The sixth annual Chester County Color 5K run/walk will take place on Saturday, Oct. 8. This year's event, the sixth annual, will be held on the Chester Valley Trail and will start and end in Exton Park, 122 Church Farm Lane, Exton. This is a new venue this year; previously, the fundraiser took place at Everhart Park in West Chester.

The timed 5K is open to both runners and walkers. On-site registration will begin at 8 a.m., followed by the race start at 9 a.m. Medals will be given out for the first-, second- and third-place finishers in various age categories.

Participants will be doused in different-colored powder at the start of the race and along the course. "At different points throughout the race course, there are color stations and people will be doused in color as they run past," explained Rebecca Brain, Chester County public information officer. "It's cornstarch and completely biodegradable, and it washes out."

There will be an option for runners and walkers who choose not to participate. "Runners who don't want to interact with the color can take a route around the color stations that allows them not to be sprayed with powder," noted Brain.

Participants will travel along the Chester Valley Trail through Exton Park and the neighboring corporate center. "It's a two-lap course, and those who are walking can just walk one lap if they prefer," Brain pointed out. "We will have the fire police out there to control traffic."

The presenting sponsor for the 2022 Chester County Color 5K is the John R. Gailey III and JoEllen Berger Charitable Fund. Funds generated through this year's Color 5K will support Chester County's Community Outreach Prevention and Education (COPE) program.

Through the COPE program, overdose survivors who are being treated in emergency rooms at any hospital in Chester County can meet with a certified recovery specialist within an hour of entering the ER. The peer specialist is available to speak with the overdose survivor and provide personal support and a direct connection to treatment and recovery services.

COPE peer specialists also work with the overdose survivor's family and friends to advise them on how to navigate insurance coverage, ways to get treatment and how to obtain and use naloxone. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"The purpose of the Color 5K is to raise funds to tackle opioid and heroin addiction with a family-friendly event but also to reduce the stigma of substance use disorder," said Brain.

Previous Chester County Color 5K events have attracted thousands of participants and supporters and, combined, have raised more than $200,000. "We have everybody. We have serious runners, fun runners and people of all ages," Brain noted.

For more information or to register for the 2022 Chester County Color 5K, visit http://www.chesco.org/color5K. Sponsorship opportunities are available at various levels for organizations and individuals. Those interested in sponsoring the event can contact Brain at rbrain@chesco.org.