Run Happy

As seen in Thread Magazine:

Run Happy
By McKenzie Powell

[dropcap]E[/dropcap]xceptionally blissful individuals, from college students to little tikes with their mothers and fathers, celebrated the conclusion of the 5k with the brightest of smiles on their faces. All this, despite their aching muscles, sweat-soaked faces and, most obviously, being plastered in a montage of bright colors.

It’s hard not to sport a smile as a DJ blasts upbeat music from a stage and a large crowd, all in white t-shirts now stained with yellow, pink, blue and green, dance and rejoice in tutus and delightful outfits. There is only one place in Athens where one could possibly witness such a sight: at the end of the “Happiest 5k on the Planet” – the Color Run.

On Sunday Nov. 12, the Color Run made an undeniably vibrant appearance in Athens, Ohio. The charity-driven race, created in 2012, inspires runners and walkers to dress in all white clothing – though some take this as an initiative to dress in even more creative outfits – before plastering them in a different color for each kilometer marker they pass. At one site in particular, runners ran through a bubble station, flooding the contestants in countless amounts of scented bubbles.

According to The Color Run, the four important qualities of the Color Run are healthiness, happiness, individuality, and giving back. The run was created in an effort to not only promote fitness, joy, and distinctiveness, but also to help raise donations for numerous linking charities. The Athens race, which boasted more than 2,500 participants, was able to raise more than $8,000 for the local Habitat for Humanity, while another designated portion went toward The Global Poverty Project.

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