12/27/2023 0 Comments Color me rad t shirt![]() I’d stayed far enough ahead of my three cohorts that I had time to grab a bottle of water and find an excellent spot to cheer with excessive enthusiasm in order to continue embarrassing them as they approached the finish.Īfterwards, we wandered back into the amphitheater to take “after” photos. ![]() But I didn’t wear a watch for this one as I wanted to stay as minimalist as possible. The race wasn’t officially timed, but I’m quite certain that 1) it wasn’t a full 5k - felt too short even with all the fun, and 2) even if it had been a full one I would’ve easily gotten a PR given how fast I was flying. The crowd erupted as I came bounding down the final stretch, and I ran through the finish line totally blind as color bomb after color bomb hit me in the face. Then one by one they saw me and just started laughing, with one of them adding, “That’s just wrong!”Īt each color station I’d get especially pelted by the volunteers, though those were nothing compared to the finish line. At one point the course turned down a road and approached an intersection where a whole herd of serious-looking cops were directing traffic. One of my favorite moments started as one of my most anxiety-inducing. It was remarkably encouraging and kept me in good spirits all throughout. Every time I passed a group of runners I’d be followed by peals of laughter, cheers, and always at least one surprised remark along the lines of “Oh my god!” or “That naked guy came out of nowhere!” Whenever I reached the front of a pack I’d immediately speed up to try to catch up to and pass the next group to continue the game. This fact is probably more of a testament to the silliness of the race than it is to my level of fitness, though. This was the first 5k I ran where I didn’t really get tired at all. Wearing my thinnest possible huaraches on terrain like that was a wonderful challenge. Normally that’s fine, but on paths this rocky it can be brutal. I tend to trim too much off the forefoot of all my huaraches because I generally like the feeling of my toes sticking out over the edge a bit. ![]() My toes were a little tender, but that was my fault. Although I did feel a little more underfoot than I’m usually comfortable with, complete with a few “ouch!” moments, on the whole my feet came out much better than I could’ve hoped for. Had I been aware of this, I may have opted for shoes that were a little thicker and with a bit more tread.īut I’m glad I didn’t. These trails were much rockier than I was expecting them to be, more closely resembling mountain hiking trails or even hastily-made construction paths in terms of rock size and looseness. It started at the exit of a gigantic amphitheater in the area (the kind of money hungry place that turns off the water fountains during concerts in order to force people to buy bottled water at outrageous markups) and continued onto some trails surrounding the area. From the outset it was obvious that this course wasn’t designed for or used by runners with any regularity. I found myself in the middle of a very crowded start pack but could stretch my arms out in all directions and not reach anyone. Aside from those brave souls, everyone else gave me a wide berth. And the first, “Can I take a picture with you?” was asked. Immediately it was more intense than I was even expecting, with everyone pointing my way. Even so, when we found our way to the start line and I stripped off the t-shirt and jogging pants, leaving me in nothing but the huaraches, raspberry-colored briefs, and blue sunglasses, they still seemed shocked. They were waiting for it with some mixture of anxiety and morbid curiosity. My overall look was something akin to a homeless yoga instructor.īut it was okay, because I wasn’t planning on wearing them for long. They fit okay at the waist, but only reached down to about the middle of my calves - transforming them into ratty capris. I bought the pants at a thrift store the day before without even trying them on. I was wearing an old white t-shirt like pretty much everyone else, but also 4mm Xero Shoes and the most ill-fitting athletic pants I owned. We were walking with the crowd towards the start of the Color Me Rad 5k in Raleigh. “You know, I was just thinking that you look pretty grungy,” one of my friends said, “Even for you.”
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