Miami Marathon Weekend 2022

Disclaimer: I received an entry to the Tropical 5k to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!

Mid March 2020 everything shutdown due to the start of the covid 19 pandemic, I had just completed my 2020 Miami Marathon and all races went on hiatus till mid 2021. Miami Marathon 2021 had to be canceled due to the pandemic with options to defer and race your chosen race virtually. I took the option of deferral and the virtual option, Running a marathon a treadmill is not all the fun like running in person in a race atmosphere. Luckily I signed up with my deferral code as soon as the race opened in April 2021 and did not have to join the 5000 participants on the waiting list. They minimized the amount of runners to keep it from getting too crowded. It did help with crowding and overall enjoyment of the experience, especially with the pandemic still a problem.

My training over the summer/fall did not go always as planned, in August 2021 I got the covid-19 delta strain and was slow to come back to my running. My lungs were just not the same and I lost a lot of endurance during the weeks I was recovering. I knew I had a marathon to train for but I was not going to overextend myself to do it, I always remember my former coach saying “Its better to be undertrained than overtrained.” I got up to about 14 mile long runs in my fall training block but relied a bit on a 6 hr hilly ultra to help with some hill training in early January 2022.

Race Expo

This year the race expo was at the Miami Beach Convention Center again, it hadn’t been there since 2015! I felt like in the past years the expo was bigger but I heard through the grapevine that a lot of vendors dropped out last minute due to covid restrictions and such. Perhaps next year it will be bigger and better as we covid things get a little better. Anyways traffic into Miami beach was a bit more than typical beach traffic but once I got by the convention center, parking at the nearby parking garage was easy and quick. I got to the expo about 10 minutes after it opened, and it was packed! I guess everyone had the same idea as I did to get there early lol. Oh well, there were some long lines for specific bib numbers and the tropical 5k but overall the lines move pretty quickly for bib retrieval and there were no lines for shirt pick up. Thanks to Bibrave I got entry to the VIP Experience and compared to past years it was not quite the same, smaller area and not as much gym equipment as in the past and no massage boots :'(. That really was something I was looking forward to, but moving on, the swag for the VIPs was pretty good, We got a small messenger bag with Miami Marathon labeling and a soft bomber style jacket embroidered with Miami Marathon. I walked around the expo once and then returned to the VIP area where I ran into a friend of mine, one of the 20 year streakers, Tony Jones. I was interested in the new thing in the VIP lounge, last time there was nail art and this year it was fast braids. I chose the two french braids style and had a nice conversation with the stylist/salon owner about hair stuff and how she was not a runner but a yogi. After I got my fast braids I walked around the expo more and checked out the vendors. One that really stood out to me was the Sneaker Impact booth where I talked to the owner about his company and how they are saving our sneakers from landfills to send to other countries to provide shoes for adults and children to be able to attend work and school. I will be packing and shipping him some shoes this weekend! I tried some food samples from the eat street area of the expo and walked over to the Miami Marathon museum area where they had all the previous year medals on display and old flyers/articles of past years winners and original course. Also a wall to display the 20 year streakers, very cool, wish I would’ve been part of that but 20 years ago I was not a runner. The official merchandise area was bigger than in the past and it was very busy, I bought my daughter a Future Finisher shirt, as I have been doing since before she was born (It was actually the way I announced my pregnancy to my family, Miami Marathon onesie). Ran into a lot of runner friends who I had not seen in the 2 years or more since the pandemic began. I spent about 3 hours walking around and checking out the stuff before heading home to rest my legs a little before Saturday’s 5k.

