The 2nd annual Pattaya Color Run gets underway this weekend, with sign up and registration available starting Saturday, Jan. 16, and the run taking place Sunday morning January 17.
The event is organized by the Rotary Club of Jomtien Pattaya and was first held in Pattaya just last year.
Color Runs are staged 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.
Otmar and Dr Margaret Deter, Vutikorn Kamolchote, President Elect Dzenana Popin, Reidar Anderson, Rattanachai Sutidechanai, Peter Malhotra, Brendan Kelly, TAT Director Ornuara Kornpin, Ubonjitr Thamchop from Riviera Group, staff from Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, Philip Wall Morris, MC Rose and Jan Olav Aamlid from Pattaya Self Storage take a moment for a commemorative photo after the press conference.
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.
It was the success of these events that inspired Rotarian Vutikorn Kamolchote to see if this would appeal to the citizens of Pattaya. In 2014 Vutikorn was the president of the Rotary Club of Jomtien Pattaya and wanted to create something where the emphasis was purely on having fun.
The event far surpassed his expectations with over 500 participants taking part and joining in on the fun. Over 250,000 baht was raised for his club’s humanitarian projects.
Children from grade 2 try to study in the very basic classroom.
Now Vutikorn and his team are gearing up for the 2nd event, which will once more take place on Pratamnak Hill. Participants can opt for either the 5km or 2km runs, and is open to all age groups.
At the press conference held at city hall last week, Vutikorn Kamolchote was joined by Rattanachai Sutidechanai, chairman of Tourism & Sports for Pattaya. Both felt confident that this year’s event will build on the success of last year, and anticipate that as many as 1000 people might participate this year.
The fun begins at the start / finish line during last year’s inaugural event.
The funds raised will go to assisting Wat Mai Pho Thong, a small school in Sra Kaew province. The school provides education to local children from nursery to Grade 6, with 5 teachers handling 55 students in 9 different classes. The current building requires a major overhaul including being re-furnished with new desks, all at an approximate cost of 542,000 baht.
Returning sponsors this year are Pattaya Self Storage, Norwegian Properties Group, Pattaya Mail, Mama Noodles, and Lactasoy. The Riviera Group will join this year as the event’s newest sponsor.
The partnership with city hall is essential as they deal with road closures and directing traffic. The staff from Bangkok Hospital Pattaya will also be on hand in case of any emergency.
This year there will be prizes for the most colorful, best fancy dress, biggest group, heaviest, oldest runner, and best selfie, and will once again have Rose as the great MC.
Registration is already well underway and can be done via Facebook: www.facebook.com/pattayacolourrun or by email: contact.rotaryjomtien [email protected] and can also be done at the registration tent on Saturday the 16th of January opposite the police box on Pratamnak Hill from 10am until 5pm. The cost is 600thb for the 5k run and only 400thb for the 2k run.
