time - I didn't bother timing myself since I walked the entire race
Race # in our 15 in '15 Challenge - 8/15
#BeastModeActivated
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| Do I have something on my face? |
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| Colors!!!!! |
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| Afterwards.... |
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| Before... |
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