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Color Me Rad run brings color to Missoula race
February 25, 2013
editor@montanaliving.com
Missoula runners will be “color bombed” on May 4th when Color Me Rad, a
nationally recognized 5K run and walk, visits Missoula for the first time
to raise money for the Zootown Arts Community Center (ZACC)
Starting in pure white t-shirts, runners will be bombarded with vibrantly
colored corn starch after each kilometer of the run. “You'll wind up
looking like a pack of skittles,” said Color Me Rad Organizer Andy Miller.
“We are excited to be able to bring Color Me Rad to Missoula and try to
add a little bit more Radness to the city. It will be pretty hard though,
the town is quite Rad as is,” Miller said.
What is more radical than being color bombed is the approximate $8,000 the
run raises for the ZACC, a community center providing art education and
experience to Missoula. Miller met early this year with the ZACC’s
Executive Director Kia Liszak, who, in leanring about the run, asked Color
Me Rad to come to Missoula.
“When I saw the pictures of people laughing and running, joyously drenched
in all of those colors, I thought I would love to be involved with this.
The run itself falls in line perfectly with the ZACC’s mission to provide
accessible life-enriching art experiences to Missoula residents. I thought
the ZACC would be a perfect fit as the charity partner and Missoula would
respond well to this run.
“We feel very lucky to have been selected as the charity partner, and we
will be using the money to provide more art experiences to Missoula
residents throughout the year. The Color Me Rad team has been a joy to
work with, and we are so grateful and looking forward to an amazing race,”
Liszak said.
“When we took the tour of ZACC, we were excited to see everything that is
going on. It is awesome to see how much is offered in terms of art
programs and availability of resources. Kia has been great to work with.
She truly has a passion for what she does and wants to have the most
successful art programs available to the community,” Miller said.
Bringing this popular run to Missoula proved to have its challenges.
Finding a location for the run was the hardest part of all. “Everyone was
willing to hear us out and try to make things work, but it just didn't fit
in their schedule,” Miller said. Locations considered were Big Sky
Brewery, Osprey Baseball field, and the Missoula Equestrian Park. Run
Organizers were rescued by owner of Flying “H” Stables, Barbi Howell, when
she agreed to have her 120 acre ranch enveloped with color.
“I am excited. It is so much fun watching people get off their butts and
have a good time while raising money for a great charity,” Howell said.
Howell’s neighbors—the Rooster Ridge Pheasant Farm—have also agreed to
relinquish their land for the good cause, giving course planners more room
to work with.
As charity partner, the ZACC is responsible for providing volunteers to
help out with every aspect of the race from packet pick-up to clean up.
Color Me Rad donates $75 to the ZACC for each volunteer. The ZACC is
required to provide at least 100 volunteers. The run also donates 20% of
the registration fee if the runner types “ZACC” in the promo-code box.
Registration for the Color Me Rad 5K opens February 27th with the run
commencing May 4th at 9:00 a.m. at Flying H Stables. Early registration
costs $35 with the registration price raising as the date of the run gets
closer. To volunteer as a “color bomber”, or to be on the set-up and tear
down teams email volunteer@zootownarts.org.
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