A Dash of Colour

I don't like to exercise at weekends. Weekends are for lazy lie-ins, relaxing brunches and lying on beaches. But not last weekend. I've been intrigued by The Colour Run (technically 'Color' but I can't bring myself to spell it like that) since I saw a bunch of commuters covered in paint getting on my tube in London. So when the run arrived in Sydney, I had to get involved.

It's a 5k run, so nothing too taxing and we'd been forewarned that it's generally full to the brim of families and social walkers so not to expect anything serious, which was fine by us after a boozy BBQ the night before. The event guide stated we needed to collect our packs a few days before the event but we didn't have time, so we trekked to the Olympic Park super early to get our packs.

We were too keen. We were one of the first on site with several hours to go before the run and so ended up whiling away the time eating lunch on the grass and attempting (and failing) to apply our temporary tattoos.

Once the race kicked off, we were pumped after a warm-up zumba class and blaring chart music and keen to run. Running however, was pretty tricky. As predicted people were more set on walking and jogging and so we tried intervals of both interspersed with tunnels of colour where we were sprayed with various paints.

After 45 minutes we emerged at the finish line looking unrecognisable. I had well and truly embraced the theme of the day and was covered from head to toe in all shades of neon. 

We joined the crowds for the Festival of Colour finale and threw packets of powder into the air to create a cloud of rainbow shades above our heads. 

I spotted several girls who had covered their hair in cling film before the race began and mocked them for 'not getting into the spirit of it'. However, it's now almost a week later and my hair is still tinged pink. Maybe they had the right idea after all.