Tag Archives: halloween

running in costume

I LOVE to dress up for Halloween. These days, it’s usually for a fun run rather than a party or event. But I like to be creative … often times that hinders the actual ability to run.

I’ve written about my love of costumes before, but it’s been awhile. I’ve missed sharing quite a few here, so let me go back a few years:

2011 -- this was intended to be a potted plant, but everyone called me a Christmas tree. This may come back in the future, fully decorated ...
2011 — this was intended to be a potted plant, but everyone called me a Christmas tree. This may come back in the future, fully decorated …
2012 -- I re-purposed Mr. Potato Head into a baked potato. I thought it was brilliant, but not everybody figured it out!
2012 — I re-purposed my previous Mr. Potato Head costume into a baked potato. I thought it was brilliant, but not everybody figured it out!
2013 - XRay, complete with glow-in-the-dark skeleton. Um, that didn't glow all that well. But good enough to place in a costume contest!
2013 – XRay, complete with glow-in-the-dark skeleton. Um, that didn’t glow all that well. But good enough to place in a costume contest!

The tree was worst for mobility, but I tried to top it this year:
LColvin2014

Though, I actually made it farther in the fun run this year than I did the tree year … if you call a 50+-minute 5K (that I cut short) “running,” LOL!

This year’s costume cost $2  — for blue paint from the “oops” shelf at Home Depot. Everything else was created out of things I already had at home. Just a little time, but I obviously have a lot of fun with this.

Do you love dressing up as much as I do? What’s your favorite costume?

running in costume

For the past five years, dressing up for a Halloween 5K has become a tradition. I’ve become known for making elaborate but not necessarily running-friendly costumes.

Halloween 2008 Wicked Witch of the East! Is your refrigerator running?

But this year, I’m not sure if I’ll be dressing up.

The company that sponsors that Halloween race has moved their offices, and I heard they didn’t get race permits in time for their new location. That race won’t be happening this year.

I will still be running on Halloween, but I’m not willing to sacrifice my comfort like I have for those shorter races. I’ll be covering 26.2 miles instead of 3.1 in the Marine Corps Marathon that day!

And since I’m running in support of a charity, I should wear a Rally Foundation shirt, anyway. It’ll be a lot more comfortable that way.

Today at work I ran into one of the women who helps organize the annual Halloween party. She asked if I was dressing up this year, and I told her I might not. She was disappointed, and said she always looked forward to my costumes.

Hmm … I can’t let my coworkers down, can I?

happy halloween!

It seems I really enjoy Halloween.

I got to add to my collection of costumes this year, running my favorite Halloween 5K on Sunday. Since I’ve had two years of award-winning costumes, I needed something good. And when I saw Mir’s son’s idea, I simply had to make it happen!

Wicked Witch of the East!

Before the race, people kept asking if I was going to run in that. Yup! And it actually went pretty well!

  • Mile 1: 9:15
  • Mile 2: 9:10
  • Mile 3: 8:52

I tracked the course a little short — my third mile beeped just before I crossed the finish line. Clock time: 27:25.

Even though I tracked at only 3.01, I’m pretty sure the course was the same as in the past. As Mr Potato Head, I ran the same race in 28:16 (Garmin said 3.02). As a refrigerator (a more-comparable costume!), I couldn’t find my official result, but my Garmin time was 29:00 for 3.07.

I’m pretty happy with my race! As I was headed towards the bagel table, I heard another woman talking to a friend, remaking how the “lady in the house” beat her. A friend just loudly exclaimed, “Aw, man!” as I passed her. I taunted back, “You can’t let a house beat you!”

But she didn’t catch up.

Wicked Witch of the East!

Wicked Witch of the East!

I was able to wear my costume to work to our party last Friday too, and won the costume contest. At the race, I came in second. Yay!

I wonder what I should be next year?

halloween through the years

As far as I can remember, I never had a store-bought Halloween costume as a kid.

The closest thing was a bat hood/cape that my mom sewed out of a printed fabric designed for that purpose. I think it glowed in the dark. (Our photo was printed in a local paper. I cropped out my brother and a couple friends.)

One of my favorites was Ms. Pac-Man in 1982. I won a trophy at a costume contest with this one. I tried to create it a few years ago but it wasn’t the same. I’m no longer smaller than a piece of poster board!

My love of creating my own costumes started senior year in college. I decided I would be Supergirl. All I had at the start was a pair of blue tights.

I found a long-sleeve shirt that matched the tights at a thrift shop. I also found a cheap pair of boots there, which I spray painted red. A cut-off pair of red leggings, some fabric for a cape, and the lucky find of printed Superman fabric at Wal-Mart was all it took.

Supergirl returned for a post-college Halloween party, and ran a 5K years later — with the boots traded for red fabric assembled around my running shoes.

Another great costume — that I can’t find any photos of! — was a Gypsy fortune-teller booth. I wore a painted box that I lined with white battery-powered Christmas lights. I wore a scarves, a flowing skirt and Gypsy-inspired top. I had a crystal ball and handed out fortunes.

For Halloween of 2003, I became Space Ghost.

White pajama pants and a white turtleneck were the base. The cape had been one of the scarves from the Gypsy outfit. Felt, Velcro and old black T-shirts finished off the costume.

I wore Space Ghost to a couple of parties that year. A few years later, it also returned for the Halloween race.

Last year I wound up wearing a box again. This costume was created for the Halloween 5K, but surely will come back again another time.

Is your refrigerator running?

This year for that 5K, I knew I needed a good idea to follow up the refrigerator.

This is what I came up with:

Halloween 2008

I don’t really know how to sew, yet this came out pretty good. The potato is some micro-fiber fabric I found in the sale section of the fabric shop — $5.00 for two yards. It was pretty thin, though. At first I was thinking of backing it with cardboard, until I realized I had enough fabric to double up on both sides.

I cut it in half and made a potato shape. I used spray adhesive to hold batting in place on one side of the fabric, then folded the top half over and sewed it shut.

I figured out where my arm and head holes would be, and attached the two halves. Felt and Velcro made up the rest. Of course I needed interchangeable parts!

The race was on Sunday. I had a good pace, and I won the costume contest. I also wore it to work on Wednesday for our Halloween lunch and costume contest. They said we’d know by Halloween morning, but I’m still waiting for the voting results!

So now that Halloween is over, I think I need to start preparing to defend my title next year.

Any ideas?

is your refrigerator running?

Well, you’d better go catch it!

Ha ha ha …

Is your refrigerator running?

I actually managed to run the 5K around my usual pace, about a 9:30-minute per mile average. Actually, it’s the first 5K that I’ve come in under 30 minutes since after the marathon. And I couldn’t move my arms because I had to hold the box still!

Is your refrigerator running?

Cost of costume: $6.99 to buy Velcro to hold the doors closed and a few hours of work. I won 1st place in the race costume contest — $100 gift card to a nearby restaurant!