Bubble Run 5K 2014

Bubble Run 2014

March 29, 2014

            This is the second year that the Bubble Run 5K has come to Las Vegas and also the second year that we have participated as a family. We had so much fun last year minus a sick child at the start line, that we knew we would do this again the next year. We were down one family member this year due to Jason being away at the POST Academy for work. I recruited my friend from work this year to participate with us. She's been following along on my big journey from 2013 and I have been nagging her to do a race with me. 

            This year the race was moved a month earlier than last year. I was a little concerned because the Las Vegas weather during March and April are pretty unpredictable here. It was about 70 degrees when we left the house. It was slightly chilly to me (I'm usually always chilly) and then add in the wet bubbles and at some points in the race, it was a bit cold. We were searching for the sun! 

            Since I participated in their inaugural event last year, I had something to compare this year's race to. I did a lot of inaugural races last year and this one was great. I didn't see many areas where a lot of improvement needed to be made. I was a bit disappointed this year. I love packet pick up and expected it to be like last year. Last year at packet pick up, there was a place to take a photo with your bib and they had a bubble area set up where you could jump in and get bubbled up! There was nothing at all like that this year. This was a bit disappointing because I try to make it a point to pose with my bib and some kind of race banner. 

            The shirts! What can I say? Last year's shirts were definitely better. They were gender specific, so it was very nice to have a woman's cut shirt. Since the shirts this year were boring, we decided to try out our crafty hand and add a little fun to our shirts. After spending a few hours watching how to videos, we decided to break out the scissors and give it a shot. I must say, not too bad for first time shirt braiding! 

            The race started promptly and we were in the first corral release. The route was reversed from last year, which was a nice change. We went right past the Pawn Stars shop. We didn't stop this year. The route was in Downtown Vegas, which isn't the greatest area, but there was a great show of Metro Police officers to keep things safe! The three of us were plugging along taking in the scenery and the creative costumes and shirts of the other participants.

            We decided to try and guess each color of bubbles that was coming up next. We started out with white bubbles are the start line. Our first stop was pink, or at least we thought it was pink. The bubble pit was so deep that we were completely underneath bubbles. It's a good thing we all held hands!! When we came out, we looked like we had had a bad spray tan! We were orange from head to toe. 

            Our next stop was blue, my favorite color. I decided to take photos as we got closer to the bubble pit and even inside the bubble pit! All you can see is blue. We were pleasantly surprised with the increased amount of bubbles from last year. I think that they had a bit of trouble getting their bubble equipment working properly, because last year the green bubble pit wasn't working. And what did we find this year? The green bubble pit wasn't working again. Talk about disappointing! We pulled off to the side of the road while we watched at Bubbleteers, tried to get it fixed. We were hoping they would get it fixed while we waited. No such luck! The best they could do for us was spray with the colored water that was supposed to be connected to the bubble machine. It just wasn't the same as walking through 6 foot deep bubbles. 

            Our final bubble pit was yellow! Gillian was having so much fun we decided to go through the pit twice. She ended up going through a couple more times! 

There was just too much fun to be had. All in all, it was a great time. A little chilly and a few disappointments, but a great time with family and friends. My plan was to send in my comments to the race director and hopefully they would take my suggestions and comments into consideration. I do look forward to this race again next year and this time, I hope to have my whole family in attendance this time.