In
honor of the International Day of the Girl, the U.S. Embassy sponsored a 5K “Color
Run” here in Kolonia. The four Peace
Corps Response Volunteers all decided to take part, with Roger running and
Linda and the others walking. It was a
unique experience—unlike any 5K run we’ve ever participated in.
Perhaps the best description is “casual.” The registration was scheduled for 6:00-7:00 a.m. We arrived at 6:15 and there must have been 500 people milling around. The registration lines only had a limited number of pens, and shortly after we made it through the process they ran out of registration forms, t-shirts, and give-away sun glasses. But no one seemed particularly upset. There were no numbers to pin on shirts, no chips for you shoes—none of that official stuff. Instead everyone wandered out to the start line (an orange cone in the road). The U.S. Ambassador stood at the line, held up a starting gun, and began counting down from 10. Unfortunately, when he got to zero the gun didn’t go off but people just started running anyway.
Since there was no attempt to line up the runner first, the first quarter mile (for Roger) was dodging walkers and kids, strollers, etc. Every little way along the route there were young people whose job it was to douse runners with colored “dust.” We’re still not sure what a “color run” is, but by the end of the race we were covered with orange, blue, and pink dust. At the finish line there was a young lady shouting out times using her smart phone. After he left the course another young lady ran up to Roger and asked him his name. Later, just before the awards, she asked him to come to the podium and asked him what his time was (which she had forgotten to write down). Seems he was the first obviously old guy to cross the finish line, so was named the “Masters” class winner. As a result, he will go down in the annals of Pohnpei athletic history as the old fart who won the 2016 “Masters” category 5K race! Pretty damned exciting!
All in all, a fun event. The only really bad move on the part of the U.S. Embassy was in the awards area. Even though this race was in honor of the International Day of the Girl, and the T-shirts proclaimed “Strong Girls Strong World,” the first place male finisher received a bicycle; the first place female received a basketball. What were they thinking! As for Roger, he received a table tennis set. Unfortunately, we would be hard pressed to fit a ping pong table in our apartment….
Perhaps the best description is “casual.” The registration was scheduled for 6:00-7:00 a.m. We arrived at 6:15 and there must have been 500 people milling around. The registration lines only had a limited number of pens, and shortly after we made it through the process they ran out of registration forms, t-shirts, and give-away sun glasses. But no one seemed particularly upset. There were no numbers to pin on shirts, no chips for you shoes—none of that official stuff. Instead everyone wandered out to the start line (an orange cone in the road). The U.S. Ambassador stood at the line, held up a starting gun, and began counting down from 10. Unfortunately, when he got to zero the gun didn’t go off but people just started running anyway.
Since there was no attempt to line up the runner first, the first quarter mile (for Roger) was dodging walkers and kids, strollers, etc. Every little way along the route there were young people whose job it was to douse runners with colored “dust.” We’re still not sure what a “color run” is, but by the end of the race we were covered with orange, blue, and pink dust. At the finish line there was a young lady shouting out times using her smart phone. After he left the course another young lady ran up to Roger and asked him his name. Later, just before the awards, she asked him to come to the podium and asked him what his time was (which she had forgotten to write down). Seems he was the first obviously old guy to cross the finish line, so was named the “Masters” class winner. As a result, he will go down in the annals of Pohnpei athletic history as the old fart who won the 2016 “Masters” category 5K race! Pretty damned exciting!
All in all, a fun event. The only really bad move on the part of the U.S. Embassy was in the awards area. Even though this race was in honor of the International Day of the Girl, and the T-shirts proclaimed “Strong Girls Strong World,” the first place male finisher received a bicycle; the first place female received a basketball. What were they thinking! As for Roger, he received a table tennis set. Unfortunately, we would be hard pressed to fit a ping pong table in our apartment….
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| The Registration Line |
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| Before the race, the local Zumba group warmed up in their own unique way. |
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| The Starting Line |
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| Peace Corps Response - well represented! |
Sounds like a masterful event. You look great!
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