Fun Run Basics

FUN RUN BASICS

Paint the Sky for Ava!

Join us for a colorful fun-filled day!

The Colorful Soles Fun Run will be held on July 19, 2026 at the CNY Family Sports Centre in Syracuse to celebrate the life of Ava Wood, a vibrant soul who had touched the lives of so many before she was tragically taken from us all in January of 2023.

Featuring SEVEN color stations around the course, you’ll be coated from head to toe in a variety of vibrant colors. While you’ll wear a white shirt at the start, it certainly won’t be white by the finish!

Due to capacity limits, registration is limited to 250 people, so don’t delay!

Event Schedule

Course

Directions

In honor of Ava Wood #19

Ava’s energetic and vibrant personality had a positive and lasting impact on countless people, and our daughter is among the lucky ones to have known her. Despite only knowing Ava a few short years, her memory will forever carry on.

Following the tragic loss of her teammate and friend, she wanted to create an event that could properly honor someone as bright and colorful as Ava. She also wanted an event that would be dynamic and exciting enough to bring friends, family, teammates, and community members together year after year.

From this inspiration, and with the blessing of Ava’s mother, Colorful Soles was born. Your participation will not only honor the memory of Ava, but 100% of all net proceeds after expenses will be donated directly to the Ava Wood Scholarship Fund established in her name.

Music, fun, laughter, and color!

As the DJ spins the beats, you’ll step onto the upper fields of the CNY Family Sports Centre and proceed to your assigned color station. The run will feature SEVEN stations marked by vibrant 12-foot feather flags…all of which will be stocked with pounds and pounds of colored powder.

On the whistle, you’ll make your way through the course, getting splashed with color at every checkpoint you pass. Once done, gather in the middle of the field for our massive group color throw finale. It’s going to be epic.

To capture the day, a photographer and videographer will be on site to gather footage, so let’s get some amazing action shots for Ava!

Register early for Bonus Merch!

To honor Ava’s jersey number in the sport she loved (#19), race participation is priced at only $19. This will include your entry along with a Colorful Soles t-shirt and all the powdered color you’ll experience.

CHECK OUT THE SWAG!

Paint the sky for Ava!

After you complete the course (runners will do TWO laps, walkers will do one or two depending on their speed), make your way to the middle for the big color throw finale!

Here, you’ll be given extra large handfuls of vibrant color to throw high into the air on the count of three so we can all paint the sky for Ava. Nearly 400 people will all be throwing color into the sky at the same time…and all of it will be captured by camera and video.

We don’t want any leftovers!

After you throw your color, keep on throwing! Throw it high into the air, at each other, create clouds to run through, and dance to the music as you do it. What a fun and wonderful way to close out a fun and wonderful event.

Run solo or with friends!

With 250+ runners and walkers, we won’t have one solo starting line. Instead, seven groups of 30-40 people will gather at each of the seven color stations before making their way around the course.

If you want to start at the same color station as a group of friends or teammates, we’ve made it easy to do so! When registering online, you will have the option to join an existing “team” or create a new one. Once you have a “team,” you can just have people request to be added to it. It’s easy!

When assigning starting color stations, we’ll do our best to keep groups of “teams” together. Have questions? We’re here to help, just contact us. 🙂

Have questions? Need help?

We’ve worked hard to create a fun run that is not only enjoyable, but also easy to join and safe to participate in. For more details on the Colorful Soles Fun Run, we invite you to read our FAQs.

Still have questions, feel free to email me direct at greg@colorfulsoles.org for assistance and I’ll be happy to guide you!

Read FAQs

Fun Run Safety

Weather Guidelines

Colorful Soles Fun Run