The atmosphere was fun and right off the bat we had a positive experience at the store/merch booth. Brady loves wearing rubber bracelets and we wanted to buy some from the run - they have the best saying "You haven't lived until you've dyed running!". We go to get a six pack and the girl tells us they sold out the day before when they had packet pick-up (we live an hour away from GB so we did same day packet pick-up right before the run). I let her know how bummed we were and she immediately insisted upon giving us the bracelets off her own wrists - she had one of each color. I thought that was really sweet of her and decided to buy a tank top because of that, lol.
We lined up early and enjoyed the emcee and music. One thing that was different from last year's experience at The Color Run was that Run or Dye gives away a TON of free stuff. They threw out all sorts of things to the crowd, both before the run and at the after party. Bracelets, dye packets, tutus, fish net gloves, rainbow hair, t-shirts and tank tops. We managed to snag another bracelet. Here's a Vine I posted of everyone lined up at the start... I apologize for the Miley:
According to Endomondo the course was a little short - 3.01 instead of 3.1 - but that really depends on the accuracy of my app. They handed out bottles of water on the course which was odd for me, because I had to carry that bottle for the rest of my run - I prefer cups during the run and bottles for after, but I suppose it was just more convenient for them as it didn't seem like they had all that many volunteers. When I ran (okay, mostly walked) The Color Run last year the volunteers squirted us with color out of what looked like big ketchup bottles. The volunteers at Run or Dye just threw handfuls of dye at us. It did a better job of getting us covered in color but in my opinion it was more hazardous. The first color station was green, which is my son's current favorite color. I made sure to let them know as we were running by so they could get him good - when suddenly I felt a huge handful hit me right in the face. I know the colored corn starch is safe, but it still doesn't feel good to get it in your eyes and up your nose. I wore sunglasses but she got me on the left side of my face so it went behind my shades and by the time I got home I had to take out my contacts because my eyes were really red and irritated. My nose bothered me the worst though - I felt like I was breathing in corn starch the rest of the day! I know I'm being whiny about it but at the time I was really good-natured and just shrugged it off, honest.
What was strange about the course is that the first three color stations (green, blue and yellow) were really close together... and then there was a long part with just running before we hit the last station. At The Color Run they were evenly spaced. The bummer part about the last color station was that it was pale pink. The color didn't really show up at all! They should have saved a really bright color for last. A hot pink or deep purple would have been awesome. Luckily, at the after party they handed out many different color dye packets so people had a chance to turn all different colors.
I can tell I haven't really been running because Brady had to push me to take less walk breaks - normally when we run together I have to push HIM to keep running. We finished in 32 minutes which I was happy with, all things considered. We stayed at the after party for a little while, but left after the first big dye throw. I was glad I had Brady cover his nose and mouth before the throw... no matter how fun the experience is, that stuff is not fun to breathe in. The colors used for Run or Dye seemed much darker/brighter than the colors used in The Color Run last year... here's a link to my post from last year if you want to see pictures. I'm not sure if The Color Run has changed since last year, but I will find out in about a week because some co-workers are doing The Color Run (they announced they were coming to Green Bay right after I had already registered for Run or Dye).
Here's our after pic! We definitely ended up with a ton of green... but my back had a ton of pink and purple on it. It was a fun time - the emcees had great personalities and did a good job of engaging the crowd. I was nitpicking throughout this post about the things I liked better about each color run - but honestly, they were both a fun time and I would recommend either one. I'm thinking I might be done with color runs for a while though... I'm a nerd and I just prefer to stay clean (even though I vow to do a mud run in 2014!). I'm hoping a cleaner run will come to Green Bay next year.... The Bubble Run, perhaps? A Foam 5K? I love the fun runs and they're a great thing to do as a family. I think the best part about getting into running is being able to involve my son as well.
Brady and I made a Vine after the run but he got mad because I was sneaky and kissed him on the cheek at the end of it. He wanted to have a re-do with just him so here's that Vine:
