LIVING IN COLOR

“Let me, O let me bathe my soul in colors; let me swallow the sunset and drink the rainbow― Kahlil Gibran.” 

The Plascon Color run is one of the events I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time now. The annual Holi Festival celebrated in India has been on my bucket list for the longest and I was quite eager to participate in the Color Run this year. One other thing I love about the color run is that all proceeds from the run are donated to a children’s home in Kibera. I was totally sold!

My girl Sev and I paid for our tickets as soon as they were available; they sold for KES 1500 ($15). It was all systems go after which we were called in to pick up our t-shirts in readiness for the big day.

On the actual day, we were up early to get to the flag-off point at Uhuru Gardens and arrived just in time to pick our wrist bands and powder paint. There wasn’t much traffic and with enough entry points, so the crowds were able to easily access the gardens. The event emcees were Jalang’o and Oga Obinna who did a terrific job keeping us hyped and, on our feet, the entire time. There were Zumba instructors who had us dancing for an hour. As we danced, people were walking around sprinkling the color paint on those who did not seem to have enough on them. The most magical part for me was when one of the emcees got everyone to throw the paint into the sky and it came down in a rainbow of so many colors. It was so preeety!

We were soon off to the 5 km run (walk for those of us who were in no hurry) and it was heartwarming to see all the families that came out to have fun and bond; that got me in the feels. It took us 20 minutes to go around the whole track and we had plenty of time to take pictures. We then headed back to the assembly point to find DJ Protégé on the decks playing all kinds of music. Guys went bananas!! There were plenty of food stalls around, but we chose to grab some hot chocolate from Java and something to nibble on from one other stall before we headed home at about one o’clock.

The color run is one of a kind and I encourage you to go, even if it’s just once. The organizers also mentioned they would hold similar events around the country, so be on the lookout! I’m excited about this because I have a chance to take as many trips to whatever town they will be at; which means R-O-A-D-T-R-I-P-S!! If you are interested in attending these events check out their Facebook and Instagram pages here and here.

Au revoir mon ami,

Haziz.