Raising funds and heartbeats just got a lot more colourful at St Paul’s, Albion Park and St Michael’s, Mittagong! Screams of delight and laughter, music and bursts of coloured powder filled the air, as children, parents and staff alike had a blast at their schools’ colour fun runs - raising over $17,000 for new learning equipment in the process.

Students started the day in pristine white t-shirts, but it wasn’t long before a rainbow of colour was unleashed on them and they were covered from head to toe in a spectrum of hues. The only white left was the teeth showing on many children's smiling faces!

When the multi-coloured dust settled in Albion Park and Mittagong, it was apparent that participants at both schools had thoroughly enjoyed the occasion - from raising a lot of money for their schools to having fun getting through the obstacles and being active outdoors. But it was the spectacular celebration of colour on the day that left several children declaring it “the best day of school [they’ve] ever had”.

St Paul’s, Albion Park

With all the fanfare of pumping music, water spray and colour spray stations set up across the course, a large inflatable start/finish archway and other fun inflatables and obstacles, students from each class readied themselves for their turn at the run.

Students had to weave in and out of agility poles; cross the balance beams and ropes; crawl under a tarp; climb over straw bales; navigate the spider web; and run through tyres and hula hoops - all while being blanketed in clouds of purple, blue, orange and green. There were also ball games, egg and spoon races and paper plane throwing competitions on offer throughout the day.

“I had so much fun with my friends, and I loved crawling under the tarp,” Year 3 student, Josh, said. “I wish we could do this every Friday!”

Kindergarten students Aiden and Savannah most enjoyed emerging covered in all different colours from the course. “I liked running with my buddy, Blake,” Aidan said. “Can we do it again?” Savannah asked eagerly.

St Paul’s P&F member and colour run organiser, Maria Bancroft, said the day was a triumph.

“I’m so glad that this crazy idea of holding a colour run that the P&F discussed last year, came to fruition. The day was so much fun, for not only the children but for the teachers and the parent helpers, too” - Maria Bancroft, St Paul's Albion Park P&F

“It’s been a whole school community effort, with lots of support from parents, teachers, our student promo team and the office ladies who made it all possible - from helping out behind the scenes, throwing colour, counting money, setting up and helping pack it all up, too. Seeing all those smiling colourful faces having lots of fun definitely makes it all worth it,” she said.

Ms Bancroft said the fundraising component of the event had been exceptional, too - boosted by students collecting sponsorship and promoting their efforts with online fundraising profiles. The incentive of prizes for students who reached various fundraising benchmarks was also an added bonus.

“The goal was to raise $7,000, but we’ve smashed that total to raise over $12,000 for new laptops and other IT equipment for our kids’ classrooms,” she said. “The dedication from students and their families to raise such a large amount has been incredible. We’ve even had three very generous students who have fundraised over $500 each.

“The enthusiasm for this event - before, during and after - has been fantastic. The children and parents are already wanting to know if we’re doing it again next year!”

St Michael’s Mittagong

Up in Mittagong at St Michael’s, the school used the local soccer oval to set up their one kilometre colour run track, with four colour stations and four obstacles to complete.

First was the tyre run and green powder zone, followed by the commando crawl net, where the kids loved getting down and crawling like soldiers before being covered in yellow. Next, they darted in and out of weaving poles before being showered in blue. Finally, after making their way up and down a steep hill, the children crawled on their hands and knees through tunnels, emerging to get sprayed with bright pink powder.

The idea had been for students to run one or two laps of the track, but some loved it so much they completed the course up to eight times!

Year 1 student, Isabelle said it was an exciting run. "I liked it a lot because the obstacles were fun; my favourite obstacle was the commando crawl net. At the end I was like a rainbow, but I especially liked being covered in pink!"

Nine year old, Daniel, agreed. “I really liked the commando crawl net, too. I really enjoyed today, it was very fun and a bit challenging. My favourite colour was green because my teacher ran after me with the powder!”

P&F member and colour run organiser, Liz Martinovic said having the colour fun run as their major P&F fundraiser for the year had been a very positive experience.

“The day was an absolute hit! It was a relaxed, fun event where everyone was laughing and just enjoying themselves. Seeing the kids outdoors, running around being crazy and having fun with both the parent volunteers and teachers was such a reward in itself” - Liz Martinovic, St Michael's Mittagong P&F

“Having parents working together to make this a successful event was also something special to see. Parents who did not know one another previously got to know each other by the end of the day. This was also the case with parents and teachers who had not met before,” she said.

All the children and volunteers finished the day by enjoying a free sausage sizzle - a thank you to the parents and students for all the money they raised for the cause.

“The students enjoyed setting their fundraising goals, and the online fundraising gave them the opportunity to raise more money because they were able to reach family and friends across Australia and even overseas,” Ms Martinovic said. “We’ve raised over $5,000 for new iPads for the school, surpassing our goal!”