The organizer of Color Run Taiwan yesterday canceled its event in Greater Kaohsiung next month after it failed to secure approval from the Greater Kaohsiung government to scatter colored powder during the race, adding that it would start refunding registration fees next week.
Drawn by the prospect of being showered with colored powder during the 5km race, 15,000 runners signed up for the event.
The International Management Group’s (IMG) office in Taiwan said it has negotiated with the Greater Kaohsiung Government many times. Despite its promise that the corn powder it uses would not cause environmental damage, the company said that it was notified on Friday last week that it could not strew the colored powder during the race.
The company said it has consulted the event’s founder, Travis Snyder, who said the race in Greater Kaohsiung should be canceled as it would not manifest the race’s true spirit if the powder-spreading part was removed.
After securing the understanding from the event’s sponsor in Taiwan, the company said it decided to cancel the run and would give full refunds to participants starting on Thursday next week.
Greater Kaohsiung’s Department of Sports also issued a statement, saying it supports any sports event that is beneficial to physical and mental health and causes no harm to the environment, “but spreading power along the route might pollute the sewage and eco-pools, and could affect the health of the participants as well.”
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