By Ava Burchell, Staff Writer
At 1 p.m. on March 24, 2024, the cross-country course will be an explosion of color: the Gettysburg Color Run will occur in celebration of Women’s History Month. Students can participate in one of two ways. They can pay to run or walk through the course in their provided t-shirt and bandana, or they can buy packets of colored powder to throw on their friends.
Alexia Ferraro ’24 (Photo William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
In addition to the run, there will be music from female artists playing, posters of impactful female-identifying faculty and students and tables representing the various co-sponsoring clubs, organizations and local woman-owned businesses.
This event is being planned by Alexia Ferraro ’24 with help from Rachel Herr ’26, Emma Murphy ’26 and Bishruti Rijal ’26. So far, co-sponsors include OSAGL, the Women and Gender Studies department, the Brown Nipple Collective, The Women’s Network, HER Campus, the Panhellenic Council and Gamma Sigma Sigma.
“The reason we have so many co-sponsoring organizations is to help bring a large number of people to the event but also to put a spotlight on the work they do on campus. Each organization, if they can, will have a table at the event for students to ask questions about what they do on campus,” said Ferraro.
Ferraro was inspired to plan this event through her positive past experiences with 5k races. She participated in a color run in high school and noticed that although Gettysburg has various 5ks already, there has not yet been one with color. During her participation in the Eisenhower Institute’s Women in Leadership program, Ferraro attended a Women’s History Month 5k.
“At the event, there were so many people gathered together of all different identifying genders and it was great to see everyone come together and celebrate the women in their lives who have made an impact on them. On the bus ride back from DC, we could not stop talking about how much we loved participating in the event,” explained Ferraro.
A Women’s History Month 5k in Washington, D.C. inspired Ferraro to plan this event. (Photo Courtesy of Alexia Ferraro)
The purpose of this event is to host a unique celebration of Women’s History Month. Ferraro wants students of any identifying gender to remember the female faculty and family members in their lives who have significantly impacted them.
“It is also a way to acknowledge the hard work of the individuals who lead and participate in the clubs, organizations and departments who are co-sponsoring our event as well as the women business owners,” said Ferraro.
Ferraro has been in contact with a local female business owner who works with about 15 other local women-owned vendors. She is looking to have such businesses attend the event and hold tables to sell and advertise their goods. Ferraro also hopes that these businesswomen will share advice on how to successfully own a business, what challenges they have encountered and how they overcame obstacles. She is also hoping to obtain a license to add a raffle component to the run.
To stay updated with news about the color run, students are encouraged to follow @gburg_colorrun on Instagram. Additionally, tickets for the run will be sold in CUB during lunchtime from late Feb. to early March.
This article originally appeared on page 7 of the February 2024 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
(Editor’s Note: This article was edited from the print version to correct the spelling of Bishruti Rijal’s last name. – L. Franchetti)
