Color Run / LJWorld.com

Hundreds of runners turned out to get covered in colored corn starch during the Color Run Saturday in Lawrence.

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A woman in a wedding gown poses for a photograph before participating in the Color Run Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Participants race out from the starting line in the Color Run, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

A runner attempts to put on a pair of Color Run shorts while participating in the Color Run in Lawrence Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Meghan Frederick

A color zone volunteer waves to passing runners participanting in the Color Run in Lawrence Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Meghan Frederick

Runners participate in the Color Run in Lawrence Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Rosie Alvelais

Volunteers hit runners with colored corn starch as they pass through a color zone during the popular Color Run in Lawrence, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Runners participate in the Color Run in Lawrence Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Meghan Frederick

A runner picks up his speed as a gauntlet of volunteers spray him with orange colored corn starch during the popular Color Run in Lawrence, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Mike Applegate, Junction City, gets covered in orange-colored corn starch as he heads for the finish line during Color Run. Applegate was the first runner to cross the finish line.

Photo by Mike Yoder

People participate in the Color Run in Lawrence Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Meghan Frederick

A runner enters a color zone during the popular Color Run in Lawrence, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

People participate in the Color Run in Lawrence Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Rosie Alvelais

Orange-colored corn starch drifts through the air and toward houses as runners pass through a color zone near 11th and Kentucky St. during the popular Color Run in Lawrence, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Runners participate in the Color Run in Lawrence Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Meghan Frederick

Runners participate in the Color Run in Lawrence Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Rosie Alvelais

At the conclusion of the Color Run, a group of runners form a Congo line in Watson Park, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Runners participate in the Color Run in Lawrence Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Rosie Alvelais

Participants in the Color Run toss color packets on themselves at the conclusion of the event in Watson Park, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Participants in the Color Run toss color packets on themselves at the conclusion of the event in Watson Park, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Participants in the Color Run toss color packets on themselves at the conclusion of the event in Watson Park, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Participants in the Color Run toss color packets on themselves at the conclusion of the event in Watson Park, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Participants in the Color Run toss color packets on themselves at the conclusion of the event in Watson Park, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Participants in the Color Run toss color packets on themselves at the conclusion of the event in Watson Park, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Runners participate in the popular Color Run in Lawrence, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

MacKenzie Weller, 8, Clay Center, gives a thumbs up to her family after participating in the popular Color Run in Lawrence, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Participants in the Color Run toss color packets on themselves at the conclusion of the event in Watson Park, Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Two women complete the Color Run in Lawrence Saturday, Sept. 14.

Photo by Rosie Alvelais

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Just be aware that this company's activity and run today is by a for-profit company run on a for-profit basis. The donation to the local not-for-profit (Van-Go) is just a token. Out of the $200,000 to $250,000 collected today from participants, I am guessing that that Van-Go received less than $15,000 or less than 5%.

If you want to run around and have people shoot you with colored corn-starch and pay them $40, that is just fine. Just don't think you are contributing anything meaningful to the local charity. It is all about profit to an external company.

1southernjayhawk 3 years ago

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

troll 3 years ago

I've always wondered why they ask for volunteers to help with the event, it would seem that they should make more than enough money to pay people.

Of course, you can always run in the event without registering or paying. Its not like they have any way of verifying if every runner has paid. They call that "running bandit" and its usually considered bad etiquette among runners, but I would say asking for free labor for an event bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit is pretty bad etiquette as well.

jhawk0097 3 years ago

From the Color Run website:

"In 2012, The Color Run raised more than $600,000 for local and national charities. In 2013, we plan to donate at least $1 million!"

"Now the single largest event series in the nation, The Color Run is exploding since our debut event in January of 2012 and will grow from over 50 events and 600,000 participants in 2012, to over 100 events and over a million participants in 2013."

That's one dollar per participant. Assuming everyone is paying a $40 entrance fee, a whopping 2.5% is going to charity.

It's obnoxious that a for-profit company solicits volunteers and promotes charities largely to help them make money for themselves.

Garth Atchison 3 years ago

How much is the city in the hole for this event? The organizers should pay for every labor hour that police and street workers spend on this fun activity. Or the runners could pay an extra amount to participate. Either way works for me.

Matt Schwartz 3 years ago

The organizer/color run already did.

webmocker 3 years ago

While the complaint office is open, the organizers should also pay for the time and fuel wasted by unsuspecting people who tried to escape downtown in their cars and ended up in gridlock.

Brandon Graham 3 years ago

My name is Brandon Graham. I own two businesses downtown (Jefferson's and Papa Keno's) and I see both sides of the feedback here. We see benefit to our restaurants when this type of event happens to some degree. We also receive feedback, and see personally, that it hurts us to some degree because of the traffic challenges and road closings.

I understand where some of you are coming from with the feelings that the organization is using a charity claim to drive participation and profitiablity. At the end of the day, they are accountable for their claims by the consumer public and if they are not good folks, people will not run in their events.

They are however, making some kind of contribution to a local charity, and any amount is better than none. If they reached out to me and other business owners downtown to help raise a more substantial amount of money for something that was universal in nature to our community, I think they could position themselves better by doing that.

That being said, any event of any kind that brings focus to our city and in particular, our downtown is tough to not get behind. At least they are doing it here and not in Columbia!! I love the passion of our residents for each side of every issue and that's part of what makes this city so great. This is no different...maybe we can all work together to make the event even more locally tailored and get the organization to really make a big impact with an organization that needs assistance.

I don't know the ins and outs of the public policy component but I would guess that we have some of that built into the "cost of doing business" in the city. I can't speak to that for sure, so if there were an incremental expense to the city that is incurred and the organization that is making money off this event causes that by holding then run, then it's probably fair that they carry some of that freight.

I like having events like this in our beautiful downtown...it gets more and more people to see what we have to offer and tell other people. This is one of the most significant parts of this city's makeup and I couldn't be any more proud to be a part of itl.

overthemoon 3 years ago

Spelling should be pretty basic editing practice....

Trumbull 3 years ago

I suppose it is a good event. Breathing in corn starch dust in the middle of a drought just does not seem to be a good idea though. Hope nobody gets emphysema : ) Maybe they should think about throwing dyed water or something.

julstopeka 3 years ago

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong.html

Beth Ennis 3 years ago

I have run in this event 2 years in a row. I'm a runner who enjoys doing something fun once in a while. This run is cheap compared to a lot of other runs where more money gets donated. I have paid $185 for a run in November. For me, it is about both running and having fun. It's a plus that some money is going to go towards a local charity, but even if this run was just for profit and no money going to charity, I would still do it. I guess if you aren't a runner, you wouldn't understand that, but it made my normal Sat morning run a lot more fun and I got to spend some time running with a friend I don't get to run with except at races. For me it was a win-win.