The Color Run Recap and race tips!

I ran the happiest 5k on the planet, The Color Run. This wasn't the first time that I ran The Color Run but this time it was even better than the first time! I met up with a few women from my Mom's Run This Town chapter. We were wearing white and ready to run.

We lined up at 9am and waited for our turn to start. Finally at 9:10 the DJ who was entertaining us while we waited said we could start. For those of you who aren't familiar with The Color Run let me explain it, it is a 3.1 mile race where, at evenly spaced places in the race, they throw powder color on you. It is a blast! The first color we got to play in was pink. I put my arms up and yelled more color at the wonderful volunteers. After running a little bit more we came to the next color. Orange was splashed all over us!  I'm glad I was wearing my sunglasses because they got me pretty good. This year they did a lot better job on spacing out the runners so we weren't bottle necking at all the color stations.

After we ran a little bit more we hit the turn around point for the out and back course. Soon after we turned around one of the ladies I was running with informed us that if she runs the whole 5k it will be the furtherest she has ever ran. Well you can't hear that from someone and even think about walking! So we ran! Next we hit yellow. I was still loving life and ready for more.

The last station on the tour of color was blue. In my opinion, blue is the best color at The Color Run. It is so vibrant and covers your clothes and face so nicely.  After we got smurfed we picked up the pace for the rest of race. We finished with big smiles and one proud lady who ran her first 5k!

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I dashed to the start line to meet my husband and kids. I gave him a quick kiss and told him good luck and watched him start his first 5k while my kids and I cheered from the sidelines.

After my husband finished, we went to the stage for the color throw!

We were the happiest, most colorful family on the planet!!

I love The Color Run and plan to do it next year when it makes it way back!

Tips for running a color run:

-Wear sunglasses (nobody wants colored powder in your eye)

-Take pictures (before and after of course)

-Wrap your camera or phone in cling wrap to protect it from color. Don't unwrap it until you are in a clean place (ie home or the car)

-Hang out at the race after you run, you don't want to miss the color throw. 

-Run with friends - this race would not be as much fun alone! 

-Have fun!!

Have you ran The Color Run? Did it make you happy? 

Dirty Dash Recap

Recently I ran The Dirty Dash. This was my first time running The Dirty Dash and my first mud and obstacle race ever. I had researched this race so I knew a little about what I was up against. My team name was the Filthy Fairies, so myself along with 6 others put on our fairy wings and prepared to get muddy.

My husband got talked into running this race with his best friend. It was his first race and I am beyond proud! He did not want to run in fairy wings so him and his buddy put on their mustaches and got ready to run! We started at 9:30 then we were off, since we planned to get filthy we left all phones and electronics at bag check. This was the first time ever not running with a phone and it was kind of liberating. Since I didn't carry my phone I don't have any pictures of the obstacles. I will try my best to explain them the best I can so you know what to expect should you ever do The Dirty Dash. The beginning was very bottlenecked and most of us were walking because there was no room to run.

Picture of the starting line

The first obstacle was jumping over hay bails. For dramatic effect I rolled over the tops of them. You would see one then a minute later you would see another. After doing that a few times we came across the first obstacle crawling through big tubes. Thankfully I am short (or as my daughter likes to say "tiny") and was able to shrink down and walk through. Others had to get through on their hands and knees. I did that for 2 seconds and my knees were getting cut up on rocks. After running up hill for some time we came to the monkey bars. Did I mention that this race was on a ski hill. Lots of uphill running. After more uphill then we came to my favorite obstacle of the whole race! It this obstacle you climb over PVC pipes while trudging muddy water and having someone blast a high powered hose in your face. Doesn't sound fun but I assure you it was fun. Then we climbed over two walls. I was most afraid of these because I am not spiderman. After seeing them it made me feel lots better as it was a slanted tent like wall with ledges to help you. I'm terrified of heights but didn't have problems with any of the obstacles. 

Then it was uphill again. It was super steep so everyone was walking. Once we got to the top of the hill we had our next obstacle, jumping over vertical walls. If you couldn't get over the wall you could climb under it. There were three of these and unfortunately due to being tiny and getting stuck in the water, I decided to army crawl under the walls after failed attempts to make it over. We keep running a little more and came to a super high net wall. Pretty simple, climb up one side and climb down the other. Right after that it was time to refuel with chugging a can of beer or root beer if you were underage or preferred that. Chugging beer then running is an adventure!

