Color Me Rad 5K Plans to Tie-Dye Runners with Color | Arts & Culture

Columbia runners are prepping to be hit with a tsunami of color on October 20, 2012 as they take on Color Me Rad 5K.  As white-clad participants wind through Colonial Life Arena, they’ll be bombarded with color throughout the course until their face, shirt and body cross the finish line looking like a silkscreened tie-dyed hippie.  Finishers, coated from head to toe in blue, green, pink, purple and yellow, will then toss individual bags of color in the air every fifteen minutes—not to summon rain from heaven—but to create a final explosion of color in celebration of their accomplishment.

As race organizer Scott Crandall explains, “You’ll start off with a shirt as pure and white as your grandpa’s dentures and you’ll wind up looking like a pack of Skittles.” The color dust dowsing each participant is made of FDA approved colored cornstarch, and it washes off in the shower.

The Columbia race is the twenty-eighth stop on Color Me Rad’s nation-wide tour, which was created by four friends who wanted to make colored tears of joy run down the faces of the masses. “We just want to brighten your day, your life…but probably not your teeth,” Crandall said.  “We also hope to get a lot of people involved in fitness who maybe otherwise wouldn’t come out for your typical 5K.  If you make it about fun instead of about shin splints, you’re more likely to want to give running a shot.”

A portion of the proceeds of the race goes to the Happy Wheels, a fantastic charity that provides children in the hospital with new toys and books. “There’s only one thing we like more than throwing color at people, and that’s throwing our support behind great charities. Long after you’ve washed the last bit of color out of your ears, your donations will be making a difference in your community,” Crandall said.

Waves of 1,000 people will take off every five minutes beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, October 20, 2012.  Participants of all ages are welcome to run or walk. Registration is available at colormerad.com.

Color Me Rad™ holds races across the US and Canada in more than 30 cities. For more information on this event and to see additional race locations, visit www.colormerad.comor check out what fans have to share on Facebook at www.facebook.com/colormerad.