Tropical 5k

This year I did not park at Jungle Island, which I had been doing for the past few years due to the closeness of the start line, I parked in Miami Beach. They had shuttles from 2 nearby parking garages to the start line so I got to the parking garage early and met up with my friend, Caroline. Fun fact: We have been IG friends for a few years I’d say but I hadn’t met her till race morning. We walked to the buses and chatted till the race started. Plenty of port a potties at the starting line and remarkably no long lines when I went. Ran into JetSetSarah (local runner/travel writer/fashionista) as we walked around and a couple of others before we headed towards the front of the corral. We got there 45 minutes before start time and it was a good decision because it started getting crowded early, I did see a lot of masks before we started which was a good sign that everyone was keeping safe. I had mine on when it started getting crowded and put it in my pocket when we started. I tried to hold back but my first mile was obviously too quick and I had to force myself to slow down the next 2 miles, why is it that 5ks feel so much harder than longer distances? Is it because we have to run that much faster? Probably. I had an ok finish line for running the day before a marathon and collected my medal and bottle of water. Can I just say I love that the bottled water was in a recyclable bottle this year BUT those bottles were impossible to open with sweaty post run hands! I had to ask a very quick runner who was just spectating to open my bottle before I continued on towards the beach. I took a couple pics of my medal on the beach when I walked to the Nikki Beach area where the finish line party usually is and found it deserted. Found Carolina again and we found the tiny area where they were giving some post race snacks at and I collected some cookies/pretzels and a banana before we walked back to our cars in the parking garage. Fun race but I had to rush on home to take my daughter to swim class, #momlife. Later I took her to a nearby carnival and she rode some rides with a friend while I carb loaded with an elephant ear and took way too many steps.

Miami Marathon

I woke up very early, 3:05am (haha) and gathered all my stuff that I laid out the night before. I had my waffle and water before I left. I know they say to never do anything new on race day but I will admit I wore some Oiselle pocket joggers that I had just got a few days before, so they were brand new, unwashed and unworn yet. I mean I have worn the style for a couple races now and knew they were going to work out well for me for this race as they do not ride up, the best! The only chaffing I got was from the line logo tag on the bottom of the shorts. I did use KT tape Chafe Safe on my body before I left the house also and that stuff really works! Got to the FTX arena (formerly AAA/Home of Miami Heat) by 4:15am and parked for $5. I am so glad that they give this as a parking option as all the other parking options around that area are $10-$20 on race morning, the only thing is that you have be parked before 5am since the starting corrals are right in front. Relaxed in the car for 15 minutes and then started over to the charity village/team tent area. Hit the port a potties and met up with my BibravePro teammate, Sarah, who is also part of 1k run club. We headed over to the 1k tent by the water, later when the sun was up, it was a great view of the bay. I dropped off my bag of extra clothes and car keys at the team tent and chatted with a couple of runner friends. Then Sarah and I walked over to the FTX arena to use a real toilet before the race started, the first bathroom we walked into had a bit of a line so we went to the next one where we had the whole bathroom to ourselves, we hurried to our B corral (another perk of the VIP experience) and found Phil, our BibRave teammate.

The excited energy in the corral was palpable and everyone started hopping up and down to warm up, and we were off soon after 6:10 or so. An earlier start is a great, because once that sun comes out, it really gets you. Luckily I was already at mile 5 or so before the sun really started coming out. That first mile and running over the McArthur is quite an experience, especially after many years of running this race I know to expect the bagpipe playing at the top of the bridge. Couple of friends said hi as they passed on the first few miles of the race. There were a couple of runners who took some spills, one right at the start, about 15 feet after crossing the starting line and another one on those armadillo bumps on the Venetian. I hope they were okay, I kept well away from those armadillo bumps while I was running. I started taking in water around mile 6 of the race, and hit every other water stop till the halfway point of the race. Around mile 12 when all the spectators are screaming “almost there” Umm nope, there were a couple of runners sprawled out on the sidewalks, I’m guessing heat related since the humidity was at 90% at the start. I really tried not to get that into my head as I rounded the corner at the course split and headed for the big bridge on Brickell. There used to be spectators who would bring ice pops in a cooler around the Fortune building, where Brickell Run Club meets but I haven’t seen them in a couple of years, if you are reading this, please come back and give us ice pops at that corner again!! Thankfully two years ago the course was changed up a little bit so we are not running into direct sunlight at mile 23 and under the Rickenbacker bridge but instead running under it at mile 16. At mile 17 I knew one of my 1k teammates and overall running angel, Betty would be out there supporting the FDC team and runners so I stopped by for a quick hug and some kind of sugar, she gave me a cup of coca cola (I never drink soda!) and a mini bag of skittles. Seems like the cola helped me, must’ve been that caffeine!

