THE BACKSTORY

I’d always wanted to do something like the Color Run, but I’d never been much of a runner.  My mom had been looking online for local events, and came across the First Annual Folsom Glow Run.  The Glow Run would be a fun run, so it was non-competitive and not timed.  This sounded like a great start!  Although I had no idea what the run would be like, I was really excited, especially since my friend Isabella would be joining me.

AND THEN

Crossing the finish line, I gasped for air then collapsed. A huge crowd cheered for the incoming runners and shook their glow sticks in celebration. I had just finished my first 4k.

We got there early: my parents, Isabella, and I, so we went to eat.  Yes, we went to eat a big dinner right before a 4k.  We are such obvious first-timers.

By the time we walked back out onto the main street of downtown Folsom, the sun had gone down, and our glowing bracelets, glowing necklaces, glowing anklets, glowing crowns, and glowing glasses were shining bright.  We were decked out in glow sticks from head to toe.

As we walked down to the starting line, Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke blasted out of the speakers, and all you could see was glowing figures dancing around.

The DJ announced, as cheesy as it was, “Ready, Set, Glow!” and we were off.  Isabella and I started off slow, as there was a huge crowd of people moving very slowly in front of us.  Eventually the pace picked up, and we sprinted down the street.

People were dropping glow sticks everywhere, and of course being the competitive person I am, I picked them all up, hoping to accumulate the most amount of glow sticks by the end of the run.

We ran on the bridge over the Folsom River, and there had been glow rings wrapped around the handrails for minimum light.  It was so pretty.  I had my music on my phone playing, Isabella and I were singing to it, and we were having so much fun.  Then I bent down to pick up another glow stick someone had dropped and boom, I tripped and fell.  Other runners trampled over me, and I layed there helplessly, still determined to pick up all of the glow sticks I could find.

The first stop during the run was a silly string fight.  Isabella and I grabbed two bottles of silly string, and darted away, wanting to keep up our speed in the run.

I have exercise induced asthma, so by the half mile mark, I was practically hyperventilating.  We took a break, gave in, and had a mini-silly string war.

The second stop was a huge chalkboard for runners to “make their mark” on.  I took a huge piece of chalk and used the whole board to write “Sierra was here xoxo.”

Soon, the run was over, we went to go get ice cream, then I went home and crashed on the couch.

THE VERDICT

Overall, it was a very fun experience that I look forward to doing again.  In fact, I have signed up for upcoming the ugly sweater run in Sacramento.

by SIERRA YOUNG