It was early morning on Saturday. The scene was marked by a mild and pleasant climate, the dim light of the awakening sun, and the presence of half-asleep seniors in their stations; it would have been a perfectly peaceful picture, if not for the copious amount of people that flooded the registration tables before the race began.
The seniors, among other organizers and volunteers of the event, had to be at the school at the grueling time of 6 in the morning—or 0600 hours as Dr. Sjoberg would say—for setup duty. The premise of the race would seem simple enough on paper, belying all of the hard work and intelligence that brought it to fruition: people register, pay the fee of $15 ($5 for a pancake breakfast, but this was a separate process), and they run 5 kilometers leaving from NCA, in a route popularly known as the “Loftgard Loop”. Throughout the race, participants are both refreshed with water and showered with dye by seniors stationed at various checkpoints, and, culminating the event, there’s a free-for-all Color War at the school’s soccer field.
Many challenges had to be overcome before the starting signal; among these, some chief concerns were the acquisition of the dye and other necessary items, coordination with school authorities, and, maybe the most pressing of them all, pancakes. Dr. Sjoberg, a Senior class advisor, told us just how messy things got with pancakes, with the griddle connectors constantly failing and him having to “put in 5K just running back and forth between the cooking stations and the breaker box.”
Rebeca Reyes, the Senior class president, whose previous Color Run experience consisted in helping out with the pancake sale last year, had a prominent role in the event’s planning and organization. She explains how stressful it can be to organize a huge fundraiser like this. Class collaboration and parent and teacher involvement, though, can go a long way in alleviating the workload.
The Eagle Eye was also able to get the input of some of the participants of the race: Emma Edgar, NCA junior, had very positive remarks about the race. Ramiro Lopez, of the same class, described the event in similar terms. There were some complaints, like the dye having an uncomfortable texture, but overall, the runners agreed that the experience was enjoyable and a lot of fun.
Was this year’s Color Run a resounding success, or was it unable to live up to its big promise? Only time will tell the true impact of the race of 2017, but, in our mind, the Senior class undertook a daunting task and managed to create a special moment for all of us amidst the difficulties. From the Eagle Eye team, and hopefully from you, dear reader, as well, this simple message to the seniors: thank you!
Check out individual interviews of the Color Run in our website!
