Splash of color marks start of summer
Nicole Tavenner
Kent Luetzen
Olivia Clairmont retaliates by tossing a handful of pink cornstarch at friend Rylie Lindquist.
Kent Luetzen
Ali Hupka is as green as Fiona from Shrek.
Nicole Tavenner
150 pounds of cornstarch drenched body parts at the Ronan Color Run.
Hannah Rowe gets hit with powder.
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RONAN – A splash of color marked the first day of summer vacation for Ronan students. As the final bell rang and kids left the building, they had the opportunity to take part in the second annual Ronan Color Run put on by the high school student council.
“We thought it would be a fun celebration for our kids since it is the last day of school,” Student Council Advisor Bonnie Eva said. “We wanted to do something active that promoted health and since we did this last year, why not make it a tradition?”
The 5k run started at the high school where bins of colored cornstarch, a fire truck with spraying water, and anxious runners were waiting to get doused with an assortment of colors. The student council ordered 150 pounds of cornstarch — equivalent to three large bags of dog food — and colored it with dye. Handfuls of red, pink, blue, green and yellow cornstarch was hurled at runners during different stages of the race.
“Each runner gets a pair of sunglasses and a packet of powder,” Eva said. “The sunglasses help so they don’t get powder in their eyes.”
Although they had shades to cover their eyes, that didn’t stop Eva from frosting kids with color and taking part in a paint fight with the students.
“We are going to use this money for spirit activities, funding for field trips and a water bottle fountain for the school,” Eva said.
The fire truck sounded its alarm and the runners gathered at the starting line, which involved another drench in colored powder before they began the race. One of the runners was Junior Class President Micalann McCrea, who is a competitive athlete during the school year.
“I am just running for fun today,” McCrea said. “It feels good to be able to put this event on and help out the school.”
McCrea ran the race with friends and was excited to see how many people were enjoying the Color Run.
“When I was running I just waited until the next paint station because it was fun getting paint thrown at me,” McCrea said. “It didn’t feel like a long run at all because I wasn’t thinking about the finish line.”
Runners Ali Hupka, Grace Hobbs and River Shoemake stuck together to make sure they were each equally covered in colors.
“It felt like the first day of summer getting all messy with my friends,” Shoemake said. Jennifer Hobbs, mother to Grace, also ran the race.
“Seeing the girls all covered up was my favorite part,” Jennifer Hobbs said. “I think they look like Easter eggs … Ali looks like Fiona from Shrek, she is so green.”
Whether the kids looked like a tie-dye blanket or a DreamWorks Animation character, the kids had a blast, according to Eva.
“Just seeing the kids laugh and have fun is a huge reason why we do this,” Eva said. “It is an exciting day for all of us because it is a kick off to summer.”
