post-race and pre-shower

Tickets were bought in November. Caroline wanted another first to add to her done-this list. I agreed to join for fun, time with family, money for a good cause (charities vary by city), exercise, and something new. We signed up for the last leg of the race, 8:45 am, to give us time to drive to the event and get to the start line. I drove out yesterday to pick up my race packet which also happened to be in Tempe. There was a line through the parking lot, but the staff kept it moving quickly. Then we went to dinner.

Dinner was at Hodori, a Korean restaurant, in Mesa. Our neighbors were having their meal ripped apart at the table – peaking our interest, but we also noticed their Color Run shirts. I ate around the pork in the appetizer pancake (jeon) and tried the sauce – hungry or not it was delicious. I ordered tofu soup with mushroom. It was still boiling in front of me – enough to cook the egg added at the table – and to burn my tongue.

I also had rice and a variety of veggies – sprouts, cabbage, shoots, tofu, and beans that come served to the table. The funny part came when I tried the tofu. My dad had bitten a piece in half and knowingly left it at that. I bit mine, made a face, and swallowed. I could’ve sworn it was shrimp because it was marinated in fish sauce – ugh. I dropped the other half in my soup making it easier to eat when mixed with other flavors.

Up at 6:30 am and it’s pouring rain. Remember we are in the desert so that in itself would be a rare occasion, but two hours later and the rain is still coming down. We had on our white shirts, pinned our numbers on in the car, and made our way to the start line cold and getting wetter. There was tons of energy, and umbrellas, at the start line. We took off before our scheduled time and my dad, who stayed behind to take our finish-line picture said that seven more legs of the race had gone behind us.

The guy with the microphone was throwing out beach balls and bags of color at the start line. We were too far back to join in, but made sure at every color interval to be on the outside and in the full color coverage area. We expected the rain might hold some people from running, but I believe that the large crowd had more fun because of it. We had the street blocked off for us and the taste of colored chalk in our mouth as we made our way up hills and around corners. Near the end, people slowed and grass become muddy, but we made our way through and finished with rainbow smiles.

There was so much excitement and joy all around. There were teams and tall socks and tutus. There was a guy on crutches with a cast on his leg and kids in strollers. The streets were covered in colored water (food dye and cornstarch) adding to the beauty of the day. As we were leaving there were still people buying race packets, and others diving into puddles, and others dancing under the array of colors as people shared their powder packets with those around them.

There was an over order of shirts and we happened to be lucky enough to get some as the crew handed them out at random. And lucky enough still to pass some volunteers that had covered runners in color and that were willing to share their colored bodies with our white shirts. I used myself as a pallet too as I noticed just how much color I had gained. We forgot towels making it pointless to change into the other set of clothes we brought. We would have stayed for the after party, but we had something else planned.

I wanted to stay in my colorful outfit all day, but by the time we got near the house I could feel the cold setting in. I took my time getting ready for the shower as I enjoyed laughing at all the color I found that had made its way under my clothes. The warm water ran mostly blue and after washing twice I let what color resisted leaving stay as a reminder. Now I know why I don’t wear makeup – I would want eye-shadow all over my face!

For the second part of my day read: Wat, Roe, and Ice.