An incredible turnout saw more than 500 people don their running shoes and pristine white t-shirts for the second annual Garstang Colour Dash this weekend.
Every rainbow splattered ‘dasher’ that crossed the finishing line 5km later was welcomed back with a medal after running, walking, skipping and jumping through clouds of colour along the route.
The family fun run raised more than £10,000 for St John’s Hospice in Lancaster, money which will go towards the £4.5million needed every year to keep the hospice operating.
Karen Crossley, community fundraiser for St John’s, said: “We are so delighted that once again Garstang has come out to support the hospice and help to raise much needed funds to help up continue our vital work.
“The town has welcomed this event with open arms and we cannot tell you how grateful we are for the efforts of everyone involved, from the organising team at St John’s, our main sponsor Vincents and the other businesses in the town which have shown incredible support.”
Lancashire law firm Vincents Solicitors was once again the headline sponsor, helping to cover costs for staging the event so that all the money raised goes straight into the charity’s coffers.
Vincents Olivia Robinson and Chris Mathews kicked off the race with colour canons covering the dashers as they set off from Cherestanc Square outside Booths. From there the crowds ran down the high street to the River Wyre, up along and over through the fields towards the ruins of Greenhalgh Castle and back to the square for the big finish.
Colour stations along the route were manned by representatives of the other sponsors, Towers & Gornall, Garstang Country Hotel, Nationwide Building Society, and Display Wizard, who pelted dashers with environmentally friendly paint powder as they ran through.
The first runner made it back in 17 minutes while others took a more leisurely pace and got round within the hour.
Lisa Lodge, head of Vincents Garstang office, ran with her family, friends and colleagues. She said: “Everyone had such a good time, the weather was beautiful and all you saw were big smiles on everyone’s faces. It really was lovely to see so many families out enjoying the sunshine and raising money for charity together. There was a real buzz in the town with so many people coming together to have a good time for a great cause, creating a really fantastic atmosphere.”
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