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Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Clark Annual Color Run Extra Special this year
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
One of the exciting end of year activities is the Color Run. Students at Clark Elementary gather with white T-shirts and prepare to run “around the block” passing through clouds of powdered chalk. The result is a multicolored shirt and lots of fun. Yes, there are students who attempt to make the round keeping their T-shirt perfectly white.
This year, Sophomore Riley Raines, led the enthusiastic K-5 students on their first lap. Riley is a qualifier for the State 1600 M run. Mr., Burns introducing Riley to the crowd and explained the rules. One important safety feature is the line up. The older students are first. The countdown grade 5, grade 4 down to Kindergarten is important so that all can participate without worry.
The run began on the track. Riley led down the back stretch and out onto the parking lot. The route turned left down Walnut Street and turned the corner at the Childcare corner. Running around the block doesn’t quite describe the course. The “blocks” are quite long. Turning the corner the group runs to Elm Street and turns north. There are colors at each corner. The New London police and the SRO have the warning lights on their cars at each corner to control traffic. When Wilson Street is reached the students run west in front of the high school. Cheers follow them all the way.
The weather cooperated. It was cool but no rain. The biggest problem was for the volunteers in charge of spreading the chalk. The volunteers had some difficulty choosing where to stand. The first few cups of powder often put more chalk on the volunteers than the runners. Volunteers are also careful to keep the chalk out of the faces and noses of the runners. This year that was quite a challenge as the wind had a mind of its own and created clouds.
The original Color Run was a 5K race. In most communities, Color Runs are fundraising events. According to some sources, color runs now involve 7 million runners in over 1,000 events across the world. New London’s Color Run is a for fun, energy filled event celebrating the end of school and the beginning of an active summer for all.
