I Colored Myself Rad!

Ah!  The long-awaited post of my Color Me Rad experience is finally here!

I was able to participate in the Color Me Rad 5K in Raleigh on October 27, 2012.  After deciding to run in the race, beginning my training in August, surviving a bout of IBS, and seeing results for the first time in my life, the big day was finally here.

My absolutely wonderful family made the trip up from SC to cheer me on, and even had T-shirts made in my honor!  Team Careful Caty was ready to run!

We all got up and had coffee around 6 Saturday morning, and made our way to Raleigh around 7 since I wanted to be there by 8.  I was all nerves the entire drive there.

We got there and waited in a line to park and thankfully we were far enough at the beginning of the pack to park on the grounds!

We got out and took some photos of us arriving, and then headed into the crowd waiting to run.

After officially pinning my number on (which I had been holding up until this point), we just sort of wandered and observed the crowd.  I also got my professional before picture taken, but I didn't care for it when I saw it and didn't end up purchasing it.

Runners are only given one color bomb, so when my family found that out, we bought many more color bombs to pelt me with!

And they were put to good use!  We didn't even try to wait til after the race!

 
We were finally able to start herding into a large group which would later be put into waves, which meant only groups of 1,000 would be let out of the group at a time to run.  This made things run a lot smoother.

My family was right there when my wave (the second wave) started, cheering and yelling, "Be careful, Caty!"

As I ran/walked the race, I saw lots of things.  Tutus, tighty-whiteys, and lots of white, of course.  It was really entertaining.  My goal was to finish in under 45 minutes, and I finished in 43!  I was so incredibly happy.  Runners receive a color bomb of their own as they cross the Finish Line, which you are supposed to save for the big color-throwing party every 5 minutes, but Luke and I decided to use it just for me.  I needed some more purple anyway.

After all was said and done, we took a few more group shots since Dave had arrived shortly after the start of the race.

Once I was satisfied enough to leave, we all piled back in the car and headed to my version of Disney World: Cici's!  I hadn't had Cici's since July and I was ready for it!

Then we all headed home and had some much-needed rest for a few hours.  We watched "Say Yes to the Dress" on Netflix all evening before everyone headed home.  I hated seeing everyone leave after such a fun day, but having them here for something so important to me was the biggest blessing I could have asked for!  AND we didn't even get any rain (we were supposed to, thanks to Sandy)!

Color Me Rad is just as rad as the name suggests, and if you are thinking about doing it, I say do it!  It supports a great cause, and it's unlike any other 5K you can run!  I'll never forget it, that's for sure.