By Andrew Carson
Can you train for a 5k in only 4 days? Just last week three bold t-birds decided to run their very first 5k in their entire lives. Having just returned from their winterims abroad, they found themselves waiting for classes to begin and bored to death. Being t-birds, they immediately became stir-crazy and found themselves needing to get out of Glendale. Now, admittedly their overall fitness was not exactly pushed to its limits during the New Years or their winterim vacations. A 5k only 4 days away seemed to be a logical t-bird choice.
On January 21st four tbirds signed up for the 5k Color Run in Tempe, Arizona (the Happiest 5k on Earth ©). Training began in earnest every day for the next 4 days – running laps around t-bird’s campus. The pace was grueling – walk, run, walk, run, walk, walk slower, take a break, drink water. Through hard work, long breaks and good ol’ t-bird perseverance they managed to wake up January 26th.
At 7am in the morning on a Saturday, four t-birds woke up to phreezing phoenix weather (50 degrees) and cold, cold rain. Clearly the city of Phoenix had woken up drunk and forgotten that it was supposed to be a desert. Four 5k runners peaked out their rooms and were dumbfounded at the weather that awaited them outside. Having invested $50 into the 5k Color Run endeavor, they had passed the point of no return.
After a grueling, rainy morning drive down to Tempe, team “Familia de t-bird” was at the starting line. As the music pumped adrenaline, the team forgot the rain and cold – putting their game faces on. With hours of accounting classes and international experiences at their side, t-birds easily took the lead out of the gate. Maintaining the lead through both the red and yellow color stations – t-birds were on fire.
In the end, the team made it into first place (in the: I-just-started-training-for-this-4-days-ago-what-was-I-thinking category). Jumping up and down for joy with red, blue and yellow steaming down their soaked faces. We had run a 5k.
