Riverside Athletic Club hosted a Community Kolor Run on Saturday, May 7 that attracted 700 participants. All proceeds from the race went to support Merrill Area United Way.
“We had a lot of success with the Kolor Run last year and so we decided to continue with the same theme and it worked out great,” says Becci Shuman, Manager of Riverside Athletic Club and race organizer. “We had a huge outpouring by various businesses and individuals that helped make this event such a success. We are grateful to everyone who helped make this event possible including: our Gold Sponsors: Ministry Medical Group, Merrill Fire Department and EMS, Merrill Police Department, Oak Park Dental, Merrill CrossFit, Parisi Speed School, Tunes 2 Go, Technical College, Church Mutual Insurance, Dave County Market, Dave Cooper and American Family Insurance and Channel 12 in Rhinelander. In addition we also had sponsorship from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, EastBay, Merrill Ham Radio Operators, Waid Funeral Home, Weinbrenner, Wendorf Bus Service, Merrill Federal Savings and Loan, SaintA’s, Sparkling Home Cleaning Service. In addition, we had various organization host a color stop on the race route. Thank you to Park City Credit Union, Lincoln Community Bank, St. John Church, Associated Bank, Wisconsin Insurance Association and the Varsity Boys Baseball Team and Mike Hoff for providing volunteers to host a color station. Many of our Kolor Station sponsors have already asked to be able to have their same spot for next year! In addition to the above sponsors, we had numerous volunteers who spent a lot of time and effort in helping make this event such a huge success. We want to thank each one of volunteers who helped out before, during and after the race! You made the event what it was!”
The Kolor Run was popular with Merrill area residents but also drew many participants from outside the area. The event drew a wide range of ages, from families with small children in strollers to older adults.
Nearly 100 volunteers were on hand to help keep the event running smoothly. The seven color checkpoints along the 3.3-mile route were manned by volunteers from local business sponsors.
Riverside Athletic Club owner Paul Kienitz said he was proud to showcase the River Bend Trail as part of the Kolor Run route. “The trail was just gorgeous and really makes this race unique,” says Kienitz. “We are thankful we are able to utilize it for this event.”
This year participants were treated to great music from Tunes 2 Go, delicious snacks like bananas, oranges, string cheese, granola bars, nuts and dried fruit and chocolate milk from County Market and water from American Family Insurance.
“The place just glowed with all sorts of color from the Kolor Run,” says Shuman. “Our race shirts this year were white with the Community Kolor Run logo and then plastered with red, orange, green, blue, yellow and purple color and everyone just loved them.
“We can’t wait until next year’s Community Kolor Run. Plans are already in the works for another event. We plan on continuing this tradition of having the Kolor Run the first Saturday of every May.”
For information regarding the Community Kolor Run or how you can be a sponsor or volunteer, please contact Riverside Athletic Club at 715-536-2481.