This event took place September 14, 2013 at the Hagerstown Fairgrounds with a course laid out through the fairgrounds, nearby park and neighboring housing development. Veronica arrived early that morning to find me with uncooperative contacts and wearing my glasses instead (not my typical nor preferred race day attire).
DISCLAIMER: If you can avoid it in any way, do not wear your nice sunglasses - go for the cheap-o plastic sunglasses you can find at the local dollar store. Veronica still has powder in the frames she wore that day and my own pair took several cleanings to fully extinguish neon colored powder.
I can still remember the drive to Hagerstown - approximately 45 minutes from my house, on top of the hour Veronica had driven from her house to mine. We chatted with nervous excitement, sipping our coffees and wondering how this race would compare to the others we were registered for. Would the colors stain our clothes? Would it be an easy course? Would this be the first of many? The drive seemed to fly by as we drove through the mountains, remembering our adventures volunteering with the Girl Scouts at a nearby hotel during our college years. We arrived to the shuttle lot to board our bus, but soon realized we were early enough and this race was on a smaller scale that we could drive directly to the fairgrounds. We drove another five minutes and parked at the fair grounds and made our way over to the tables decked out for Check-In. 
The check-in process was effortless. They had several volunteers ready to check your name off the list and direct you to the table where you would pick up your t-shirt. Once we had our shirts in hand, we walked back to our car to change, finish our coffees and chat a little more until it was closer to starting time. We had made plans to meet up with several of Veronica's family members and friends and joined up with them near the starting line. Within a half-hour, we found ourselves surrounded by runners and walkers of all shapes, sizes and age. There were quite a few little ones ready to tag along in their strollers and get covered in color with the rest of us. I thought they were nuts. THEN I saw the rain covers their parents' had brought with - GENIUS. I actually have since considered taking my boys along to the next Color Run (as if I'm not already signed up for enough).  |
| This photo is used for advertising purposes now by the race sponsors! |
In all, it appeared to be between 300 and 500 individuals present for the inaugural race and after a few instructions, singing of the National Anthem and "are you ready for this?!", we were on our way! HEAL had their color stations set up approximately every half-mile, give or take. The first splash - yellow - was upon us so quickly and at a bottleneck that we barely got covered in any. As the race unfolded, we began to find a groove and were soon enjoying our first race together. People who lived along the course came out to watch - our first taste of spectators. Homeowners enjoying their Saturday morning coffee cheered on and waved as we passed, local shop owners including a butcher came out, and several members of law enforcement wishing us luck as we continued on.
The two most vivid colors we passed through were pink and blue. I remember my face being half covered by pink powder, but nothing like watching Veronica make "snow angels" in the blue powder. We finished the race in approximately 45 minutes, crossing the finish line holding hands and laughing. Post race, we found ourselves nursing bottles of water, eating our choice of snack: fruit, granola bars, bagels, but all we wanted were sandwiches. The after party involved even more color - a half dozen large trash bags filled with color filled a small field. Veronica and I quickly took turns covering ourselves and others in even more powder. We were rainbow messes. Warning: I quickly learned how the cornstarch powder not only sticks but renders your skin slippery - I almost lost my wedding rings when throwing a basketball back to some boys as we made our way to the car. Be careful! 
Craving sandwiches, we climbed back into Veronica's car and headed to a nearby Sheetz. Having covered the seats with trash bags and towels, we were able to only leave a few traces of the powder inside. We each ordered our favorite post-race treat, a made to order deli sandwich and water, and returned to her parents' home. The look on their faces when they saw us was priceless and remains one of my favorite visits with her parents. Of course, they had no idea the ridiculousness that would soon follow with our first race costumes for our next race, the Shape Diva Dash. 
The HEAL Color Splash is a local color run, held on a smaller scale, but large amounts of fun. They are in their third year of race season and continuing to grow. If you visit their website, you'll even find us on the homepage, a part of their commercial advertising the race - our mini celebrity moment! The memories we made during the inaugural event have led us to grow in our running journeys and inspired us to aim for even more challenging races, including the Disney Glass Slipper Challenge, only two weeks away.
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