The normally tranquil area around Buddha Hill was turned into a kaleidoscope of colors last Sunday for Pattaya’s first ever Colour Run. Over a quarter million baht was raised for Rotary Club of Jomtien- Pattaya charities, much of which will go towards helping less fortunate children in our community.
All proceeds will benefit humanitarian projects under the care of the Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya
The normally tranquil area around Buddha (Pratamnak) Hill was turned into a technicolour gathering on the early morning of Sunday the 18th of January as it was the setting for Pattaya’s first ever Colour Run.
The event was brilliantly organized by the Rotary Club of Jomtien Pattaya and under the watchful eyes of the club’s president, Vutikorn Kamolchote.
In the past the Rotary Club of Jomtien Pattaya has organized many fund raising events, most famously the Annual Cross Bay Swim. Now, however, Vutikorn was determined to bring a new event to the city, an event where people of all ages and ranges of fitness could participate.
The normally tranquil area around Buddha Hill was turned into a kaleidoscope of colors last Sunday for Pattaya’s first ever Colour Run. Over a quarter million baht was raised for Rotary Club of Jomtien- Pattaya charities, much of which will go towards helping less fortunate children in our community.
Vutikorn told Pattaya Mail, “The whole idea was to have fun and we have certainly achieved that. I must thank City Hall and the TAT for their assistance, also our sponsors who didn’t just help us financially but also donated their time and equipment.”
Colour Runs are held all over the world, and were established in Utah in 2012 in an effort to get businessmen to participate without having to have a high level of fitness. 6000 people participated in the first ever run.
Chairman of Tourism & Sports Rattanachai Sutidechanai presents a trophy to Donald Maclaughlin (right) aged 76 the winner of the oldest runner prize.
The inspiration to add color to the event came from day-glow events, Disney’s World of Color and color festivals throughout the world such as Holi, which is the Indian spring festival also known as the festival of colours or the festival of love.
Vutikorn began working rigorously for this event some twelve months ago, and consulted with City Hall and the Tourist Authority of Thailand, whilst sourcing the coloured powder and bringing in sponsors.
TAT Pattaya Director Suladda Sarutilavan (left) presents a prize to a runner from Bangkok who heard about the Colour Run via Facebook
The un-timed event emphasizes fun over competition and is open to first-time runners as well as families and children, so the organizers arranged two routes, a 2km walk run & a 5km run, using the areas around Buddha Hill.
Entry for the Colour Run was priced at just 200 baht for the 2km & 400 baht for the 5km, and registration took place the day before the event. Pattaya International Ladies Club President Helle Rantsen dealt with each and every registration and enquiry, and issued an event t-shirt and badge to each participant. At the close of registration on the Saturday the club was delighted to learn that 348 people had signed up, and they knew for certain there would be more on the day.
The Colour Run is open to all ages groups and this young lady won a prize for the best fancy dress
Vutikorn added, “I am delighted with the turnout and we know already that we have raised 250,000 baht. Most of this will be donated to various charity organizations with a focus on the less fortunate children in our community.”
The run was set to start at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning. The weather was perfect, not too cool as it has been of late, and not too much of a wind, which would have made the throwing of the powder a bit unpredictable.
President Vutikorn of the Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya gets into the spirit of the day
As 8 a.m. approached the start area was a mass of people, with the organizers confirming that 500 people in total had registered. Veteran MC Rose was on stage slowly building up the expectancy. As the start whistle approached, all runners were decked out in their event t-shirts and armed with bags of coloured powder.
The organizers also had strategically placed helpers along the route at intervals to throw the powder on the runners t-shirts.
Thank you Rose, you were just amazing.
Rose commenced the countdown from 10 – zero and when the whistle blew the area was transformed into massive clouds of colourful dust as the runners threw their powder into the air. Press and amateur photographers were taken somewhat by surprise by the amount of powder and had to choose whether to try and get ‘that shot’ or protect their gear.
One of the sponsors was Mama, famous for their instant noodles, and the runners could be seen eyeing the stall that was giving away free samples. But food would have to wait until after the event.
The atmosphere was carnival-like with powder everywhere. The runners were a kaleidoscope of colours and the dynamic music meant nearly everyone was dancing.
Clean drinking water was provided by Eastwater Group and those who needed a little ‘pick-me-up’ could opt for a free bottle of ‘Sponsor’ energy drink.
Other sponsors included Pattaya Self Storage, Norwegian Properties Group, Pattaya Sports Club, Pattaya Mail, TBX Thailand, Pattaya International Ladies Club, Lactasoy, Jotun and A&A Control Co., Ltd.
As this wasn’t a race there was no first prize; however, prizes were given to the most colourful runner, the biggest team (won by the team from Mama), the heaviest runner, fancy dress and to the oldest runner.
So with smiles all around, the runners feasted on the Mama noodles and Sponsor drinks. Many said they look forward to the next Colour Run.
