Color Run to return

Runners and other partiers will again be saturated in bright hues -- and, possibly, rain -- Saturday as The Color Run returns to Amarillo.

The race will go on unless there is truly serious weather, said Angela Eggers, the Bush Institute's interim executive director.

The Color Run has never canceled because of weather, according to the organization's website. The start can be delayed for up to one hour.

"If threatening weather conditions force cancelation of the event, no refunds can be provided, since funds were already spent in preparation for race day," according to the race's website. 

Cancelation notices will be sent via email to all participants, and the site's home page and Facebook page will be updated, the site said.

The run kicks off at 8 a.m. Saturday at Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health, 1400 Wallace Blvd.

About 6,300 participants -- slightly more than half of last year's total -- had registered by Friday afternoon, Eggers said.

The 5K trek beginning and ending at the institute near Medical Center Park is designed for runners and families who want to walk the route together.

Participants will be released from a starting chute in waves, and at each kilometer, they will be pelted with a different hue of colored cornstarch.

"By the time the race is over, you're really crazy-colored," Eggers said.

The event wraps up with a festival on the institute's grounds, a party with pumping music, giveaways and cascading showers of colors.

"You're looking out (from) the stage and seeing just color, just rainbows of color, and everybody out there dancing and having a good time," said Karen Kriegshauser, co-chair woman of the event.

The race course begins at the Bush Institute, winds around Medical Center Park and crosses Ninth Avenue before looping around Quail Creek Surgical Hospital and returning to the institute. Participants are asked to dress in white to better show the results of the color throws.

Following the run, the festivities will move to the parking lot at Joe Daddy's, 2108 Paramount Blvd., for an official after-party, Eggers said.

The restaurant will have a buffet luau featuring a roasted pig, a dunking booth, live music from Velvet Funk Band, karaoke and more, with 10 percent of proceeds benefitting the Bush Institute.

Cover charge is $10.

how to go

o What: The Color Run Amarillo

o When: 8 a.m. Saturday

o Where: Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health, 1400 Wallace Blvd.

o How much: $50 for individuals or $45 for team members, plus service fee

o Information: 806-8356-4617 or www.thecolorrun.com