The 5K is open to the community, and not just Plant City High School students.
By Thais Leon-Miller
Staff Intern
Runners in Plant City High School’s first-ever Raider Color Run 5K can get physical and artsy Saturday, Nov. 5.
The fundraiser for the school’s senior class will have athletes running the track while being pelted with colored cornstarch.
“In the past (the senior class has) done Calendar Guys,” Lori Yarbrough, who volunteers at the high school and has helped put the paint run together, said. “It’s sort of like a spoof of Calendar Girls. They do all this work and only make a couple hundred dollars. They wanted to do something where they could reach people out and about and make more money. That’s how it came about.”
The idea to host a color run has come up before. In 2015, the school ran out of time to plan the run. This year, with the help of cross-country coach Drew Martucci and the Plant City High School PTSA, students are hoping the event will help offset the costs of what can be an expensive high school year.
There are 459 graduating seniors at Plant City High in the 2016-17 school year, and the cost of providing each one with their senior class hoodie, a novelty cowbell and a ticket to Grad Bash, the senior class trip to Universal Studios in Orlando, can be costly.
“We have about $8,000 in sponsorships right now,” Ashlyn Yarbrough, senior class president, said. “We are very fortunate for that. That will cover all of our expenses and leave some (money) left over. We’ve had a lot of donations this year, so we’ve been really fortunate.”
The race track, which will be set up at the high school, will feature at least four color stations and two water stations. Martucci helped to map the course track. The race isn’t being timed; it’s more about having fun than winning the race.
Seniors will sell extra color packets at the event, and race participants will receive a T-shirt and sunglasses along with their racing bib. The run is not limited to Plant City High students but is open to the community.
“We’re just very excited to have the opportunity to put it on, and we really want everyone of all ages and schools to come out and be a part of it,” Ashlyn Yarbrough said. “We just want everyone to have fun, and hopefully this is a tradition that carries on for many years.”
Same-day registration is at 7:30 a.m., and the race will begin at 9 a.m.
