North Star Color Run Race Review

Have you ever done a Color Run? This past Sunday I had the opportunity to participate in one and it was a lot of fun. Read on for all the details!

Photo Credit: Roger Miller Photography, from Facebook.

The North Star Color Run was held as a fundraiser for our high school Volleyball team. The money raised will go to help fund athletes' experiences at summer skills camps. The race was organized by their head coach. Team members and coaches were also race volunteers.

This race was a 5K that started and ended at the park in Rudyard. I'm not sure how many people were there, but it seemed like around 60 actually showed up on race day. It was a Sunday morning and Graduation Weekend, so I know a bunch of people were busy with other plans. The people who were there seemed excited and I thought everyone had a good time. I saw a lot of smiles. Among the smiling faces were me and Jeff!

If you've never done or heard of a color run, the premise is simple. You run a race route and volunteers throw colored chalk on you while you run. I'm not sure if maybe in bigger races they have machines that dispense the color?? For this race, it was the volleyball team members who threw it at runners as we ran. There were different color stations at different points along the course. So, you got hit with different colors as you ran along. At the end, they doused you again at the finish line. Then, once everyone was done, we had a "color party" where everyone threw little bags of color into the air. It was a lot of fun and made for some cool photos!

Photo Credit: Roger Miller Photography, from Facebook.

Photo Credit: Roger Miller Photography, from Facebook.

The post-race snacks were good. They had water bottles, sports drinks, oranges, and trail mix. Each participant also got a yummy bag of kettlecorn. And, of course, everyone got a race t-shirt.

I snapped this one of Jeff as he approached the finish.

As for my race, personally, I was pretty happy with my performance on a very windy day. I probably went out slightly too fast in the first mile, as I tend to do in a 5K, and had to reel it in a little. Reeling it in was no problem because turning into the wind about half-way through the course was like running smack into a brick wall. I didn't use my Strava because I didn't want my phone to get dirty from the color, so I don't actually know my splits...but I can pretty much guarantee the first mile was much, much quicker than the next two.

Right away I had pulled out ahead of most of the runners and spent the entire race behind two men that were about the same pace as each other. I definitely slowed down in the wind and the last mile was actually a big mental struggle to finish. I really wanted to walk. One of the kids from my track team, Thomas, caught up to me with about a half-mile to go. I'm fairly certain he could have passed me and gone on ahead, but he stayed with me. I definitely couldn't walk with one of my athletes right there!!

The only snafu with the race was that the girls who were directing people where to go on the route were a bit confused briefly and actually directed Thomas and I to go the wrong way and take a wrong turn toward the end of the race. We ended up crossing the finish line from the wrong direction and probably cut about two-tenths of a mile off the overall distance of the race. Oops! My finishing time was 25:35 for what was probably about 2.9 miles. I was first-place female and fourth overall. I think Thomas was ahead of me right at the finish line, but I can't remember.

It really wasn't about winning for me, but it's a neat bit of luck that that's what happened. I was surprised. My time was pretty close to my 5K PR-- if I had run a full 5K I think I would have been slightly slower than my 26:10 PR. I'm really happy with that considering how brutal the wind was!

Overall, the North Star Color Run was a really fun event. My favorite part was simply being among the North Star athletes, parents, and community members. I loved seeing the volleyball girls along the course as they threw color on me and other runners. I felt great about supporting them. This is my favorite type of local event- one that combines fitness, sports, and community. I hope this is the start of a tradition! Thanks, North Star Volleyball for hosting a great event!

This is a little collage I made with a few photos I had taken. Me and Jeff are obviously the big picture. The others are me and a family friend, Kenidee, and me and one of my track athletes, Thomas.