By the time I reached Coconut Grove I was incorporating my ultra race technique (run/walk) and stopping at all the water stops. At mile 22-23 one of the police officers must’ve been pretty bored by the time we passed through because he was joking that if we walked he would give us a ticket and said “I’m watching you [bib number]”. That kept me moving a little but I walked right after we got passed him, Ha! Once we got out of the neighborhoods and closer to the finish line, the buildings started blocking out the sun and it got cooler and shady. Just before my final mile I heard my name and looked over to see my friend Carolina waving at me. I waved and determinedly kept running through the looooooong finish chute. Saw Phil waving from the VIP stands before I finished too. It really is an experience at the end of the race when you are running around that final curve and all those strangers are cheering you on, you really get a little feeling of how it feels to be a rockstar at that moment. So much fun! Got my medal and continued walking to get a water from a friendly volunteer who kindly opened it for me when I mentioned how the bottled were hard to open. Afterwards I collected my vegetarian DeliverLean meal and headed to the 1k tent to celebrate. Dropped my Nuun tablet in the water bottle and kept walking around. Took some pics with my new medal and then walked over to the VIP tent area to check if I could get a leg massage. The line was long for the massages and talked to some others in the line who came up with a good suggestion, there should be a line for half marathoners and full marathoners. Definitely both groups need a good massage after, but marathoners more so because of that extra distance. Picked up a vegan meal from the tent and started walking to the FTX arena to my car, about 2 hrs after I finished the race. There were lots of people dancing along to the entertainers on the stage and the beer tent was looking full when I left around noon.

I’m already signed up for the 2023 Miami Marathon! Hurry and sign up soon before the 2500 early access spots are taken! The race is going to be capped at 18,000 and you definitely want to be Miami Famous!

It’s Not Miami Without YOU! Who’s in for Miami Marathon 2023? Drop me a comment below or just tell me I’m crazy for running 26.2 miles in this heat. LOL.

0 Comments Leave a comment

Divas 5k – November 3, 2013

I never thought I would a women’s only race especially with a very girly aspect but I figured why not do something different.There was a whole lot of pink involved as you can imagine.

Starting line.

Before the sweat.

It’s not everyday that you finish a race wearing a tiara and boa to be handed a rose and a flute of champagne. Also this race had a finisher’s medal so that helped since I started getting medal crazy towards the end of the year. I was in the first wave so I had to line up pretty quickly and also felt pretty good about being in the first wave. I never thought I would be fast enough to be in the first wave of any race. As soon as the race started we were off and for half a mile I was in the fast pack, about 6th woman back, I felt like Kara Goucher for that moment, being so close to first place. It was a great feeling to be so far in the front. Towards the end of the course is where we ran through a group of kids handing out the tiaras and boas, probably the last half mile from the finish line. I quickly put the tiara & boa on as best as I could without losing too much momentum.

Action shot!

I didn’t mind the tiara too much but that boa got very hot very quickly and started to feel like a boa constrictor on my neck. Was 14th overall and 2nd place in my age group. It was the 2nd time I had ever placed in my age group so I was super excited. But I didn’t know I had placed till the awards ceremony when they called my name! By that time I had met some other women and had been talking to them about some races and when they announced my name they all cheered for me. Thank you awesome strangers! Along with the 2nd place medal I also got a certificate for laser hair removal. Haha. At least I did not place 1st in my age group, that prize was Botox. It was quite an interesting and different race but champagne is not really such a refreshing drink for right after a speedy 5k. Afterwards I went home and watched the elites finish in the New York Marathon. Also I would like to say, those Adidas capris seem to be my lucky pants, every time I wear them for a race I place. Perhaps I need to wear them more often!

Champagne & rose at the end.

Best podium pic (I have my eyes open!)

Close up of the medals, because that’s why you clicked on this post, right?

