City says cleanup following Color Run goes well

Cleanup after the weekend’s Color Run in Lawrence went well, city officials reported on Monday. The run included several thousand participants.

Mark Thiel, the city’s assistant director of public works, said he recently traveled many of the Color Run routes and found no residue from the unique event, which sprays runners with a mixture of corn starch and food coloring.

Thiel said the city provided a supervisor to ensure the cleanup was done to city standards, but otherwise the work was done by crews hired by the promoters of the event. Thiel said the private crews even had their own street-sweeping equipment.

City officials expressed some concerns about cleanup following the 2012 event. But Thiel said the city and the organizers of the for-profit event have reached new agreements on how cleanup shall take place, including that the city is reimbursed by the promoters for any city expenses used to clean up after the event.