Tips for running a Color Run #Happiest5k
So you’re considering running/walking a Color Run…what should you expect? And what should you plan for? I just posted a review of the Color Run I did and now I have a few tips (things I wish I had known or thought about earlier.)
1. Buy some cheap sunglasses. I purchased case of neon sunglasses
(that’s an affiliate link) from Amazon. They were $6.50 for 12 pairs and I gave them out to friends (and a couple of strangers during the race – they looked like they could use them.) They were not high quality, but they were worth the cost.
2. Keep your phone/keys in a plastic bag. I brought two sandwich bags to keep my ID/credit card/phone in (I had my ID and credit card in case we wanted to buy something at the Color Store which was on-site. I did not buy anything since I’d already shopped at their store on Thursday, at race pick-up.) I let Carol use the second bag.
3. Where your worst running shoes. Shoes you don’t mind tossing or using for just yard work after. I have three pairs of running shoes. One pair is for running. One is for workouts/walking. One pair is for yard work. I went with the workouts/walking pair in this race and they are destroyed. My feet were so dark blue when I took my shoes and socks off!
4. Keep a towel or change of clothes in your car for the ride home. The corn starch will come out of your clothes, but I’d hate for you to ruin the interior of your car.
5. Take your kid to a splash pad. We visited Splasheville following the race and all of the color came right off my son and his clothes. (Except for the color on his eyes. See the next tip.) The splash pad was magical.
6. Makeup remover towelettes work wonders for the color on your face. Or on your child. (My son had blue all over his eyes after he rubbed them. The towelettes were gentle enough for him, but did the job.) I also used eye makeup remover on my feet.
7. Regular soap with a bath loofah or bath pouf will get a lot of the color off. Your clothes shouldn’t stain. In fact, I waited several days before washing my Color Run shirt and it came out super clean. There’s not one sign that it went through all of that colored corn starch.
8. Have FUN! This is the race that promotes themselves as the #Happiest5k. I’m inclined to believe them!
Great post! I have a similar one coming up! We had such a fun time. Thanks again for sharing your sunglasses!
any time! We need to figure out when our next race is. š
Great tips. I have never done a color run, but I know there are several here in Boston every year. It’s good to be prepared!
i don’t think I ever realized it was cornstarch. i’ve been avoiding these due to the mess
Great tips,I have never done one of these but I hope to one day.
This is the 5k that I have always wanted to do. It looks like a lot of fun. You know for running. haha… Great tip on wearing old shoes!
These are such great tips. Wearing old shoes is such a great one. I wonder how many people get upset about ruining their shoes because they didn’t think of that?!?
My twins have been wanting to go on a color run (they are avid runners). This is excellent advice. Thank you.
This is such perfect timing! We have our first color run this Saturday(if it doesn’t rain).
These are some great tips. Bringing towels so you don’t ruin your car is important!
Not me! I would consider a color walk, but not a run. That’s a good idea anyway, and we do walk about 5 miles a day here in the city on the weekends!
Great tips! I have never participated in a color run, but they sound like so much fun!
I’m not sure I would have thought to protect my car for the ride home OR wear my oldest shoes. Since I want to do one of these some day, I appreciate the heads up!
Looks like a fun run! I can only imagine how dirty (and colorful) you are afterwards.
Bringing cheap sunglasses instead of your good ones is a great idea. I want to do a Color Run! Looks like so much fun.
Awesome tips! I ran a mud run in new shoes one time. Yeah, I wasn’t very smart. lol
I may not do ths but I know a couple of people who can. Great advice.
These are some good tips, especially about protecting the car. I would be so mad if I ruined the interior!
These are truly some awesome tips! Thankfully for my first colored 5K I was with an experienced colored runner and was pretty well prepared! I love colored 5K’s, I missed one last weekend because my back went out but can’t wait for another one!
This sounds like a blast, even if it is uber messy. Hey, some of the most fun is messy. I think the biggest tip would probably be to just know that you’re going to get messy, and your shoes are going to be ruined. Accept it. =D
Oh these are such great tips! My 8 year old wants to do a color run this fall and I have to admit the mess sounded a bit intimidating. I’m going to be pinning these tips for a color run!
We have one coming up in Kansas City. I would love to go to it!!
Great tips! I’ve wanted to do a color run for a while, but the one here was cancelled. I hope there will be one (or more) next year.
Thanks for all these great tips! I want to do a color run sometime, so these tips will definitely come in handy!
I haven’t done a color run before, but i really want to. It looks like so much fun.
I definitely wore old shoes for my run! So glad since the colors ran together and made brown ugh!
These are great tips. I was thinking of doing a Colour Run soon. Never even thought I should wear old shoes!
I’ve always wanted to be in a color run. I think it would be wonderful. Thanks for the tips! Hopefully I get to do it one day!
Just did my first Color Run recently and had a blast! These are great tips!
That is a great list. We did the Color Vibe and they gave us glasses with our race kit. I did bring towels and extra clothes so that we could shake off and sit on the towels so that it didn’t get all over the car. The extra clothes were so we could change before grabbing a bite to eat. Didn’t happen. Most of the powder came off as we left the race. So we went to eat in our race clothes. No one seemed to mind. It was a lot of fun. I am not sure if we will do it again this fall or not.
I never even thought about it getting in your car on your way out! What a fun race though.
My daughter keeps talking about wanting to participate in a color run! They have one not too far away from where we live, and she might do it next year!
These are very helpful. I hope to one day participate in a color run.
I have seen pictures from a lot of my buddies about color runs! They look like so much fun!
Thanks for sharing these tips. A color run is in my future.
I would love to do a Color Run/Walk sometime. It looks like so much fun. I’ll keep these tips in mind for the future.
I ran The Color Run in Chicago this year (first-timer!) and I couldn’t agree more with the towels for your car. I wish I would’ve known that before sitting in my TAN interior. š
Great post!! I’ve never done a color run and might next week.. Great tips!
I would love to run a Colour Run. They look like such fun events! Thanks for sharing these tips.
My friend ran in a color run. It sounds like so much fun!