0 Comments Leave a comment

Race Recap – The Color Run – October 12, 2013

After doing 2 other “colorful” runs this year I was a bit tired of being thrown colored cornstarch at me but decided to do this one last one for the year. Plus I really like this official Color Run as it has great sponsors and is very well organized. I knew it would not disappoint and I was running with my friend German, who I promised to not leave behind for once. Sometimes I can be a bit too competitive so since this race was untimed I figured this would be a perfect race to help me relax with my marathon training and do a fun run.

Just did what the sign said, about 50x to get this one good shot.

The colors all blended to gray.

Color Throw!

Geared in our mostly white attire we set off in one of the first waves of the run. Before we got to the starting line they had passed out Color Run bandanas to wear or cover our faces while we ran through the colored dust. I wore mine as a headband but smartly German used his like a bandit and covered his nose and mouth when running through the color stations. It was held at the Homestead Speedway which was a nice change, sadly we did not run on the race track but rather through the surrounding area. Such a fun run and kept it at a slowish but moderate pace the entire time and even managed to do some backwards running while trying to take dusty pictures. German did this run without walking once, usually he takes small walk breaks during a 5k but not this time, so I was very proud of him. Afterwards we hung around and grabbed some Kind bars and Edy’s popsicles to cool down before the massive color throwing. Since of course we were starving when we left there, we hit the nearest Ihop which was interesting as we looked like crazy colorful aliens. Everybody in the place turned around and stared at us most of the time we were there, but some people asked us if we had done a color run. So that was a lot of fun, trying to explain why we were full of color.

At Ihop for a post race breakfast.

0 Comments Leave a comment

Race Recap – Weston Annual 4th of July 5k – July 4, 2013

**I know, I’m posting all these recaps very very late. I’m also trying not to post them all at the same time so as to not annoy everyone who subscribes to this blog. Soon we will be up to date 🙂 **

This was my first race back after surgery and to say I was nervous was an understatement. I almost puked before it started! My friend German joined me for this race, his 2nd real race. Waking up at 5am was definitely not an easy thing but it is something you get used to when doing early morning races. This race did not start till 7am which was good since the summer heat and humidity just get worse after the sun rises. This race fell almost exactly 3 weeks after I was cleared to start running again, 9 weeks after surgery so I did not have that much time to prepare for it and try to get my pace back.

with my crazy patriotic aunt

My aunt and her friends also did this race, wearing headbands with flags all over them. I got as patriotic as wearing a red tank top. I started at the front because I did not want to waste too much energy weaving around people like usual. And of course someone dropped their phone right as they started and people started tripping and jumping over the lady. My pace was strong and fast at the first mile and then just before getting to the 2nd mile I started falling apart and having to walk. Mentally I was just not ready to start racing again and physically still had a ways to go in getting back to where I left off. At the turnaround part I looked back and spotted German, I thought I was seeing things because no way is he as fast as I am, that’s when I pushed myself to keep going. Plus I was having issues with my IHeartRadio app on my phone, it kept skipping songs & pausing so I was fumbling with my phone the 2nd half of the race. I walked for about 15 seconds a few times and watching runners pass me on the turn was starting to make me feel dizzy. I think it was probably anxiety about this race, making it something bigger than it was and I’ve since realized I can’t do that with any race. In the end I finished about the same time as my first ever race back last October. I was disappointed in myself but quickly started looking for my friends, German & Mariajose and ready to cheer them on at the end. After German made it slightly slower than me, I got my camera out of the car and prepared it for when my aunt and Mariajose would be about to cross the finish line.

More cowbell, German!

I caught them both! Afterwards we walked around and got some stuff from the sponsors and hung out with my aunt, who insisted on taking a pic with me. The Weston Fire Dept had their fire truck splashing water down at the end if you chose to run through it, I preferred to not, but it looked like fun! In the end I know it was too soon to race & the weather was also against me but it was a nice experience and I hope to do the race again next year. Afterwards I went home and napped for a few hours, then went to my first ever comic convention, SuperCon. It was a very long day but very fun 4th of July.

Nice pants, dude.

0 Comments Leave a comment

Race Recap – 13.1 Allstate Miami Beach – March 9, 2013

Sorry this post is a month late, I’ve been slacking off big time lately on this blog, but no fear, I am back!

