Confession time: I am both a huge Halloween nerd, and a massive Disney fan. For running, this means that it was only a matter of time before I ran a race in costume.
I've been looking for a good costume race (and trying to convince hubby to run it with me) for a long time. We actually have several costumed Half Marathons near us, but I wasn't ready to commit to that many miles in costume just yet. And then a wonderful thing happened: one of those Half Marathons added a 5K! I signed up myself and my two kids, and even convinced hubby to slum it with us in the 5K instead of doing the half. So without further ado, a few things we discovered about running in costumes:
DO: Work with what you have.
The best running costumes use running gear. No surprise, right? There is a reason we run in tech fabric and why we choose the the styles and cuts of running gear that we do. We choose our running gear according to what we're most comfortable running in. So, if you can work running gear that you already have into your costume - awesome!
Case in point: Hubby ran as Zorro.
He wore black running tights and a black running shirt that he already had. The cape is one we've had for years and was in our costume box. The hat was a re-use from a past pirate costume. The only new thing that we got was the fabric for the mask which we literally bought on the way to the race, and I cut eye holes while he drove!
DON'T: Use big accessories.
Think about it: you don't want to have to carry extra crap. Another thought though - there are usually A LOT of runners on the course, so not only do you not want to carry this stuff, but if its big, you have to worry about not hitting/running into other runners with it.
Example: fairy wings.
As you can see, her wings expanded way, way out past her shoulders. This became a pain for her in a number of ways. First, at the race start, everyone within 10 feet of her got smacked, poked, whacked, or stabbed with fairy wings. Then, nearly everyone she passed on the course got hit too. Also, fairy wings move. I know, shocker. Her wings spent much more time folded up and shifted down so that they were on her sideways. By the end she was so annoyed, that she took them off and carried them.
If you're going to do wings, a couple of pointers: 1) keep it small - the smaller they are, the less they'll move around. 2) consider immobilizing them - maybe use safety pins to attach to the back of your shirt instead of just relying on the shoulder straps. 3) take them for a test run - yes you will look like a crazy person running around your local park wearing wings, but if they annoy you after 100 yards, you definitely don't want to wear them in a distance race.
DO: Be careful of too many layers.
Ok, so this one was my own fault. I was trying to go with my first point about wearing running gear if possible. I was going as Lady Zorro, so I was wearing a black knee-length skirt with a red stretchy corset and fishnets. That sounded like it would be awful to run in, so I wore some knee-length running shorts and a tank top underneath. Now, due to the nature of how a corset is worn over a skirt, that means that around my mid-section, I had undies, fishnets, running shorts, a wool skirt, and a corset. That's FIVE layers!! That wound up being hot, constricting, and generally uncomfortable.
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| As hot as my middle got, I'm surprised that my race bib didn't melt off by the end... |
DON'T: Assume that a mask will be 'fine'
We had mixed results with the masks. Mine was TORTURE. I made it a little over a mile before I took it off. It was hot and made me sweaty way earlier than any other part of me got sweaty (including the parts that were wearing 5 layers!). To make matters worse, nothing stays exactly in place when you're running, so the mask kept riding up and bothering my eyes. Hubby, on the other hand, had no such issues. We made his mask to mirror the original Zorro mask, so it covered his whole head. He still wore it for the whole race with no complaints. To be fair, we were running WAY under his pace, so he never really got hot or sweaty.
Do: Be make small changes to make some things more running-friendly
We made minor modifications to several things to make them more running friendly. For hubby's costume, the cape was one of the cheap Halloween capes that ties at the neck. You can imagine that running along with that flapping behind you and the ties pulling on your throat would get old fast. So we safety-pinned the ties to his shirt. Similarly, my son dressed as Bill Nye the Science Guy, who famously wears a bow-tie. We had a bow-tie in the costume box, but it was one with an elastic band to wear around the neck. Again, we just safety-pinned it to his shirt. Small modifications, but they make a big difference!
We're running another costumed race this weekend, so I'll come back and update with any new lessons learned. Do you have any tips? I'd love to know your tricks!
