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Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Purple, Blue, Red and Yellow Happiness
New London’s Color Run was held Wednesday May 29. This event has become a favorite at Clark Elementary and it grows each year. The original purpose of the Color Run was to promote healthiness and happiness by bringing the community together. Paraphrasing the original producer, Travis Snyder, this run was to be the “Happiest event on the Planet.”
Parents, community members and New London staff volunteer to help scatter color over the runners. Some run the “block” with their children.
Wearing white T-shirts, everyone began in the school block in front of the Childcare Center. Purple is the first color scattered. Running or walking eastward along Adams Street the crowd turned north on Elm. Blue is the color scattered at Elm and Adams. Officer Sines parked at the junction of Elm and Cleveland making sure all were safe. At Jack Wilson Drive and Elm, red is vigorously dispensed. Passing by the front of the MS/HS campus, the group is deciding how to approach the last corner on Wilson and Walnut. Yellow will highlight the T-shirts at this corner. The fun continued until it was time to return to school and get ready to load school buses. Many of the students ran around the block three or four times, getting more colorful each round.
The original run occurred in Phoenix, Arizona in 2011 with 6,000 runners. The next year there were over 50 cities and 600,000 participants in North America. Many charities have benefited from the money raised by the Color Runs. In New London, this end of school run remains a time of joy and recognition of a school year well done.
