One of the hottest days of the year so far saw Locke Park host the Barnsley Hospital Charity Rainbow Run. Volunteers were needed and JCI Barnsley members answered the call, but not to be race marshals. The concept of a rainbow run is that paint stations are added to the route where runners have powder paint thrown at them and this was our role!

We were armed with 10 large tubs of blue powder paint and our own choir to sing at our station. Other stations were dotted around Locke Park to throw red, yellow, green and purple powder paint. For runners on the day there were 2 options, the first being a 1km fun run, and the second being a 5km run. The 1km run was 1 lap of Locke Park which passed through each of the 5 paint stations and the 5km run was 4 laps, meaning a total of 20 chances of being covered in paint!  The runners and crowds were entertained beforehand by the fabulous Rock Choir and were also given a fitness warm up session to ensure they were all ready to run. The fun run started first with a lot of junior runners. Since they were only doing 1 lap the challenge was to ensure we kept enough paint for the 5 lap run, this probably meant the first runners finished cleaner than anticipated!

Before the 5km run started, a few of our members got into the spirit of the day and visited other paint stations and returned unrecognisable! The 5km run started and we were faced with a sea of runners that never seemed to stop due to the course being 4 laps. Our throwers were given just as much a work out as the runners! All runners were in high spirits and some even chose to roll through the paint station through all the surplus paint. A special mention must go to JCI Barnsley's Peter Wright who took part in the 5km run and left covered in more blue paint than any other runner!


Charlie, Kathryn & Zoe running through the yellow station

After both runs were over, the day was not finished as bands played well into the afternoon to keep the crowds entertained. After making the park look like a giant rainbow, sadly perhaps our toughest task of the day was to sweep up as much of the paint as possible once the race was over. Luckily for us the recent rain has helped to return Locke Park back to normality!

Ian Bragger
Finance & Social Director