By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Reporter
A “colorful” nation and people deserve a commensurate form of recreation, that is the motor behind Color Manila and its roster of concept events.
Put up in 2012, Color Manila is a race and events organizer that targets both running enthusiasts and non-runners, and lets them experience the real “fun” in a “fun run” through a color festival.
Unlike most running events, Color Manila eliminates the competition aspect of races and instead encourages participants to just run at their own pace, creating an excitement among the runners.
Next month, Color Manila will stage its well-received Blacklight Run at the Filinvest City in Alabang, Muntinlupa.
Now on its second year of staging, the CM Blacklight Run, which takes place on May 28, is a one-of-a-kind run filled with neon colors that illuminate in black light.
It is part of the organizer’s innovative lineup of events that includes the Color Manila Run (a colored powder race done in the mornings), the Color Manila Challenge (an obstacle-filled race), and the Color Manila Costume Run.
“The concept [of color races] started out in the US and has become big around the globe. But before we brought it here there was nothing like it in the Philippines. So we thought, why aren’t we doing this and celebrating as it’s more in tune with our culture? We are very colorful as a people with all our fiestas. It’s something that Filipinos can appreciate,” said Color Manila Cofounder and Vice-President Justine Cordero in an interview.
“When we started it was January of 2013. The first race had 5,000 participants. It was a very good start and that was the time we realized that we have a good concept that is actually fit for the Filipino culture. From there the concept events grew and have been taken up in different parts of the country, including Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and La Union,” Jay Em, cofounder and president of Color Manila, said.
BLACKLIGHT RUN
For the CM Blacklight Run, participants can choose whether to run three, five or 10 kilometers. They will run in the night aided by a head lamp which is part of the race kit. The runners will go through six color stations where colored powder that glows in the dark will be thrown at them.
Participants get a medal regardless of the category as long as they finish the run. A party with top DJs follows after.
Apart from promoting fun and a healthy lifestyle, the CM Blacklight Run is also for a cause, with part of the proceeds going to the Color Manila Foundation (CMF). The foundation is committed to supporting a number of causes such as medical missions, arts and creativity, health and fitness, environment, education, innovation, and disaster response.
Seeing how Color Manila has successfully evolved in such short a time, its founders could not be more happy.
“Nobody knew about it at first. Color Manila has become the biggest color fun run in the country in just four years. Our events are for kids of all ages. It’s about having fun. And more exciting stuff can be expected from us,” Ms. Cordero said. [end]
Registration fees for the Blacklight Run are P950 (Deluxe), P1,500 (Rockstar) and P6,000 (Superstar).
The Deluxe package includes the race kit that has a CM Blacklight Drift shirt, LED head lamp, drawstring bag, finisher’s medal, race bib and color packet; the Rockstar package race kit contains a CM singlet and CM towel in addition; and Superstar package includes a Rockstar race kit plus two days accommodation at Crimson Hotel in Alabang. Visit the Color Manila Web site (www.colormanilarun.com) for more details.