It was all downhill from there and did that feel good! We had about a mile and a half left in the race and the end obstacles were easier than the first half. Running across a one foot wide balance beam, through a small pool of mud with small mud explosions and running through tires. All of those were very easy but still fun. The mud explosion pool was so fun we did the obstacle twice. We circled back by the spectator area and could see the home stretch. An amazing long inflatable slip and slide. They only had two lanes open so we had to wait in line for 5 minutes but it was totally worth it! After that I was feeling great and couldn't wait to dredge through the almost waist deep swimming pool of mud as our last obstacle. My husband and his friend thought it would be a great idea to attack me in the mud. For those who don't fully know me, if I am in mud I plan to get covered in it. I don't need any help because I will cover myself all on my own. My husband knows this but he thought I might need some help. While being attacked, I got mud in my eye. This mud is super gravelly. Instantly my eyes were on fire and I couldn't see due to the pain. My husband lead me by the arm out of the pit. I managed to open my eyes for a few pictures. Rushed over to the showers to wash my eye out. Finally after an hour of rinsing, drops and ointments I could finally open my eye longer than 2 seconds. After two days I am now the proud owner of a non-red eye.

Tips for future mud runners:
-Wear goggles, you might not think it is cool but everyone will be jealous when you reach the end.
-Don't duck tape your shoes, you WILL get gravel caught in the duck tape and it will be a pain to get off once it is muddy.
-Try all the obstacles. There is no shame in not completing the obstacles but you might regret it if you don't try.
-HAVE FUN!!!!
-Make a before and after collage

So over all the Dirty Dash was my favorite race I have ever run. Maybe because of the mud, maybe because of the freedom of running without a time clock, or maybe because it was the first race I have done with my husband. Either way I will be sure to sign up for this one again!!

"Running" into Money (Saving money on races)

I love races!! I love saving money!! Saving money on races means that you get to run more races! Let's talk about great ways to get that race t-shirt as cheap as possible.

Plan your races ahead of time:
If you know that you really want to run a certain race sign up early. For example the See Jane Run Half Marathon was held on June 22 this year in Boise. If I signed up by March 22, the race would cost $75. If I signed up on race morning it would cost $105. I would have saved $30 just by signing up sooner rather than later.

Social Media:
It helps to "like" the race on Facebook and "follow" them on Twitter. The race will typically post any promotion they are having on both medias. Before signing up for a race I always check to see if they posted any deals. For example, if you are interested in the Idaho Wine Run this year, you can use the promo code "runinboise" for $5 off any distance (Thanks Run In Boise). They have a 5k, 10k, Half and full Marathon.

Volunteer:
Final Kick Events is this amazing company who puts on some of the best races in the Treasure Valley. They also happen to have the best volunteer program around. If you volunteer at a race they put on, you will get a free entry to one of their races. Super easy and simple. My husband and I volunteered at their Run 4 Luv race and I will be volunteering at the Idaho Wine Run before I run it. The Spartan race series has the same kind of program. Not only is volunteering good race karma but it also helps me race a lot without spending a lot.

Daily Deal Websites:
Groupon, Living Social, Yipit all good ways to sign up for a cheap race. Currently Groupon has deals on the Push 5k ($17) and the After Dark Dash ($25). I have used Yipit to get a race for $12 and Groupon to get a race for $17. The $12 race was the Torchlight 5k, you got a shirt, a beer after the race,  and some coupons in the race swag bag. Typically in race swag bags I always see a coupon for $15 off or 20% off shoes. $15 is more than the $12 I spent on the race so if I use the coupon it is like I made $3 running the race!

Newsletters:
Sign up for the newsletters when you sign up for races. Just today I got a newsletter from Active.com with an awesome promo code. Use the promo code "FIT1BUDDY" when you register yourself by August 9th for FitOne and get emailed a code good for 100% off the registration for a friend. Who doesn't love two for the price of one! Too bad I am already signed up for this race.

Check blogs:
Some blogs have discounts on upcoming races, both local and non-local. Some blogs even have giveaways for races. For example, I currently have a discount code for The Color Run! You can use the code "COLOR5OFF" to save $5 off. You can easily google and find lots of locations with race discount codes. Mom's Run This Town has an awesome section of race discounts.

There is no "I" in TEAM:
Sign up as a team and you typically save money. Most races if you have 4 or more people sign up you will get a team discount. For FitOne you only save $2, for The Color Run you save $5, for the Dirty Dash you don't save any money. You never know how much you could save by convincing your friends to run with you.

Do you have any other ideas on how to save some money on races? Did you find these useful?