Fifth edition of EL run a 2-ton blast of colour fun

More than 5 000 enter Colour My Run, benefiting Reach for a Dream

TWO tons of coloured powder imported from India was dumped on more than 5 000 delighted runners at the fifth Jawitz Colour My Run fun run held in East London on Saturday.

Runners in all shapes, ages and sizes – some clad in tutus, wigs and Mickey Mouse ears and others in prams and wheelchairs – entered the spirit of the zany circular 5km run which started at Old Selbornians Club before snaking through the streets of Bunkers Hill and Stirling.

Jawitz Properties co-owner Cheryl Petzer said the event had become East London’s biggest 5km fun run.

“At our first one, we had 1 500 entrants and now we have more than 5 000. I think it’s so popular because it is such good family fun and it’s not a fitness thing or a race. You want to take your time because it’s such fun.”

Petzer said five colour stations situated 1km apart along the route, blasted runners with purple, red, yellow, blue and pink powder.

“This year we also had a new jig and jive station where runners could stop for a dance.”

She said Jawitz Properties had come up with the idea of the run because the city was not included in the popular colour runs held in other South African cities.

“We decided to bring some colour to East London and the public has responded so well.”

Petzer said R10 from every entry fee was donated to Reach for a Dream, which fulfils the wishes of children aged between three and 18 who have been diagnosed with a lifethreatening illness.

“This is such a joyful day and because Reach for a Dream also brings joy, we thought it was a great charity to support.”

Reach for a Dream East London branch manager Lwanele Mpeta said the organisation received R45 000 from the event last year and was hoping for even more this year.

She said the NPO would be fulfilling the dreams of five children as a direct result of the Colour My Fun Run. Wishes include a shopping spree for warm clothes by a threeyearwith bilateral retinoblastoma (eye cancer) and a 15-year-old with Duchennes muscular dystrophy who dreams of owning a laptop on which she can do her homework and communicate with friends.

For Nahoon resident Shaun Miller the Colour My Run was an opportunity to spend time with his eightyearson Michael. “It was a nice dad-and-son thing.” Coated in yellow and pink powder, Dale College schoolboy Okuhle Ngcakani, 15, said he had come all the way from King William’s Town to participate.

Clad in a colour-streaked tutu, Lilyfontein School pupil Nicole King, 15, said she had taken part in all five Colour My Runs.

School friend, Andie Brits, 15, said: “The run was really cool and I enjoyed the music. I also felt safe because there were police on duty.”

Sharon Eldridge said friends had pushed her 24-year-old son Dale’s wheelchair through his fourth Colour My Run after he sustained a traumatic brain injury in a motorbike accident in 2013.

“Dale has pink said. — hair today,” she