Caroline Claffey, Campus Carrier Deputy News Editor
Berry students will color themselves excited at the Color Me Berry trail run on April 13.
Inspired by Atlanta’s Color Run, Head Program Coordinator for A New Year A New You (ANY ANY) Madison Chandler asked Senior Class President Marley Simonis and Student Co-Chair for FirstHand4You (FH4Y) Chad Nash to co-sponsor this event with ANY ANY.
Chandler said she wanted a fun event that would promote physical activity.
“I wanted a fun way to get students outside and exercising,” Chandler said.
Color Me Berry is different from the Berry Half-Marathon and the Mountain Day 5K in that it is untimed and “more of a fun run/health walk,” according to Nash.
Color Me Berry will begin at the start of Viking Trail, wind for five kilometers through campus trails and finish at Morgan and Deerfield, where an after party will take place. At every kilometer of the trail run, there will be a color station that pelts the runners with a different colored powder. While the powder washes off with water, Nash said it can also be made permanent by spraying the T-shirts with vinegar and then ironing them.
Simonis said Color Me Berry will also be the senior class service project. All of its proceeds will benefit Action Ministries Rome, a non-profit organization that works with the financially challenged and homeless in order to try and break them out of poverty by helping them transition into more independent lifestyles.
Simonis said she, Nash and Chandler were inspired by the participation of the Atlanta Color Run and hope Color Me Berry will do the same.
“We hope this event will be successful and raise a significant amount of money to help this organization that does so much for the Floyd community,” Simonis said.
Students interested in volunteering should email Marley Simonis at marley.simonis@vikings.berry.edu. All volunteers will receive a free T-shirt.