By Mayra Alvarez

Special to The Collegian

Giving back to charity is made as easy as on your mark, get set, go!

On Sunday, runners will race through clouds of colored smoke and exit with their entire bodies tie-dyed as they run for charity in the Color Me Rad 5K held once again in Woodward Park in Fresno.

Color Me Rad is a five-kilometer race in which participants start off in squeaky-clean white clothes and run through a hurricane-like cloud of colored powder as they race. Runners are bombed with colors at several different points throughout the race; something past participants said they loved.

“It was awesome!” said Fresno State student Stephanie Markley, who ran in Fresno’s last Color Me Rad race. “I looked forward to the next color spot to get doused with colors.”

However, the real color “tidal wave” begins at the finish line. Called the “royal rumble of color” on the race’s website, every 15 to 20 minutes, runners throw “Color Bombs,” colored nonallergenic, nontoxic colored cornstarch bombs at each other for a color-filled explosion and congratulatory means to an end.

The colorful race is a “for-profit” event, put together as a charity partnership with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Central Valley, Inc.

Ronald McDonald House Charities is a place that creates a refuge for families who cope with the physical, emotional and financial burdens of having a seriously ill child. The charity’s mission is to give a “home away from home” and resources to sick children and their families.

All ages, types and sizes are encouraged and allowed to participate in the charitable race.

Those under 18 can participate with parental or guardian approval and a signed waiver. If runners are 7 years old and under, the event is free.

All other participants must pay $55 at registration.

Hannah Johnson, the marketing and communications director of the charity, said the organization reached out to Color Me Rad and asked to partner with them. She said the partnership has been a great success: last year’s run raised as much as $20,000.

“I think it’s pretty cool that it’s [Color Me Rad] now happening with Ronald McDonald House Charities across the nation when the original connection was made here in the Central Valley,” Johnson said. “It’s a wonderful event and a great fun way to find out about and give back to a charity like us.”

Fresno State student Cecilia Gamboa, 25, participated in the colorful event last year and said that it was a very fun experience of which she was glad to be a part.

“It was really exhilarating getting to run through large fogs of blues, greens, purples and reds,” Gamboa said. “It was definitely a memory of a lifetime which I intend to repeat.”

Color Me Rad will commence at 10 a.m. Runners can register to participate online at ColorMeRad.com until the event sells out. Those interested can also volunteer to be a part of the “Color Bomb Squad.” Squad volunteers must be at least 16 years old and will receive free T-shirts.