UNDER SOUTHERN (NEON) LIGHTS: A LAZY ISLAND GIRL'S FIRST COLOR MANILA RUN EXPERIENCE



Lightning flashed in the distance, shortly followed by an angry rumble of thunder.

I flinch under my pirate hat.

Running 3k in a thunderstorm seemed like a bad idea. Like, front-page-of-SuperBalita kind of a bad idea. But I was there and I was in my costume and I couldn't turn back now because I already paid a small fortune to register for this.

So I took a deep breath, put my game face on and got ready to run my first Color Manila Run.




I kind of feel slightly embarrassed that I'm only posting this now. The event literally happened months ago. I was meaning to post it sooner (really, I did) but you know, slump happened. 

Thankfully, it is now December and maybe it's the sparkly holiday lights or the festive mood but something's pushing me to write this post so...here we are. :) 

So.

ColorManila apparently puts the "fun" in fun run. They hold the most colorful runs in the country. They've got all kinds of concepts from Challenge Runs to Glitter Runs to Blacklight Runs to Costume Runs.



I and Fay signed up for the Costume Run, which was, thankfully, not timed. 


I am not good at any physically competitive thing whatsoever. The only run I've ever participated in was back in college, where all freshmen were coerced encouraged to join Doc Yong's Run For Sight. 

Incidentally, Fay and I were also together during the said run (it was really more of a leisurely walk around North Reclamation Area).

What can I say, we love to take our own time.




Tonight, all we had to do was wear fun costumes, "begin clean and end up a masterpiece with a rainbow of colors from head to toe."

Oh boy, I was more than ready.

There we were at the starting line, Fay and her niece Shaira with their fairy wings and me with my pirate hat, ready to get dirty. We had our game faces on.

The timer went off.

We ran.

Straight into a spray of water.

Everyone shrieked in delight.

And that was how I proved that everyone in this race was a child. Me and company included. :D



After the initial adrenaline rush, we found ourselves, once again, in a leisurely stroll--- this time around Cebu Business Park. Every half km or so we would reach a color station where the organizers would hit us with some colored dust and make us thoroughly messy and awesome.

We all liked the pink powders best.


What I loved about this run was that it was very organized. 


There were hydration stations everywhere. Marshals were there to guide you and there were helpful directions for each race route. It might have been raining a bit, yes, but it was an enjoyable excursion around Cebu Business Park. 

Even though it was night time, we felt completely safe, with silly costumes and colored faces to boot.




The route circled back and we ended the race with medals and freebies. 

And then it was party time!




Well yeah, I am not a big fan of parties (lol, how tita) but we were there so I tried to soak in the experience the best way that I know how: by staying far, far behind and taking good shots instead. Haha. 

I already danced the warm-up Zumba before the race, okay, leave me alone to take photos. :D




All in all, we had a really good time. Yes, we looked like we wrestled with a rainbow monster and lost (which is not an entirely bad thing, if you think about it); our clothes were sort of stained (it will come off eventually); we were sweaty--- but it was a memorable night costume run indeed.



Plus we even had medals! We never have medals, ever. Maybe that's because we've never finished a race before? We never finished our freshman Run For Sight because our feet hurt. We jogged ran walked back the way we came around 30 minutes into the route. Ha, sorry!


Anyway, this was indeed a very fun run. It was a tad bit pricier than most, but with all the freebies and level of organization and amount of fun that you get, it's well worth the price. Fay and I will definitely come back! :)

Oh and here's us:





Until the next crazy idea!


All the love,

K x

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