ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Those wanting to get in some fun exercise while also supporting local education will soon have the perfect opportunity for just that.
The MacArthur Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) will be hosting a 1-mile fun color run and 5K color run Thursday, Sept. 12, with registration starting at 5:30 p.m. and the run itself starting at 6 p.m., and everything will be starting at MacArthur Elementary School at 925 S. Holly Drive. Registration, which can be done either ahead of time or that evening, is $15 for an individual runner and $30 for a family up to six people, and then $10 more for more people after that. Prizes will be given to the top three finishers, and the Kozi's Ice sno cone stand and other vendors will be there that night for participants.
“We're really big about involving the families in all of our school activities, so this is a great opportunity for students and their families to come and do something together and have some fun,” PTO member Dayanara Olson said.
“And there will be a few different spots where everyone will be blasted with some color, so we highly recommend people wear something they wouldn't mind getting dirty, and we would like it if people wore white so the colors really stand out,” fellow PTO member Destiny Strutt added.
A major catalyst for the event, Olson and Strutt said, was helping families spend some time together.
“We did take last year off and didn't host this – we usually try to host events like this right when school starts, but circumstances prevented us from hosting it last year, so we're bringing it back this year and hosting it in September,” Olson said. “We know there's a handful of home football games, and that's where everyone will want to be Friday nights, so that's why we also decided to host this on a Thursday evening so we wouldn't interfere with any of that. And like I said, family involvement is really important to us, and we want to make sure students and their families have chances like this to do activities together and have fun. I think it'll be really fun to see everyone who comes out. I feel like the children especially will love getting a little messy, so they should have fun getting the color all over them.”
“We're also really interested in health and fitness, and this is a great opportunity for not only that, but also for the community to get a glimpse of what we do at MacArthur Elementary School,” Strutt said. “And it's fun even for the parents, a lot of them will take part in the 5K, so it'll be interesting to see them get competitive and show their children what they can do.”
Olson and Strutt said they hope to see a big turnout for the event.
“This is the third year of us hosting this event, and we've seen a great turnout with our other two events, which we were really happy about, even though those events took place at the beginning of school and around the time of the Five State Fair, which is another reason we pushed it back a little bit,” Olson said. “We're trying to get the word out there about this event the best we can – we're stopping at all the local gyms and the Recreation Center and a few other places so we can get the word out and let people know this is happening. With everywhere we've been visiting and are still planning to visit, there's no reason to skip out for anyone who wants to come. Events like this are important beyond just the students at MacArthur Elementary School and their families, they're a great opportunity to involve the entire community. Anyone who enjoys walking/running and being out in the open air, this is the event for you. It's also great hearing the laughter from our younger participants and seeing them have fun and seeing them splattered in color.”
“I would definitely agree with that, it's great seeing everyone come together for a great cause. The money raised will go back to helping support the PTO, which allows us to do a lot of different activities for the students throughout the school year, and the teachers, so this is a great opportunity for the community to show its support for the school and what we do,” Strutt said. “We're definitely hoping for a good turnout because again, it's for a good cause and to give back to the school and our students and staff.”
With the event still being somewhat new, Olson and Strutt added they hope to see it expand as time goes on.
“We'd love to see this event grow and expand and become an annual staple for the community. We want this to become an event people in the community put on their calendar every year and make sure to attend,” Olson said. “And anyone who wants to support the PTO and what we do, we totally welcome you. Anyone is more than welcome to be a sponsor for a future event or be a volunteer, we can never have too many volunteers. We currently have our cookie dough fundraiser going on, so anyone who wants to can find a MacArthur Elementary School student and buy some cookie dough from them.”
“We'd love to see this event become big enough to where everyone is anticipating it and like Dayanara said, putting it on their calendar so they make sure and attend,” Strutt said.
Overall, Olson said, she hopes the evening will be fun for everyone.
“We are taking registrations right now, and again, we'll also be taking registrations and payments that evening of the event,” Olson said. “Bring your family and friends and just have fun with us that evening and get some great exercise too. And if anyone wants to keep track of what we're doing at the school, they're more than welcome to follow us on social media, because we frequently update people about our goings-on.”