Finally the day had arrived for my first half marathon, I had been training pretty seriously for the past 3 months, not even having any alcoholic beverages during training. I figured it was a much needed detox from all the holiday parties I had attended the month before. I tapered the week before and ran a 10k six days before, I was pretty confident I would finish, my goal was to finish in 2:30 or better.

On the morning of the race, I woke up at 4am to get ready & eat something, I left my house around 4:30am and got to Miami Beach around 5am, where the clubs were still hopping and people were stumbling into the street. I found a metered parking lot and when I went to pay, it said the meters didn’t start till 9am. Free parking! I walked over to the start line, used the porta potty before it got really crowded, another good reason to get to a race an hour early.

early morning starting line

The race was supposed to begin at 6:15am but started closer to 6:20am as the directors had to get police clearance for us to start, then all the elites started 2 minutes before. I lined up close to the 2:20 pacer, hoping that would keep me paced correctly and get me to achieve my goal of 2:30 or better. But as soon as the gun went off, I sped out of there quicker than I wanted to, but I was pumped after not running for 2 days before. At about mile 3.5 I encountered the first and most deadliest of bridges, The Julia Tuttle Causeway, it was hell since I’ve had no hill training, since I live in flat Miami and we hardly have any bumps in the ground. I survived it but it slowed me down a lot, to the point that I was even walking along the bike path at some points. After that bridge was conquered, everything seemed a bit easier for awhile. Ran through some streets in Wynwood/Downtown and saw some places I would like to go to, like Bunnie Cakes, an organic & vegan bakery. Around mile 8.5 I ate 2 Honey Stinger chews for energy but was starting to fade. I know around those next few miles I slowed down a lot. I knew I was not going to negative split and I couldn’t calculate my finish time, my mind was starting to go mushy. Around mile 9.5 the 2:00 pacer group from iRun caught up with me & kept urging me to keep running. I was at the point that I just wanted to walk for a few minutes to get my mind back into it. The pacer grabbed my arm and pulled me to run again, so I started running again, and got a bit ahead of them, maybe 100 feet or so. After a couple minutes I started walking again and they caught up with me again, and grabbed me and urged me to keep running with them. I stayed with them for a few minutes and eventually slowed down and watched them ahead of me. I think it helped that the pacer was a cute guy, that definitely was a motivating factor. The last 2 miles were the roughest I think, up until that race, I had only ever run 12 miles in training. There wasn’t too many people out at 8am on a Saturday, which was surprising. I did see a surfer heading to the beach just before I made it to the finish line, not sure how well the waves were though since it wasn’t very windy.

in the zone – almost to the finish line!

Finally when I started seeing more people ahead, I knew the finish line was close by, I tried to push it for the last little bit, not sure how fast I was going though. I was probably starting to get dehydrated because I don’t like to drink water during a run, and for sure my glycogen was burned. I crossed the line while Rancid’s “Ruby Soho” was playing & almost could not believe the numbers on the clock. I finished my first half marathon at 2:03:34!! At that point I think the runner’s high hit me, because as I was walking to the food I noticed the 2:00 pacer and I went up to him and thanked him for helping keep me motivated out there. I grabbed a banana, water and headed out of the crowded food area. I went right to the Naked Juice truck and got a juice sample, collected some free Neutrogena sunscreen. Then I made a big mistake, I found an empty Boucher Bros cabana and sat down on the lounge chair, my legs were just so tired by that point, running 13.1 miles and then walking around for around 10 minutes. I figured I would be okay since I had slowed down slowly and walked a bit after I finished the race.

showing off my new medal

the resting my legs right after: mistake!

After watching the elites awards ceremony, being shocked at their finishing times I got up to walk back to the car. Suddenly the soreness came over over me as I walked back to the car, my ankle started aching and I started walking like an old lady. Haha. Also walking back to the car I was almost hit by a big truck and a car, nice, I survive 13 miles but then get killed by a car, I can see that headline now. So I left Miami Beach before I got a parking ticket, I wanted to go to Coldstone’s but apparently they don’t open till noon. Sad. Went home, ate something and took a nice long nap and prepared for a night out with the girls. Little did I know we would stay out till 6am on Sunday, ha!

