One Nation, Under God

Color Run Welcomes Family Fun

The Malta Parks and Recreation's Fifth Annual Color Fun Run provided quite the atmosphere for runners, walkers, and family last Friday, June 3, in Malta.

In all, 33 participated in the event.

The route for the fun run remained the same as in previous years, but the evening was noticeably different.

The first major change was the time of the event. While in previous years the event was held mid-morning, this year the 5K race started at 6 p.m. and the one mile at 7 p.m.

"We wanted to do a family event and do it in the evening so that people can hang out and have dinner with their families afterward," Malta Parks and Recreation Director Sally Wright said.

The event had a cornhole station, a tattoo station, a photo booth, as well as food from A&E Catering, and snow cones by the Raymond family.

"We also have Family Connections from Havre and they gave out things for children," Wright said.

Wright was proud of her volunteers and mentioned that two of those volunteers were her parents Les and Nyla Bush, who currently live in Lewistown.

Wright was joined by Malta Parks and Recreation assistant director Kristina Benner, who was stationed at the registration table.

Runners, walkers, and stroller pushers started at Riverview Park then went to the M Trail where they would find the Bank of Malta's red station, then the path led to the City Shop where the Phillips County Hospital and Family Health Clinic Staff waited to douse runners with blue, the next station was across Highway 191 to Short Oil Road where the First State Bank of Malta's station blanketed participants in green. The React table was set up near Malta SkatePark with plenty of purple. After that, participants had to cross the canal bridge and head to Hi-Line Market, which was a non-color sponsor along with Albertsons. At Hi-Line Market, orange was all the rage as Valley Drug employees and a living traffic cone blasted runners with orange. The finish line was at Riverview Park.

The Phillips County Hospital and Health Clinic team won the favorite booth award for the third straight year.

Albertsons provided water and bananas for the event, while Hi-Line Market provided a prize to the winning color booth.

As far as the 5k, Malta's Lesa Williamson and Thea Solberg crossed the line first. Solberg, who is the Malta High School Cross Country coach had an application that timed her run at 28 minutes and 47.

"This was great," Solberg said of the weather. "Even though it was in the 70s, it was overcast and there was a breeze and it felt perfect."

Solberg, who is an avid runner said that she didn't break a sweat. Though she has ran in numerous runs including marathons and half-marathons, it was the first time that Solberg ran in the Malta Parks and Recreation Color Fun Run.

"I thought that it was kind of fun," she said. "It was a different style of run. This was just a fun atmosphere."

The second duo to cross the line was Malta's Lisa Young and her son Kael Young.

Kael said that it was fun to run with his mother. Though they hardly run together, they both enjoyed the experience.

"He kept a pretty good pace," Lisa said. "He was fun to run with. It gave me a chance to chit-chat with him."

Kael's favorite part of the run was visiting the orange booth.

"It's my favorite color," Kael said.

Lisa said that they struggled with the uphill run at Short Oil Road, but after that things became much easier.

Kael will be a freshman at MHS, but a couple of years ago, in Plentywood, their previous home, he ran in an event called the Whole Dam Thing, a six-mile course.

The whole Young family participated in the event for the first time since moving to Malta in 2021.

This year, the Young Family donated the backdrop for the photo booth.

"This was super fun," Lisa said. "I am super proud of those parks and rec ladies. They did a lot of work, put in a lot of effort, and made things super fun, especially for the families."

Though they did not keep up with the runners, Thea's husband Orvin and daughter Stacey Kresal walked the length of the 5K.

Orvin was the very first adult man to cross the finish line; walking stick and all. He had color on his face and all over his body, but not a particle on his glasses.

"It was really good," O. Solberg said. "I got to walk with my daughter. We made it. Up the hill made us puff a little bit but it worked out good. It was a very enjoyable race and a beautiful day."

Kresal shared the thought of her father.

"I really enjoyed the race, it was a lot of fun," Kresal said. "I have never done a color run before but it was a blast."

 

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