Running in Costumes

Running in Costumes

Last year I ran the Harrisburg Hero Run dressed at El Chapulin Colorado, to my knowledge there is not many Mexican Super Heroes, I appreciate and love comic book heroes, Wonder Woman totally rocks those shorts and boots, Batman broodiness is super rock and roll and I will never deny the appeal of Chris Evans as Captain America, but neither appealed to me in thinking of a super Hero costume. In Mexico, We have El Chapulin Colorado, a parody of superhero shows, and I was determined to run dressed as him for the Hero run. Lucky for me, Trick of Treat weekend was the same as the Hero run, and The Art In Motion Fitness Halloween Party was that Sunday as well….. I got a lot of mileage of the $18 costume!!

This year, I was inspired and have wanted to do more runs in costume, just because it gets me thinking of costumes, working on them and adding to the fun of the run.

First run this year was the Irish Jig Jog Run, with a costume contest. I wanted to dress up, but didn’t want to be offensive to the Irish culture. I asked my sister to make me a sparkly green skirt, which she agreed and I loved it! I wore green and a green tiara. But it was raining, the tiara melted, my green shirt was hidden under my sweater and rain coat, and there were other many more creative runners with costumes that were way cooler. A group of three women were wearing head to toe green, with rainbow tutus, beads, shamrock glasses, face tattoos… and naturally they won. I won 1^st place for my age group, but lost the costume… so still won!

Then we had the Bunny Palooza in Bethany Beach, which was not a costume contest, but I wore my bunny ears, and a pastel pink shirt. It was awesome! But it was way more awesome to run by the beach. Great memories of that run!

For our annual Kennett Run, I had come up with the idea to wear a Mexican inspired skirt, with ribbons and lace. My sisters agreed they would wear one too, I got the fabric, we planned, we talked and weeks prior, my sisters backed out of running with the skirts. I made a sugar skull tank top, it really turned out great! My sister put my skirt together the night before, it was perfect! I also made a flower headband. This is one of my favorite running outfits. I felt like a running queen!

 

For the 5K on the 4^th, there was going to be another costume contest, and I wanted to win it. But I also wanted to be respectful of the flag… I went and got more stuff than before, made my own flag tutu (I’m not a big fan of running in tutus), even painted the stars on myself, got a fireworks headband, and star sunglasses. I wanted to wear glitter tattoos of stars, but it was raining and I saw no point on trying to do the stars, thinking they would fall off with the water. I lost the costume contest… AGAIN! But got my best PR to date! So again, in my mind, I won! The winner wore flag leggings, a frilly tank top, stars necklace and beads, very festive!

This weekend, I’m running in costume again. I have thought about this one long and hard, and I’m excited to see my creation. The Camp Hill Library is having a Dress as Your Favorite Hero Run, I love that library! I did this run last year, and it was very emotional for me! I love Fredricksen Library because it’s a very big library, awesome selections, and perfect location. It was emotional because since my divorce, I have been heavily into reading and listening to books, and this library had provided a ton of them. Anyway, I could spend a long time talking about how awesome the library is…. My choice for my Hero is Selena Quintanilla. The reasons why she is my hero are that she was a revolutionary in her musical genre in the early 1990s, she stayed true to herself, she didn’t give up on her dreams, and she worked hard to achieve her goals. I have been thinking of this costume for a long time, and just now got around to getting supplies for it. I have 4 days to finish it… and can’t wait for it! If the costume turns out the way I’m hoping, this will be my Hero Run costume in November.

Wow! I really love my costume runs! Anyway, I have come up with a formula for running in costumes, rules if you must:

1.      Keep the skirts short and well fitted around the waist.  Learned this from the Irish Jig Jog, the skirt was not tight enough and the weight of the water kept sliding it down.

2.      Head gear is not always conductive for running. Melted crown, lost bunny hears, soaked 4^th of july headband.

3.      Festive Sunglasses – they serve dual purposes, festive and protect from the sun.

4.      Still on the fence on tutus. I don’t have the body for a tutu, they look awesome on other people, and I always get jealous looking at them.

5.      Keep it festive, keep it creative, if winning is the plan, go all out, or lose the contest.

 

My sister is an amazing seamstress and without her help, half of this outfits would not have been possible. Thank you awesome Sister!!!