This past Saturday marked the 2nd running of Colour Me Rad in Vancouver but probably (hopefully!) not the last. Here are the top 5 reasons you should be either sad and full of regret for missing it or counting your lucky stars for being able to take part in this sold out event:
5) The organizers have very good karma and don't mind sharing with you: How else can you explain the weather on Saturday? The weather this past week has been very typical of October in Vancouver-rainy, cold and blah. But somehow, when that coloured cornstarch started flying, the sun came out! No rain and warm temperatures, love it.
4) Great swag: The typical race has that typical t-shirt that you will never wear and/or you will send directly to the thrift shop. Not so with Colour Me Rad. Not only did I score a sweet, soft cotton tshirt that I plan to wear over and over again but I came home with a pretty sweet pair of shades! The merch tent had many options including but limited to shirts, knee socks, stickers for reasonable prices too.
3) Fun for everyone: There were runners, walkers, kids, people with canes, people in costumes you name it, they were there. Every participant seemed to have a perm-grin too! Three generations of my family (ages 5-50 something) and everyone, even my non-athlete husband said it was a lot of fun and are already looking forward to next year. Can't say I've seen that at most events!
2) Behaviour that is generally frowned upon is encouraged: Ever wanted to throw cornstarch at a fellow runner? Or lay down in the street and make powder angels? Break into a random dance? I saw all of this and more on Saturday and it only fed the atmosphere of joy. Definitely a nice break from the every-race!
1) Good bye PR anxiety: A lot of runners (myself included) worry about not hitting that personal record and it's ruined many a run. Contributing to the fun atmosphere is the fact that Colour Me Rad is not a timed event. That's right: no timing chip. No clocks. Awesome. And according to the guy with the mic, if you ask about your time, expect a punch in the esophagus. How's that for incentive?
Yup, Colour Me Rad is rad. The merch tent is rad. The course is rad. So is the after party. Do yourself a favour and make sure you add this one to your list of "must do" races. For those of you who were there, would you do it again?
Showing posts with label 5km run. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 5km run. Show all posts
Sunday, 6 October 2013
Saturday, 31 August 2013
Tips for enjoying the Zombie Apocalypse
This past weekend I had a chance to participate in the Zombie Apocalypse, as imagined by the lovely folks at Run For Your Lives. I definitely feel more prepared for the impending doom-here's some tips for rookies who haven't had a chance to run scared from the undead:
1) Figure out where the annihilation is happening before the big day: Fellow zombie hunter Alli and I assumed the race would be in Seattle because all events in Washington happen in Seattle. Wrong. After we hit Seattle, we drove for two more hours and hooked a left for another 40km to McCleary, and assumed we had missed the race. We made it but with a lot of unnecessary grief. Bad idea because we all know zombies can smell fear.
2)Make friends with your fellow racers, you will need them: As you attempt to make your way to the Safe Zone with all 3 flags (making it in with one flag means you survived, no flags means infected), you are going to encounter a lot of zombies, sometimes just one, sometimes an entire horde. Your best chance at making it past unscathed/with all of your flags lies in running past them in a large pack. Some zombies will make half-hearted attempts for your flags, some will actually chase you and make that horrible zombie noise in your ear.
3)The path to freedom is rife with hills, mud, and obstacles: Yes, the Zombie Apocalypse has a lot of hills-work on those leg muscles, you're gonna need them. And every other muscle-the obstacles you will encounter along the way are tough! You will need your fellow racers to get through/over some of them because the mud makes them so slippery-my clothes and shoes picked up about 10lbs worth of mud over the 5km. You will crawl through more mud than you've ever seen in your life, swim through a blood pit, under live wires and an electric fence or two.
4)Bring a waterproof, disposable camera: The photo ops of the End of Days are pretty spectacular but would destroy event the toughest iPhone/electronic device. I have barely any pics and am pretty bummed about it. The link above has some good ones.
Feel more prepared now? Good. Sadly, Alli and I were infected (the current tally stands at 44,344 survivors and 97,525 infected). The Run For Your Lives crew put on a very good, well organized event/apocalypse practice however it was tough to find food afterwards (running scared works up quite the appetite!). For anyone looking to give this a try next year, I wholeheartedly recommend doing the race twice-once as a runner AND once as a zombie (professional zombie make up included), not sure which one looked like more fun! Fingers crossed it comes to Vancouver next year too.
Would you rather chase or be chased?
1) Figure out where the annihilation is happening before the big day: Fellow zombie hunter Alli and I assumed the race would be in Seattle because all events in Washington happen in Seattle. Wrong. After we hit Seattle, we drove for two more hours and hooked a left for another 40km to McCleary, and assumed we had missed the race. We made it but with a lot of unnecessary grief. Bad idea because we all know zombies can smell fear.
2)Make friends with your fellow racers, you will need them: As you attempt to make your way to the Safe Zone with all 3 flags (making it in with one flag means you survived, no flags means infected), you are going to encounter a lot of zombies, sometimes just one, sometimes an entire horde. Your best chance at making it past unscathed/with all of your flags lies in running past them in a large pack. Some zombies will make half-hearted attempts for your flags, some will actually chase you and make that horrible zombie noise in your ear.
3)The path to freedom is rife with hills, mud, and obstacles: Yes, the Zombie Apocalypse has a lot of hills-work on those leg muscles, you're gonna need them. And every other muscle-the obstacles you will encounter along the way are tough! You will need your fellow racers to get through/over some of them because the mud makes them so slippery-my clothes and shoes picked up about 10lbs worth of mud over the 5km. You will crawl through more mud than you've ever seen in your life, swim through a blood pit, under live wires and an electric fence or two.
4)Bring a waterproof, disposable camera: The photo ops of the End of Days are pretty spectacular but would destroy event the toughest iPhone/electronic device. I have barely any pics and am pretty bummed about it. The link above has some good ones.
Feel more prepared now? Good. Sadly, Alli and I were infected (the current tally stands at 44,344 survivors and 97,525 infected). The Run For Your Lives crew put on a very good, well organized event/apocalypse practice however it was tough to find food afterwards (running scared works up quite the appetite!). For anyone looking to give this a try next year, I wholeheartedly recommend doing the race twice-once as a runner AND once as a zombie (professional zombie make up included), not sure which one looked like more fun! Fingers crossed it comes to Vancouver next year too.
Would you rather chase or be chased?
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