This past Saturday the Color Run was held in the area surrounding Citi Field, dusting the ball field's parking lot with all the colors of the rainbow. For the uninitiated, the Color Run is billed as "The Happiest 5K On The Planet," where participants are blasted with colors as they make their way along the course. There's even a live band along the route (ours was playing '90s radio hits from the likes of Third Eye Blind).
As you cross the finish line, you enter a Color Run festival, where music is pumping and more layers of color are applied to those who desire it. A deejay on stage tells participants crowded in front what color packets (provided post-run) to open before tossing them in the air and adding a final, vibrant coating to your sweaty skin. You can also just dump the packets provided directly onto yourself—let us demonstrate:
Photo by Amy Finkel
The run is coming to Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field in July (tickets are still available, but expect them to sell out quickly), so we thought we'd give you a heads up on the good and the bad to expect, since we participated in the Queens one.
(Jen Carlson/Gothamist)
- The cost is $55 to $60, depending on if you buy a group or individual ticket.
- You'll get a bag that includes a t-shirt, bracelet, temporary tattoo, and headband.
- If you are in this for a real RUN, you will likely be frustrated once it begins. People tend to stop and go and take selfies along the way, making it difficult to get a good, consistent running pace going. Prepare to navigate around people to even keep a jogging pace up.
- You can pretty easily avoid the color if you want to... but that's no fun.
- About that color—it's totally harmless, but don't wear anything you don't want to get ruined. While it will mostly wash out, our items (after handwashing directly after the run) still have a faded color in them.
- Also: while they note on their site that there are air blowers to help you get some of the color off for the trip home, we did not see any.
- They were also out of water at the Porta Potty stations (which were already disgusting upon arrival) before the race even began, so bring some wipes if you at least want to clean your hands off afterwards.
- Speaking of water: there are a couple of water stops along the way, though one station rushed us (and others) off, barely allowing us a drop. Not cool.
- The festival area also includes vendors handing out free items (like hummus and beverages), as well as a shop, a mirrored room to take selfies in, and Shout was (appropriately) on hand with a 360 Color Camera booth.
Overall, this is a very fun 5K if you are in it for the fun, and not the run. It's even kind of fun riding the subway back all coated in colors afterwards—just try not to brush up against anyone (sorry about that, lady on the 7 train).
