Color Run Colors All to Support Special Olympics
By Katie Larkin
Color one, color all! This past Friday, July 12, more than 200 participants were bathed in a rainbow of color and community spirit at Rockaway Track Club’s (RTC) Color Run 5K on the boardwalk. This year, led by RTC’s director and coach, Jim McVeigh, runners and their supporters were colorfully drenched from head to toe in support of Rockaway’s St. Camillus Special Olympics.
Founded in 2011, The Color Run, dubbed by founders as the “Happiest 5K on the Planet,” is an event series and 5K paint race, inspired by the Hindu festival of Holi. Now the largest running series in the world, The Color Run has been experienced by over eight million runners in over 50 countries. Runners start out in plain white t-shirts and, throughout the course of the race at stations along the run, are showered with a hue of vibrantly colored powders.
Previous iterations have been held at Floyd Bennett Field, but this was a first for the Rockaway boardwalk. All proceeds from the run are donated to a special charity or organization of the event planner’s choice with RTC designating Rockaway’s St. Camillus Special Olympics for this year’s event.
The run began with a prayer by Father James Rodriguez, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church and St. Camillus – St. Virgilius, at the Beach 94th Street Amphitheater. Whether one walked the one mile or ran the whole 5k, participants were awarded with medals, live music and beverages.
According to organizers, Color Run has always been about making memories between family and friends, in stark contrast with other races that place winners over losers. All were greeted with applause, cheers, and shoutouts from onlookers as they crossed the finish line.
“Two more blocks, four more blocks…”, chanted Charlie Bender, one of the younger participants at the event. Bender acted as the motivator for fellow racers his age and was in high spirits as he was congratulated by his family. All participants reflected the same attitude as young Bender, with many remarking how fun it was to run or walk as far as they did during the event.
“A lot of people want to support Joe Featherston of Rockaway Special Olympics,” Jim McVeigh said. “Rockaway Special Olympics has been a great community tradition for over 35 years. Everybody’s having a great time.”
Other organizers of Rockaway Track Club’s Color Run included Charmaine McVeigh, Tim Murphy, Tom and Bo Sullivan, Reagan Sullivan, Jackie McGinty, Brandon Glynn, and Michael McManus.
Once all runners made it back to the Amphitheater, it was now time for the coup de grace of the event: “The Color War.” Under the cover of the Amphitheater, all runners had the opportunity to splash one another with powders of all colors. With a dash of blue, a puff of pink and more — everyone was covered like a canvas. Kids threw the powder up in the air like confetti, while others became their very own artist and used a barrage of colors to make mini masterpieces of each other. Rockaway, we have some new shades added to our oceanic landscape. Run the colors!