Overall I was very happy with the organization of the race, and I may try to start learning to drink water on my training runs. I’ve already signed up for the 2014 13.1 Miami Beach, and might sign up for the 13.1 Ft. Lauderdale that’s happening in November, I want to collect some of the Florida Storm Series medals. I can’t wait!

close up

my favorite picture from the race – on the 2nd bridge

8 Comments Leave a comment

Race Recap – iRun 5k/10k – March 3, 2013

When I noticed there was another 10k race in Miami, I knew I had to sign up since the Carnaval 10k was shortened and not a true 10k, I wanted to race a real 10k before my first half marathon. Although most people probably would not have done a race 6 days before their first half, what can I say, I’m a risk taker. Anyways another reason I wanted to do this race was because Adidas was one of the sponsors and I love Love LOVE all my Adidas gear. I signed up for this race about a month before, wondering how the course would be since the course map showed a neighborhood, not used to that at all. I picked up my race packet a few days before the race, it included an iRun temporary tattoo & a bag of coffee beans.

I love this iRun tattoo 🙂

The morning of the race it was chilly, I was prepared to wear 3 layers again but took off the compression core layer in the car before getting out. It was around 55 or so when the race began at 7am, so the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. I have to say it was a very good race to run before my half, super well organized and everyone was very sweet, and no need to dodge and weave walkers at the beginning! 3 water stops as it was a double loop for the 10k runners, one loop for the 5k. We ran by some restaurants I had ate at before, including Andiamo’s, best pizza in Miami & through neighborhoods. I liked that some people were outside of their houses, staring bewildered at us all running & later on the second loop, they had brought out chairs to watch everyone. I liked the way the volunteers would urge you to go faster just before the finish line and all the people cheering when you crossed it. Very very awesome. After the race I kept moving and got a Smoothie King sample & banana and walked back to the finish line to watch everyone. Another great thing is that the porta potties had toilet paper AFTER the race too! And all finishers got medals! Fun time and great race, I will definitely be doing another iRun event, I wish I lived closer & could do their weekly runs too.

a new medal!

later in Starbucks, mirror pic.

2 Comments Leave a comment

Race Recap – RunWild 5k – February 9, 2013

This was a race that my aunt had recommended to me soon after I told her that I was starting to run. She told me that they had great sponsors and it was for a good cause. Plus a day at the zoo afterwards sounded like a pretty good incentive also. I hadn’t been to the zoo in a couple years so I said, why not. I even got a couple of my friends to sign up, new runners! Maybe I talk about running a lot on social media and got them excited about it but I’m really glad they came along. The charity this race benefited was the Chapman Partnership, check them out to see how you can help the homeless.

So the morning of the race started out very eerie, the city of Miami was covered in a dense fog. Some people actually described it as Silent Hill-like. After arriving at ZooMiami the fog had mostly lifted and my friends set off to pick up their race packets. The line for race packet pick was extremely long and hardly moving. The race actually started 20 minutes late so that everyone would get the chance to start at the same time, otherwise half the participants would have still been waiting to pick up their race bibs. Running on Miami time, I suppose.

I bid my friends and aunt farewell and raced on. I know, I really should’ve ran alongside of them but I really wanted to PR on this 5k, unfortunately it didn’t happen. Probably due to the fact that I did my longest distance run on Friday morning, 12 miles, training for my half marathon. Now I’m positive I will be able to make it 13.1 miles in March. I was okay with my finishing time but I did realize that I started out waaaaaay too quick, beating my fastest mile PR at least. Dodging walkers and children at the beginning slowed me down a bit but after the 1st mile, there was no human obstacles. My finish time was 26.39, I was 168th overall and 6th in my age group. Everyone got a RunWild medal at the finish line, there was also a lot of good sponsors too. As soon as you finished, there were many volunteers handing out plenty of hydration such as water, Vitamin water and Coco Vita. I had some Alpina blueberry greek yogurt with granola on top, grabbed a banana, a KIND almond & coconut bar and headed back to the finish line to wait for my friends. Almost right after I arrived at the finish line one of my friends was crossing, then a few minutes later the other one crossed. It was perfect timing so we all walked around together so they could gather some nutrition from the sponsors. I got a Miami Heat cheerleaders poster for a friend of mine from the actual cheerleader & our group had our pic taken by someone who got our names. Stupidly none of us asked where the picture was going to posted, so we will be forever googling our names to find ourselves. Haha.

