My First Rodeo (5K)
Bite This: The stats are not out yet on how many people attended the 5K "Rave Run" last night but I know that over 1,000 people bought the Groupon.
The Electric Run, The Glow Run, The Rave Run...call it what you like, they're all the same. A 5K that takes place in the evening with electronic dance music and laser light shows. And lots of glow sticks. Lots and lots of glow sticks. I first mentioned this run in this post.
The GMOE and I completed our first 5K last night. Although I have never ran a 5K, I have been to a few raves in my time, and putting the two together did not make sense. Until now. There was running and there was raving, and sometimes at the same time. This is a race recap, race review and my general opinion all in one because I am such an expert. Lucky you.
Earlier in the day I read that this race was "untimed" which for some reason made me oddly excited and calm about running - I realized this race really is just for fun! Because over 1,000 people bought the Groupon for this race, I thought traffic and parking would be a mess. I decided that we needed to get there at least an hour earlier than line-up time -which we did not - but, this worked out well because we took an unscheduled detour, did not get stuck in traffic, and had plenty of time to pick up our glow bracelets and glasses and put them together. Because that was important.
Let me set the scene for you - The weather was perfect. There was an obnoxious DJ playing loud, but good music with giant speakers, laser lights displaying an image of the Rave Run logo on the nearby Kemper arena, and tons of people dressed in tutus, capes, and regular running attire. And everyone was decked out in glow bracelets, necklaces, headbands, etc. There were toddlers in strollers, and an 80 year old man in neon yellow and black tiger print spandex pants. There were laser lights at the beginning of the race, two tunnels with laser lights and speakers, and random speakers throughout the course.
We thought we'd see more people we knew, but then we also realized that our raver friends are not particularly athletic, and our runner friends are not particularly ravers.
At 8:40 we lined up, waited for 20 minutes for the obnoxious DJ to count down, and at 9:01 pm, the bell rang and we were off! I started my Garmin (I only wore it because I did not want my adrenaline to get the best of me and lead me to run at a pace that would make GMOE hurl - yeah, I am that fast. *insert wink*) At first, we were stuck in the middle of the crowd and could not get around anyone so we just went at the pace of the pack, starting with an uphill battle. After the hill, the cluster broke up slightly and GMOE and I were able to kick it and pass a few people. Mile 1 went down without much struggle, but on mile 2 GMOE looked like he was in a state of agony. (I may just have been thrown off though by his flashing green headband and glow stick eye glasses. ) But we kept trudging along and I glanced at my Garmin noting that we picked up the pace. I didn't tell GMOE about the pace though until we were past mile marker 2 because I did not want to slow down- I had a rave to get to! We went through two tunnels with laser lights and loud music and I knew we were almost to the rave party. Before I knew it, we crossed the finish line and I thought, "no way in hell was that 3.1 miles." I stopped the timer on my Garmin, looked at the distance traveled, and sure enough, it was only 2.5 miles. Which was good because GMOE was ready to be done with running forever. It also meant we could get a beer and start raving. And that's just what we did. The music was great EDM (electronic dance music), but the DJ was continually and consistently obnoxious, "throw your hands up!" But we did it anyway - we danced, threw our hands up, and twirled our glow sticks.
It was not until this weekend that I realized GMOE did not buy the Groupon for this run because of the tricked out lights and the bumpin' house music. He bought the Groupon for me. He bought it so that he could take part in something that I am so passionate about despite the fact that he hates to run. And that is why he is GMOE. (I am getting sappy because this is the weekend before our 3rd wedding anniversary and I could not have received a better gift than having my two loves at once - GMOE and running. )
So we went out there, "got [our] glow on and owned the night."
Proof is below.
The Electric Run, The Glow Run, The Rave Run...call it what you like, they're all the same. A 5K that takes place in the evening with electronic dance music and laser light shows. And lots of glow sticks. Lots and lots of glow sticks. I first mentioned this run in this post.
The GMOE and I completed our first 5K last night. Although I have never ran a 5K, I have been to a few raves in my time, and putting the two together did not make sense. Until now. There was running and there was raving, and sometimes at the same time. This is a race recap, race review and my general opinion all in one because I am such an expert. Lucky you.
Earlier in the day I read that this race was "untimed" which for some reason made me oddly excited and calm about running - I realized this race really is just for fun! Because over 1,000 people bought the Groupon for this race, I thought traffic and parking would be a mess. I decided that we needed to get there at least an hour earlier than line-up time -which we did not - but, this worked out well because we took an unscheduled detour, did not get stuck in traffic, and had plenty of time to pick up our glow bracelets and glasses and put them together. Because that was important.
Let me set the scene for you - The weather was perfect. There was an obnoxious DJ playing loud, but good music with giant speakers, laser lights displaying an image of the Rave Run logo on the nearby Kemper arena, and tons of people dressed in tutus, capes, and regular running attire. And everyone was decked out in glow bracelets, necklaces, headbands, etc. There were toddlers in strollers, and an 80 year old man in neon yellow and black tiger print spandex pants. There were laser lights at the beginning of the race, two tunnels with laser lights and speakers, and random speakers throughout the course.
We thought we'd see more people we knew, but then we also realized that our raver friends are not particularly athletic, and our runner friends are not particularly ravers.
At 8:40 we lined up, waited for 20 minutes for the obnoxious DJ to count down, and at 9:01 pm, the bell rang and we were off! I started my Garmin (I only wore it because I did not want my adrenaline to get the best of me and lead me to run at a pace that would make GMOE hurl - yeah, I am that fast. *insert wink*) At first, we were stuck in the middle of the crowd and could not get around anyone so we just went at the pace of the pack, starting with an uphill battle. After the hill, the cluster broke up slightly and GMOE and I were able to kick it and pass a few people. Mile 1 went down without much struggle, but on mile 2 GMOE looked like he was in a state of agony. (I may just have been thrown off though by his flashing green headband and glow stick eye glasses. ) But we kept trudging along and I glanced at my Garmin noting that we picked up the pace. I didn't tell GMOE about the pace though until we were past mile marker 2 because I did not want to slow down- I had a rave to get to! We went through two tunnels with laser lights and loud music and I knew we were almost to the rave party. Before I knew it, we crossed the finish line and I thought, "no way in hell was that 3.1 miles." I stopped the timer on my Garmin, looked at the distance traveled, and sure enough, it was only 2.5 miles. Which was good because GMOE was ready to be done with running forever. It also meant we could get a beer and start raving. And that's just what we did. The music was great EDM (electronic dance music), but the DJ was continually and consistently obnoxious, "throw your hands up!" But we did it anyway - we danced, threw our hands up, and twirled our glow sticks.
It was not until this weekend that I realized GMOE did not buy the Groupon for this run because of the tricked out lights and the bumpin' house music. He bought the Groupon for me. He bought it so that he could take part in something that I am so passionate about despite the fact that he hates to run. And that is why he is GMOE. (I am getting sappy because this is the weekend before our 3rd wedding anniversary and I could not have received a better gift than having my two loves at once - GMOE and running. )
So we went out there, "got [our] glow on and owned the night."
Proof is below.
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