Halloween 5k

Yesterday I ran my first race in costume :)

Since it was a Halloween race and costumes were encouraged, I figured, why not?

It snowed Friday night so before we went to bed we dug out our snow gear so we'd be nice and toasty. I woke up Saturday morning and it was raining (and all the snow was melted). I knew the race was going to be cold and miserable and I almost rolled over and went back to sleep.

Instead, I got up and got dressed (and woke up Mr M and LMS too) and we headed out.

I'm glad we did, since it was a fast race- the fastest 5k I've run in years!

1st mile was just under 10 minutes (fastest mile I've done in quite awhile)

2nd mile was about 10 and a half minutes

3rd mile was just under 12 minutes (I had to stop and walk twice-my endurance isn't quite what it should be yet and my lungs were not liking the cold)

I think my finish time was 32:28, which I'm very happy about :)

Warning: some crappy pictures ahead

Me running to the finish line. It wasn't really that dark- Mr M was having problems with the camera settings. 

But it's the only pic of my costume in action :)

 LMS escorting me through the finish chute.

Me, wet and cold, but happy to be finished.

It was a nice course through a gated community with some good hills that I didn't have too many problems with since I've been pushing LMS up and down the hills in our area in the jogger. It rained the whole race, so I got soaking wet (which the cotton shirt and skirt just sucked up) and my glasses were covered with raindrops which did make it a bit difficult for me to see where I was going. There weren't a lot of runners- only about a hundred- and it was nice to not have to jostle with lots of people. I even started pretty close to the starting line! Despite the cold and rain, it was a fun race :)

My Costume

When I decided to wear a costume in the race, I decided it needed to be simple so I could run in it, but still fun and unique.

I remembered the awesome tree costume my mom made when I was in 3rd or 4th grade- out of paperbags. We'd seen the idea in a magazine, and she copied it and it looked great, though it was hard to sit down in :)

 I realized I could make something similar, but since I would use fabric, it would be a lot easier to move in.

I bought a lightweight, long sleeve cheap-o brown shirt at wallyworld, and another brown shirt in as large a size as I could find.

I looked through the silhouette library, thinking I'd use a simple oval leaf shape. Then I found oak leaves and acorns. I knew I had to go that direction, even though it would be more work :)

I used the Silhouette to cut out three different leaves and an acorn out of cardstock. I used them to trace designs on the felt I'd bought at Joanns (on sale for half off!), then started cutting- about 50 or 60 leaves and a couple dozen acorns. 

 Little Miss Sunshine helped cut out a couple of leaves.

I cut the green leaves, LMS cut out the yellow one :)
(the leaves are on the farmhouse table I built- the top had to be stripped, but I hadn't sanded it yet- but that's a story for another post)

I used variegated green/gray cotton yarn to sew the leaves to the sleeve hems and neckline and add a little bit of detail to the leaves (LMS insisted that they needed lines, and they do look better with them).

I also cut out an owl shape from cardstock with the silhouette and traced it onto felt. I was going to sew the pieces together, but I ran out of time so I used an owl I cut from a piece of fleece.

I cut off the top part (from the armpits) of the large brown shirt, then made a simple casing and added elastic, giving me a simple brown skirt. I like running in skirts, so I went with a skirt instead of pants. I ended up wearing it over my skirt/capri set from Athleta (love it) so I didn't have to worry about what the brown skirt did or didn't do.

I used the sleeves to make ankle cuffs that I sewed 'fallen leaves' to (another thing LMS insisted was necessary, also a good idea).

I used some of the cut-off shirt to make a headband and I sewed leaves and acorns to it.

I was looking online for costume ideas and saw something similar for kids, though they had brown sweat pants and a stuffed squirrel in a pocket (and they used boring oval green leaves).

The Results

Overall the costume worked well- I was able to run in it without any technical difficulties, though there are a few things I'll change for next year (I'm not going to make another running costume, though I might use the costume I wear at the Disney half in January).

** shorter leaves around the ankles- they dragged a bit on the ground

** different brown Tshirt for the top- I thought the lightweight fabric would be ideal for running in, but I didn't like the low neckline and it stretched out weird after just one wearing (getting wet didn't help, either)- I'll use a regular crew neck t for the top when I re-do it.

** I may not put the owl back on- the fleece owl worked, but I'm not sure I like the overall effect. Maybe the felt owl will look better, or maybe I'll do a squirrel. It's hard to get a 3D applique on a t shirt, though, so I may just leave it off.

Do you have any ideas for running costumes?