A few weeks back I covered a 5k where the participants get painted and thought it was pretty awesome, but it was nothing compared to the THE COLOR RUN that I covered for PHL17 this week.  What a great feel good event in a part of the city.  Over 23,000 people raced, painted themselves and generally had a blast around the Philadelphia Art Museum.  If you are the kind of person that likes the idea of running a 5k more than the actual training, etc.– this one is for you.  Each kilometer has a color obstacle with its own color and you wind up covered in paint after a very leisurely paced “run.”  It was a great giant photo-op at every turn.  The people that run THE COLOR RUN were simply awesome to deal with and I can’t wait to do another one of these.  Here are some of my favorite images from the day.

The story, gallery and video I produced for this event have completely crushed as well.  The story and associated media had over 2000 shares on social media before the social media tool reset.  (Who designs social media tools that reset!, btw?!?).  That many shares on a single story is pretty impressive no matter who you write, shoot, report or produce for.

I found this 5k really interesting because it’s a direct juxtaposition to another run I cover and actually participate in, The Broad Street Run.  One gets 45,000 people and I nearly shit my pants finishing after a mediocre day of running related hassles...  the other gets 23,000 takes a quarter of the time, ends in dance party of, mostly, painted ladies and is nothing but fun.  I could have literally ran this one backwards and shot the entire time it’s that leisurely paced and has waves and waves of runners.  (Minus of course the sweat factor of carrying a camera that weighs as much as a bowling ball!)…    Anyway, two great races that now live in Philadelphia, it will be interesting to see how they both grow.