Misericordia held its annual Color Run on Nov. 6 to raise money for the David A. Evans Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund. The race is held in honor of David Evans, Jr. who died of suicide in 2014.

Dr. Dawn Evans of the Occupational Therapy department and her family were more than pleased with this year’s outcome. Despite the overcast weather, about 100 people showed up to walk/run the course.

Upon arrival, participants entered the Anderson building to sign in and, if they had pre-registered, picked up a t-shirt they could wear during the race. When the clock struck 10, people lined up in the street as Darcy Brodmerkle counted down and sent everyone off.

The race started in front of Anderson and proceeded down the street behind the McHale dorms towards Mangelsdorf field. After one lap around the track, participants ran back up towards the main campus and turned left, running down the street that leads to Baloga Hall.

As runners ran down the street towards the arch, they turned right to run up the Lake Street sidewalk, finishing the first lap in front of Anderson before running the route one last time. The second time around, runners did not do another lap around the track and ran through the parking lot in front of Anderson field instead of going up Lake Street.

Throughout the race, volunteers set up to either throw color at runners or to offer directions. As people crossed the finish line, they were met with one last pink color splash before catching their breath and getting water.

Sophomore Psychology major Mia Jones was at the Color Run and said, “It was fun and hearing the family talk about their lost loved one was a reminder of how suicide can affect anyone. It was also nice to see everyone come together as a community and raise awareness.”

There was much support throughout the race as people cheered for the runners when they passed the color checkpoints. Running the race was not mandatory, as many families who visited during Family Weekend walked the course with younger children, while some were accompanied by their dogs.

Sophomore Speech Language Pathology major Madie Morrow gave advice on how to recruit others to do the race.

“I would tell them [people] you don’t have to run, you can walk it, and you would be doing it to support a good cause,” she said.

Tables were set up inside Anderson to offer information about programs, and raffle baskets were handed off at the end of the race.

Once everyone had finished, runners gathered in front of McDowell Hall and listened to Brodmerkle and Dr. Evans thank them for participating. Brodmerkle started the countdown and everyone celebrated the completion of the event by throwing packets of color into the air to create a cloud of color in the gloomy midday.