Colour me....

At the crack of 5:30 yesterday, I was awake and ready to run! I only had an hour and a half to wait until my partner in crime, Babbette, was due to arrive on my doorstep. I showered (duh), put on my crappiest "exercise" clothes and waited with the same anticipation as a five year old on Christmas Eve.

Our journey began with excited chatter and and speedy highway driving. The speedy driving would have continued all the way to our destination had a cop not blocked my path and forced me to pull over. Fuck, right? Naw... After explaining what the fine would be, $196.00 for going 83 Km/H in a 50 zone and me joking about being on our way to a race, he let us go with a promise that I would buy a really nice dinner for Babbette. Am I the luckiest, most cop-charming girl you know or what?

Before

We arrived full of giggles, nerves and excitement after navigating through the construction filled streets of the local university and proceeded to check-in and buy some last-minute costume pieces. We looked around at all of the others and realised next year that more thought would be put into our outfits. There were women in wedding dresses, men in tighty whiteys and tutus and even a few lab rats. The music was loud (OPP anybody?) and the crowd of 5200 (75% women) was pumped and ready to go. We took our places at the start line and I finally remembered that I forgot sunscreen and Babbette told me about her lack of deodorant. Oh brother... Two girls, one sunburn and some stinky armpits. H-O-T. Oh well... what could we do? RUN! And we did..

ColourBOMB!

Smurf juice anybody?

Throughout the 5K race, we were bombarded with colour; pink, orange, yellow, blue, green. The colour is dispersed in two ways, water and powder, and you have no choice but to immerse yourself in this Rainbow Brite orgy. Keeping with the tradition of 80's cartoons, at one point Babbette looked at my face and told me I looked like I had been giving a blow job to a Smurf. I embraced this, went a little further and renamed myself "Cocksucker Smurf". I'm pretty sure my parents are feeling proud right about now.

The Finish!

We ran to the finish line, collected our colour packets and danced to the music as colour exploded all around us. This was one of the happiest crowds I have ever been in. At no point was I scared of rioting, hair pulling or looting. Could I really be in Vancouver?!? The powder filled our lungs and clogged our nostrils but we didn't care, we were happy to be there along with the other tie-dyed souls. I was especially happy for Babbette, given she had suffered a tragedy so great just a few weeks previous and actually mustered up the strength and courage to leave her couch and run her heart out on a hot and sunny Saturday morning. Cheers to you Babbette! You are one of the strongest and most honest women I know and I could only dream of having the tenacity and fortitude that you displayed yesterday if and when I am faced with the same predicament.

We managed to cover up the seats of my car with an old sheet and drove our stained selves to a pub for a beer and some good eats. We endured the stares and questions of others with smiles and laughter and managed not to make a mess of the patio furniture the bar staff graciously allowed us to sit on. The exhaustion finally set in on the way home and after some hugs and a shower that left me still dyed in some areas, I collapsed on my bed with a certain boy and slept for a few hours dreaming of clown orgies and rainbows...

After..