Colorful Start to Spring

 With April showers, the Whirlwind of Color 5K started off with a soggy start, but we decided to make our own rainbows April 18 in the City of Jacksonville.
For 2015, the Chamber decided to celebrate the bright future of education in our community, with proceeds benefiting the Gadsden State and Jacksonville State Scholarship Foundations.
With a route beginning and ending at the Jacksonville Community Center, each half mile of the 3.1 mile course was associated with a different color station. Each participant recieve sunglasses and a nice white t-shirt with the race logo.
On the course, from more than 200 yards away you could hear the folks from the YMCA cheering on the runners as they splattered them with the Hot Pink Holi Paint at the first station. Motivational signs with encouragement or laughable sayings lined the course with more color.  "May the Color Be With You!" "You're not slow, just getting your money's worth."
At Kitty Stone Elementary JSU Volleyball Players and volunteers toseed bright orange paint at the participants, and when they rounded the corner to Mountain Street, you could see a cloud of red at the Struts intersection. Thanks to Coca-Cola United, that intersection was also a great stop for powerade or water. Upon the next turn, participants could see the coliseum, not much further to go. At the coliseum intersection, a bright blue showered each participant with a cloud. Then, the sights were set on the Ladiga Trail for the last mile. That stretch was complete with a color station of yellow at the train depot, and a color station of green at the turn back to the community center. Upon reach the finish, volunteers tossed a royal blue paint on each participant and handed them a paint pack for the color fest.
Once all the participants crossed the finish, and a countdown from 10 was completed, everyone tossed clouds of color into the air.With music blaring and smiles from ear to ear, we created our own rainbow. People were covered from head to toe in bright shades of spring.
It was yet another great community event for the whole family to enjoy. With everything from wagons to strollers, to toddlers being carried across the finish line, everyone, runners and walkers, young and old, enjoyed themselves.