Students participate in 'Happiest 5K on the planet'

The Color Run provided Notre Dame students and South Bend residents with the opportunity to participate in “The Happiest 5K on the Planet” in South Bend on Saturday. The 3.1-mile loop began and ended at Four Winds Field took runners through four color zones in the downtown area where volunteers stood ready to throw colored powder at participants.

Freshman Sydney Keller said the run took longer to complete than a regular 5K.

“It took longer because every time we reached a point on the course that had paint, we would stop and walk through just so we could get as much paint on ourselves as we could," she said. "But we had to try to keep our faces away from the paint. Otherwise, it would be hard to see for a minute, and your mouth would be powdery and taste like cornstarch."

Freshman Claire Gaffney said she volunteered for the Color Run and spent the day throwing blue-colored powder at the runners from one of the color zones. She said she was recruited to participate through her dorm, which was one of several residence halls and student organizations who sent groups to volunteer.

“McGlinn, my dorm, organized a group to volunteer, and many of the upperclassmen raved about how fun it was to throw paint at people and motivate them to finish the race,” she said. “Volunteering at the Color Run was a blast. Everyone was so excited to be there, and there was such a diverse group of runners. By the end I looked like a smurf. I would definitely volunteer again.”

Junior Alyssa Armendariz said she volunteered for the run through the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).

"I've wanted to volunteer or run the race for the past two years but was unable to due to football games," she said. "So this year when I found out SWE was taking a group I jumped on the opportunity to finally volunteer.”

Armendariz said she felt her time was well spent despite the early morning start and overall time commitment involved with the race.

“Even though we had to get up extremely early and it was chilly before the sun rose, it was so worth it,” she said. “The Color Run is such a unique race. It's a fantastic way to make running more enjoyable, and you get a souvenir tie-dyed shirt.”