When I heard the Color Run was coming to Chicago, I was intrigued due to the popularity of the event and pictures I’ve seen of friends who have participated.  I immediately emailed a group of friends, and we organized a team.  I was excited for the event because it would be a fun and different race to complete with friends.

 

As the race approached and I figured out what to wear, I was excited and a little anxious.  I am not a fan of getting messy, especially my hair.  The idea of color being thrown at me was not the most comforting feeling.  I talked with people who had participated in similar races to get an idea what it would be like, and I bought a hat to protect my hair.

 

On race day, even though I was a little nervous, I was also very excited.  There was so much positive energy and excitement at the beginning of the race that I was ready to go!  My friends and I started the run, and it was a lot of fun walking and talking.  As we approached the first color station, pink, I was a little nervous, so I ran through the middle to avoid getting fully splashed.  It wasn’t as bad as I expected, and I loosened up a bit as we kept going.

 

I then strategized with my friends to figure out how we could get more color at each station.  At the next color, orange, we ran on the right side; for the blue station, we ran on the left side to even out.  We ran through the colors getting decorated and laughing along the way.

 

After crossing the finish line, we circled up as a group and opened up the extra color packets to celebrate.  The color got all over to finish the decorating, but we were smiling and laughing.  We then took a picture to prove we successfully finished.  Everyone said they had a great time, and we can’t wait to do it again.

 

Sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zone, take a risk, and try something that may be scary or new.  If I hadn’t taken the risk of running the Color Run and getting a little messy, I would have missed out on the chance to have a lot of fun with friends.  It was a risk, but definitely worth it!

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