running in the morning | Vintage Hearts At Home

I have a friend who said she doesn’t get why anyone would choose to run. She would only run if something was chasing her, like a bear or a creepy clown. (Like there’s any other kind!) This is not the first time I’ve heard this. So here’s why I run…I run to sleep, I run to live longer, I run because I like food and I run because sometimes it’s the only peace and quiet I get. I’m not good at it, I just like to do it. I like to go running in the morning before the world wakes up. I’ve even been known to be out at 3:30 am when it’s really quiet and dark and cool and I can have the streets to myself. I prefer the cold to the heat and I don’t even mind the rain.

My friend Qhua and I have run together and she’s probably one of the only people I’d run with. It’s usually a solitary sport for me. We wanted to do a “Color Run” this summer but signed up too late so she sent me a link to an “Electric Run” in Minneapolis last Friday. It’s a 5k (3.1 miles) starting at 9pm at the State Fairgrounds there. The idea is that you run in the dark with glow in the dark makeup and crazy outfits on a course with glow in the dark displays and blasting music. Sounded fun, so we signed up.

I made us tutus to wear and we stocked up on glow sticks that we could make into bracelets, necklaces, put in our hair, on our shoes and wherever else we could think of.

The sun set and so many people signed up, (over 8,000!) we didn’t actually make it onto the course until almost 10pm. We were in full “glow” mode. I didn’t bring my phone with me on the course and wish I had pictures to describe everything we saw. The event planners did such an amazing job with the course! There was a glowing tunnel we ran through, glowing umbrellas hanging from trees, a psychedelic run through with blasting music. Everything glowed or lit up, everyone was pumped! It was awesome! I was grinning like a Cheshire cat the whole time, I probably looked crazy.

It was over before we knew it and we were kind of bummed. “Awww, it’s over? That didn’t feel like 3 miles…let’s do it again!”

(That’s another friend in the middle that came to cheer us on.)

At the finish there was a huge after race party with a DJ mixing up the tunes, lights and glow sticks. We danced for another hour and a half.

I finally got home at 1:30am; tired, my knee hurt and a little stiff, but so happy I went! It was hands down, the most fun I ever had running a 5K! Check them out on facebook @ Electric Run for more pictures….