On April 10, a cold Sunday morning, over 200 SRU students and Slippery Rock community members participated in UPB’s third annual Color the Rock 5K Run.
The event began at 9 a.m. with a Zumba lesson to warm everybody up. At 10 a.m., the first heat was off and running. Explosions of blue, purple and pink colors were scattered over the parking lots and streets all around campus, and both the participants and volunteers were coated in the bright hues by the end of the run.
Junior early childhood and special education major and director of community service for UPB Megan Jackson said in a way, Color the Rock is a de-stressing event put on as the academic year comes to a close and finals week creeps its way in.
All of the proceeds from the run benefited the UPB scholarship, Jackson said, which is awarded to those who have been very much involved with UPB throughout the year. This year, the scholarship was awarded to four individuals: Samantha Anderson, Brittany Emminger, Michael Joseph Pappas and Brittnae Boni.
Sophomore public relations major and UPB committee member Mallory Milberger had a lot of fun that morning.
“It was a great day, despite the cold, and I think the best part was the little kids helping throw the color,” she said.
Junior early childhood and special education major and UPB committee member Lauren McNeil said the runners weren’t the only ones having all the fun; the volunteers throwing the color into the streets and at the runners, and walkers were having fun as well.
“When the runners came closer and saw us, they got really excited and started cheering, then we started cheering,” McNeil said. “It was very fulfilling to see how happy it made everyone and I think everybody involved had a really great time.”
Jackson said that after working so hard for months, it was really cool to see all that hard work unfold.
“All I saw was people enjoying themselves and new friendships being formed,” she said.
Ryan Logue, a senior secondary social studies education major and director of speakers for UPB, agreed, saying the best part of the day was seeing the joy on the runners’ faces and all the fun that was being had.
In the years to come, UPB plans on continuing to host Color the Rock annually for students and the Slippery Rock community.
