Panaca Elementary Puts on Color Run

Color is a wonderful thing, but rarely is it used to help kids get exercise. However, on Aug. 22, Panaca Elementary did just that by introducing a color run.

While color runs are commonplace these days, used to promote everything from fitness to cancer research, this one was just an entertaining way for kids to get outside and play.

Originally, this run was planned for the end of the previous year, but a sudden freakish snowfall in May postponed that, to everyone’s chagrin. While hopes may have been dashed temporarily, Pete Peterson, the principal at Panaca Elementary, was more than willing to put on the event, so he saved the supplies until weather permitted it. Thankfully, that day came during the second week of school, and as children headed off down the mile-long track that twisted and turned through the roads of Panaca, they were met with the same kind of enthusiasm they had hoped to experience a few months earlier.

A color run gets its name from the fact that as participants make their way along the route, they’re peppered with chalk powder of various colors, leaving them stained in a rainbow pattern by the end of the event. Panaca was not exempt from this kind of treatment, as groups of people found themselves falling victim to the chalky attacks of those helping with the run. Participants finished the race covered in a variety of colors, laughing and enjoying themselves fully. As they finished, snacks and water were provided. Water was also provided along the path due to the high temperatures that day.

All in all, everyone who attended this event, from the kids to the parents, seemed to walk away happy and a lot more colorful.