CLOVERDALE — During an event here at month's end, people will pay $50 each to be blasted with rainbow-hued cornstarch along a five-kilometre route, winding through Cloverdale Fairgrounds and the adjacent, freshly christened Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre.
To date, more than 5,000 runners and walkers are registered for the Surrey edition of Color Me Rad, to be held here for the first time on Saturday, May 31.
It's one of more than 100 similar events staged around the world by a Utah-based company that held its first Color Me Rad 5K in April 2012. Competing events, including The Color Run, were also launched that same year.
The so-called "colour run" is billed as a convergence of fun and fitness.
"We're just over two years into this, and the growth has been phenomenal," said Gretchen Willard, Color Me Rad's PR director, noting the 2.4 million followers on its Facebook page.
It's a for-profit event organized by the company, with a percentage of dollars given to the charitable organization that provides volunteers to help on race day. In Surrey's case, the designated charity is Keep A Breast Canada.
"The amount they receive depends on the size of the event and also their involvement in it," Willard said, "but typically our charity partners receive anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000."
Critics of "colour runs" suggest these amounts pale in comparison to the large sums of money made by event organizers at each 5K site.
Willard emphasized the "great relationships" Color Me Rad has with its charity partners.
"It's a great way for them to be out in the community, to raise awareness of their organization and what they're doing, and also raise funds from the race," she said. "Our charity partners tell us that they're appreciative to be part of a no-risk event for them, that they don't take on liability or (financial) risk in being part of the event, so we've found it to be a really positive partnership."
Colour runs are loosely based on Holi, the Hindu festival of colours.
At Color Me Rad, volunteers form colourbombing crews at five stations, each set up with an inflatable arch painted in similar colour.
"We have one station with a liquid colour, and that makes all the colour stick and be more vibrant," Willard explained. "So by the time participants are done, they'll be looking great. It does wash out, but you'll look great for your before-and-after pictures."
The spirit of Color Me Rad events, she noted, is about people letting loose, having fun and not taking things too seriously.
"It creates such solid memories for people, which I think is the appeal," Willard said. "A lot of our runners, something like 50 per cent, are doing their very first 5K run at Color Me Rad, and because we're not competitive, it's all about the fun side - it doesn't matter how fast or slow you are. I think that really brings people out to the event, and then when they realize they can do the distance, that they can do the 5K, they get into running and do other events, too. We've had a lot of people tell us that."
For the event in Cloverdale, two of the three "wave" times are sold out, with start times of 10 a.m., 10:20 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. "We like to go to cities where people want to experience something different and new," Willard said. "As people, we spend time so much time going to school and work, so it's nice to do something different on the weekend, something outside of the box like this, so that's our goal. We want people to have fun with fitness.
"It's safe to say this event will be back (in Surrey)," she added, "because, you know, it's going to be a great turnout and it looks like the venue will be a good one. It's our third time in Vancouver, so it looks like we'd want to come back to Surrey, too."
tzillich@thenownewspaper.com