After the awards ceremony was over we took a nice walk through the zoo, getting lost and staying at the zoo much longer than we expected to. But hey, at least we got some time to take pics of the animals that we passed earlier, and some silly pictures as well. Still wearing our race bibs and RunWild medals we decided to get sushi for our post race meal and our waiter thought we had ran a marathon. We told him a 5k at the zoo and he ended up giving us a bowl of free cotton candy? Overall it was a really fun race that I will for sure do again next year.

Veggie sushi

My favorite race photo YET!

What is the most memorable place you have ran/walked a race at?

1 Comment Leave a comment

Race Recap – Color Me Rad 5k – February 2, 2013

This race came very last minute for me, my friend & her coworkers were doing the race and wanted me to join in their team so I said sure why not. Not fully realizing until the last minute that I would be missing out on the long run part of my half marathon training two weeks in a row. So what did I do? I got up super early on Saturday morning, 5:30am to be exact and went running to complete 8 miles before I had to drive to my friend’s house and go to the race. Our wave didn’t start till 9:40am so I knew I would have enough time, just didn’t know if I would have enough energy or not. I figured I would complete most of my 11 miles before and then take it easy for the 5k. Well that’s not exactly how it went.

before pic

When we arrived at SunLife Stadium, we had to park at the far end of the parking lot, meaning we probably walked a mile to the starting line. We met up with one of her coworkers, who had organized and picked up most of the office’s race packets the day before. The rest were stuck in a long line to sign the waiver in order to be able to run, so lesson kids is dont wait till race day or you will be waiting in long lines for not typing out your name on an online form. We started on time, thinking it would be the last wave of the morning, leaving the rest of her coworkers behind to start probably an hour later. The first color station was not fully stocked and we hardly got any color on us at all. We all agreed if we didn’t get color thrown on us immediately at the next one, we would get on the floor and roll in the color instead. Next station had green liquid color sprayed on us, it looked like slime but definitely left a cool pattern on our shirts. Following that one we went through a pink station that had the same issue as the first station so we made corn starch angels on the floor to pick up some color on our backs at least. It was probably pretty dangerous of an idea but none of us got stepped on so it worked out well. By that time our pace was around 8:40 a mile or so, quite fast for my idea of an easy fun run. It was race pace nearly! I was starting to fade a bit but kept up with the others who had fresh legs. There were quite a few human obstacles during this “fun run”, walls of participants walking, people just standing in the middle of the road making it quite hard to get by while still running. I understand that some people cannot run the whole way or at all, but please move to the right side so everyone that is running can get by comfortably. There was another spray on green station and then a do it yourself station with a bunch of color bags on a table that we could pick up and throw at each other or on ourselves. I grabbed a few pink bags, ripped them open and held them in the air to cover us more.

Finally we reached the finish line, but it was hard to see with all the color floating through the air. It was not like other races where you are handed water right after crossing, I guess because most people were not sprinting to the line, but rather walking slowly to absorb as much colored dust as possible. It was a lil complicated but we found the water table and grabbed some of the Clif Crunh bars they had laid out. Then we walked further from the finish line and found the Naked Juice truck, where we partook in some fabulous juice. Overall it was a fun time, a bit different than The Color Run but on the same wavelength. Something I really liked about this race was the fit of the shirts they gave us, perfect fit, and I have never said that about a race shirt before, where they are the one size fits all unisex shirts, these shirts were heather gray, super soft & slight v and fitted for the female figure.

after the color explosions

Thank you, Color Me Rad!

Have you ever done a “color” fun run? If so, which one have you done? If not, why not?

0 Comments Leave a comment