Covered Head to Toe in Color in Warsaw

At some point while I was jogging past the National Stadium, I found myself wishing I hadn’t had that last beer the night before.

I thought my group had agreed to walk during Sunday’s colorful ColorFun 5K Run in Warsaw. (This local run is a spin-off of the international Color Run™.) But no…once the music started pumping, so did everyone’s legs. The next thing I knew, I was moving with the flow and was jogging with the more than 4,000 participants nearby.

Running is NOT my favorite activity, but I’ll do it now and then like last year when I did the 8K as part of the 2012 Istanbul Eurasia Marathon. This particular (untimed) run I did last weekend was unique because you get doused in colorful powdered cornstarch in three zones along the race route. By the time, my girlfriends and I finished the run, we were covered from head to toe in blue, orange and yellow. We made sure to wear white shirts that we wouldn’t mind getting ruined.

As we went through the color zones, we stopped briefly to scoop up handfuls of the colored cornstarch and throw it at each other. It was a blast! Be sure to wear goggles or sunglasses to protect your eyes though!

People wore all sorts of festive costumes, including pink wigs, Hawaiian grass skirts and ballet tutus, and one woman even sported an old wedding dress. Next year, we are definitely wearing costumes!

After the race, when I shook my head, blue powder rained everywhere. I tried “hugging” my husband, who took some photos for me, but for some reason, he pushed me away! I didn’t dare sit on the tram back home as the color wouldn’t have gotten everywhere. People stared at me, but most couldn’t help but smile at the silliness of it all.

This photo of me after the race is courtesy of my friend's husband.

Next year, I’ll lay off the beer the night before the ColorFun Run, and I’ll wear a cool costume!

(NOTE: I would normally have posted this blog post on Monday after the race, but we have U.S. friends visiting us this week in Poland. Hope you don’t mind!)

Here's some of our group, including me, just about to cross the finish line.