Racers add touch of colour to the park

Photo: Tim Bradley

ALL in red . . . Evie Herring (10), Olivia Kershaw (9) and Milly Massey (9)

2 More Image(s) In Gallery

THE sky may well have been grey on Sunday but the grounds of Alexandra park soon became a festival of colour for Dr Kershaw's Hospice colour blast run.

Runners of all ages and abilities certainly had a blast while covered in all the colours of the rainbow.

And by the time they stepped over the finishing line the hundreds of runners were more than covered with coloured powder.

Last year thousands of people took part in the event, raising £10,000 for the Royton hospice.

The hospice joined Revolution 96.2 radio for the 3km dash around the park as they were cheered on by scores of spectators who enjoyed both the entertainment and the sunshine.

Lisa Pearson, income generational manager at Dr Kershaw's, said: "Turnout was fantastic, especially given how the weather wasn't looking great this morning.

Thousands
"Everybody had a blast, they were really excited about it.

"Hopefully we will get more people doing it next year.

"The event is really important, it raises raises thousands of pounds every year.

"That's what we're here to do and to continue to help patients and families."

The children were the clear winners, as they were out-running most of the adults.

The first two to cross the finishing line were 11-year-old Luca Webster and 12-year-old Joseph Henderson.

Super athlete Luca had been playing a football match with his team, Bolton under 11s, against the Manchester United team, only that morning.

But he was still full of energy to do the two-lap race at lunchtime and treated himself to an ice cream after.

Luca, a pupil at St Paul's Primary School in Royton, said: "I was running for my aunty Kelly Green. She died from cancer.

"The race was good. It was both easy and hard."

Joseph, a student at Crompton House School, did the colour blast with his six-year-old sister ­- but she was soon left behind.

He said: "It was easy! I run a lot, I come here every Saturday to run. It was fun with the colours."

Amanda Marshall (40) was part of a group of four from Heathbank Support Services in Coppice.

She said: "The colour was in my mouth and in my ears but it was really good fun.

"It's nice to see a lot of families. It was the first time for us but we will do it again next year."

Maisie Delaney and Emily Guest, both 15 and from Prestwich, raised nearly £400 for the hospice.

The did the run for Emily's uncle Sean Moran, who is currently being treated at Dr Kershaw's.

Emily said: "I don't really do any running but it was good fun. My uncle has cancer and he's in the hospice. They have been really good with him."

• See more pictures of the Colour blast run on our picture sales page.