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Splash of colour for charity

There’s a very simple concept underlying Penticton’s first Colours 4 Kids race.
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Penticton student Sinclaire Lovett is hosting the city’s first Colours 4 Kids race. Participants in the five-kilometres run will be covered with powdered paint at five different stations. A similar event attracted over 1

There’s a very simple concept underlying Penticton’s first Colours 4 Kids race.

“Basically, you’re going to run through a zone and get blasted with non-toxic powdered paint, and all the money is going to B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver,” explained Sinclaire Lovett, a Grade 11 student at Princess Margaret Secondary School.

The colour race is set for 10 a.m. on June 7. Racers will leave from Maggie on a five-kilometre loop, which will feature five separate 100-metre zones where they’ll be hit with paint thrown by volunteers.

“You come out looking like a giant rainbow. It’s just so much fun,” said Lovett, 17.

Entry costs $20 and all proceeds will be handed over to the hospital to which she felt she owed a debt of gratitude after her sister, Bronwyn, died in 2012 at the age of 18 due to a mitochondrial disease.

“Her life was substantially impacted by B.C. Children’s,” Lovett said. “They increased her lifespan by so much and I am so grateful for them, and I wanted to do as much as I could to give back.”

Lovett approached her vice-principal, Sandra Richardson, to inquire about organizing some sort of event to honour her sister, and the plan for Colours 4 Kids race was soon hatched.

“I thought a colour run like this would be spirited, fun and get a lot of interest from families and young people,” Richardson said.

The Grant Thorton 5K Run in Colour last September in Kelowna attracted 1,048 runners and 271 volunteers, according to the event’s website, and Lovett is hoping to attract 300 racers to the inaugural event here.

“It’s just taken off,” she said. “I’m just so grateful for everything that’s happened. I’ve met so many great people because of this.”

Registration in advance is recommended by filling out a form available at Maggie, Summerland Secondary, Tuc-el-Nuit Elementary and Peach City Runners. Call 250-770-7620 for more information.