Runners charge through smoke caused by a conglomeration of colors during the 8th Annual Back to School Color Run held at the Fort Jackson Youth Services Sports Complex, Aug. 12. (Photo by Robert Timmons)
Colorful run kicks off new year
Story, photos by Robert Timmons, Fort Jackson Public Affairs
Fort Jackson’s Child, Youth Services celebrated the new school year with a splash of color.
OK, maybe not a splash of color, but a cloud of color.
It was a colorful morning at the Youth Services Sports Complex, Aug. 12, as CYS held its 8th Annual Back to School Color Run, where children and their families ran a one-mile course while being pelted and sprayed with blue and pink dust.
It was all aimed at getting children enthusiastic for the new school year, said Darius Lane, Youth Services Sports director.
Roughly nine years ago he and his staff of running and fitness enthusiasts thought outside the box and said, “Hey, why don’t we get something that is not offered on Fort Jackson, to get the kids excited for the upcoming school year.”
Hence the color run was born.
Each year the run has grown and now encompasses community partnerships.
“We’ve got the Army Community Service, we have the Army Reserves, we have the Richland Country Sheriff’s Department and Cocky from (the University of South Carolina),” Lane said. “So, each year we try to think of something else to add, so it’s not the same event.”
Lane and others who work in sports have a special connection to Fort Jackson’s youths.
“We are just doing out part,” Lane said. “They look at us as sports people, we are the fun people. We are just doing our part to encourage the kids to be their best before the upcoming school year.”
Three- to 18-year- old youths and their parents were encouraged to attend. The run was split into three different groups based on ages. When each run started the runners went through an initial cloud of color before running a gauntlet of color sprayed at them by CYS staff and volunteers from the Noncommissioned Officer’s Academy on post.
According to some who ran in the event, it was energizing to be colorized during the run.
“It was like energy to get some of the color on you,” said Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Cesar Duran after the event. “It’s motivating to see the kids and all the colorful people out here.”
The school year for Fort Jackson schools began Aug. 7.