Everyone who owns a television has seen those ridiculous Skittles commercials. Often they don鈥檛 even make sense, yet they鈥檙e still funny with the catchphrase at the end, 鈥淭aste the Rainbow.鈥�
I got a mouthful of rainbow as I crossed the finish line at Saturday鈥檚 鈥淟ive in Colour鈥� five kilometre run, and it certainly didn鈥檛 taste like Skittles.
I first heard about the run while at the gym about a month and a half ago. There was a poster near the water fountain that caught my eye because my sister told me about a colour run she did in Vancouver last summer.
The concept is simple: you run (or walk) five kilometers and at each kilometre mark there are people stationed to throw coloured dust or powder on you to give your white t-shirt (which they provide) some colour.
Saturday was the big day and I was pretty excited, but also nervous. I don鈥檛 run outside very much because the last time I did earlier this year, after a few runs my left knee hurt like crazy and made even walking a chore.
I hadn鈥檛 run outside for probably five weeks before this weekend so I figured giving my knee that much time off in between runs would be OK. Spoiler alert: it wasn鈥檛. My knee did indeed hurt signficantly after the run was over. Guess I鈥檓 confined to treadmills for the rest of my days.
When I got to the starting point, the field behind North Battleford Comprehensive High, there was already a bunch of people getting ready for the event, dumping packs of blue, red, green, yellow and orange dust all over themselves and their friends.
I thought I鈥檇 snap a few pictures of this until I took the first one, only to see 鈥淒EMO MODE鈥� on the screen of my camera. I forgot to take my memory card out of my computer at work before I went.
So I flew (within the speed limit of course) to work and grabbed it before the race started, arriving with about five minutes to spare.
As the race was about to begin, everyone began lining up so they could blast off through the arch that had been set up.
In hindsight, maybe having one of those wasn鈥檛 the greatest idea because it forced everyone to funnel through the opening, which resulted me in nearly bulldozing an eight-year-old girl five seconds into the race. What a sight that would have been, I might have been running for my life instead of for fun if I had fully knocked her over.
Once the race had begun, everyone started going at their own pace to enjoy the moment with the friends or family. Since I went alone I was free to run the route like I was just out for a run.
One of the key differences was I didn鈥檛 bring my iPod or headphones because I didn鈥檛 want them to get covered in dust. Listening to myself breathing heavy while running isn鈥檛 quite as motivating as heavy bass pounding between my ears.
As we came up to the first turn of the race, onto the trail along the side of Territorial Drive, there was a truck set up with a woman holding a garden hose ready to spray people.
鈥淵ou have the best job in the world!鈥� I shouted to her as she showered me.
Shortly after was the first checkpoint, with volunteers waiting to toss colour at runners. 鈥淚鈥檓 ready! I鈥檓 ready!鈥� I yelled, as they cheered and pelted me with blue dust.
After crossing the intersection near Sobeys the second checkpoint came up in which I yelled, 鈥淚 want you to drown me in green!鈥� and the volunteers happily obliged.
I was feeling pretty good coming around the corner near the third checkpoint, until I was passed by a kid who looked to be about 11 years old. Where do they get their energy?
Unfortunately, since he passed me just before the third checkpoint, he got most the colouring. Totally stole my thunder. Directly after, there was a woman handing out water bottles to everyone who wanted one, and I definitely wanted one. Have you ever tried drinking while running? It鈥檚 very difficult.
My personal goal was to run the entire route without stopping, which was probably a bit lofty on my part because I鈥檝e only ever run five kilometres straight a handful of times in my life. Especially not after taking a month and a half off from running.
Suffice to say, I didn鈥檛 quite make it, stopping to walk for a few seconds about halfway between the third and fourth checkpoints.
As soon as another person passed me though, I kicked it back into gear 鈥� for about three more minutes before stopping to walk again.
The fourth checkpoint had a large group of people watching, so I knew I couldn鈥檛 stop to walk before hitting that. There were also about five people ready to throw dust, including little kids, so I threw my arms out to the side like I had just won a marathon.
Coming up to the final stretch, there was a woman sitting on a lawn chair in her driveway watching the runners go by. 鈥淚鈥檓 so tired,鈥� I gasped as I hobbled past her, to which she responded, 鈥淲ell I鈥檓 just sitting here, so you鈥檙e doing better than me!鈥� At that point, sitting there watching sounded much more enjoyable.
The last hundred metres or so of the run was along the road in front of the Civic Centre, with an ambulance and police truck waiting. As each person crossed the finish line, the police truck would scream out with a siren to congratulate everyone.
There was a photographer set up to capture the final moment of everyone鈥檚 run, though I think mine might have been a little more unique than others.
An arch of balloons marked each checkpoint and it was a little windy at times during the run. At this checkpoint, which had no trees around the block the wind, the balloons were bobbing back and forth aggressively.
鈥淒o I get to run through them like a marathon runner?鈥� I asked, half-joking to the people at the end. But right as I crossed the line, and got a face full of orange dust at the same time the wind picked up and blew the arch down so I almost did run straight through it.
Thankfully I was dead tired and not going very fast, or I may have ruined the ending for everyone else.
After everyone was done, they were all instructed to head back to the starting point where they could get water and little cups of protein shakes which were prepared by more volunteers. They were delicious, by the way. I wanted more than one, but I didn鈥檛 want to be 鈥渢hat guy.鈥�
Once everyone had gathered together, colour packs were thrown to the crowd and people were instructed to gather close together.
After a countdown, everyone who had a colour pack threw them in the air, resulting in a pretty cool sight.
I wanted to get a good picture of it, so I ran to the bleachers at the corner of the track to do so. After coming down a friend of mine ran towards me, ready to undoubtedly hit me in the face with some colour. Luckily for me I was saved with the, 鈥淚 have my camera on me!鈥� line. As if I wasn鈥檛 colourful enough.
I jokingly asked one of the organizers at the finish line if the stuff washed off or if I was going to be green for the rest of my life.
鈥淥h don鈥檛 worry, it鈥檚 just corn starch and 鈥� other stuff,鈥� she said. Whatever the other stuff was, one shower wasn鈥檛 enough to wash it all off. Although I suppose going out in public looking like the Hulk isn鈥檛 the worst thing that could happen.
The colour run was a lot of fun, and it raised a ton of money for a good cause. Before the race started they announced it had raised over $16,000 for the North West College Scholarship Fund.
Is there anything better than having fun while raising money for a good cause? If there is, let me know about it and I鈥檒l make an appearance.
Hopefully there will be less dust to the face involved.
