The Color Run

Lexi and I got to run the Color Run on Saturday.  It was a lot of fun.  And cold.  We met my friend Heather there.  So fun to see her! 

Even though it was cold, it was fun to be able to meet up with Heather and her daughter, Annica.

Lexi was pretty excited to see all the portapottys. 

But she didn't have to go.  She stood outside and waited while everyone else went.  We were there pretty early to beat the crowds in downtown Des Moines.  We took a walk and scoped out the course.  Then we came back to this very spot to go to the bathroom again so we could get in line to start.  Lexi once again held back.  Nope.  I don't have to go. Nope, not me. 
I told her, in no uncertain terms, that she would be trying to go.  There were too many people around and we would be standing in line for a LONG time.  She said, "But they are yucky."  Yes.  Yes they are.  Welcome to racing, Lexi.  Now get in there!

So here we are in line.  It was cold.  Brrrrrrrrr.

My friends Brie and Susan were there too!  So fun to be with friends at a race:)
When we finally surrendered our coats, Dave took them back to our car for us and this was his view from the back of the crowd.

So many people!  When I found out there were going to be 27,000 runners, I wanted to back out.  I didn't want to go.  The logistics of driving out there and parking and lining up sounded so overwhelming to me that I just didn't want to do it.  But I decided, yes, we needed to do this thing.  But it was cold.  Just sayin'. 

They started all the runners in waves of 1,000 at a time.  We were about the 9th wave so we had to stand and wait a loooong time. 

But it was actually fun.  It didn't seem so long since we were with friends.

Once we finally started, Dave ran ahead and got some good pictures of the color stations. 

That's me right in the middle.  After that, I learned to keep my mouth closed when running through the color.

We kept up a steady pace that wasn't super slow or fast.  It was slow going through the color because people were walking through.

To get to the finish line we had to run up the hill that we started down.  Always fun to end a race with a hill! 

Finally done!!

Cool pictures with the Capitol in the background.

Lexi had so much fun.  She's such a good little runner.  I am looking forward to the next time we can do a race together.