This will not be a popular post. It does not represent the views of The Management. But it is my opinion.

I did not enjoy The Color Run. Gasp! There, I said it.

Billed as “the happiest 5k on the planet,” this event is the run/walk where participants get sprayed (pelted is more like it) with fine, dust-like, rainbow-hued powders while running/walking a 5k course. Colorful, yes. Fun, meh. Healthy, I think not.

For years I have dabbled in 5ks and even used to compete for running PRs (personal records) before getting too out of shape to run, er jog, for anything but fun. I remember a guy watching one of those 5ks saying, “I don’t need to run to prove anything anymore,” and I thought he was a grouchy old man. He was. I am not.

It’s just that in today’s society’s zeal to make everything “fun,” we have turned 5ks into a competition in gimmickry. Mud runs, dirty girl runs, obstacle course runs, inflatables runs, and yes color runs may get a few more people to try a 5k. That’s a good thing. I’m in marketing. I get it. It may even raise a few more dollars for the cause of the day. But trying to improve one’s health, or happiness for that matter, by simultaneously running and breathing in stardust does not make a lot of sense to me. Like many of my co-fun-runners, I found myself covering my mouth and nose with my t-shirt and the headband provided.

With all the airborne pollutants and allergens we face already, do we really need to spray one other with party-time glitter particulates while we run in the name of “fun,” gasping to the finish line?

This grouchy young man says, no, thanks! Me, I’m trying my hand at swimming the swim leg of a relay triathlon this summer. Jeepers, I hope I don’t get Giardia from that nice, pure clean lake water.

How about you? Let’s hear the counterpoint. I know most of my family and friends thought the Color Run was a blast.

Written by Steve Johnson, Managing Partner