Downtown Vicksburg will be painted the colors of the rainbow in September as an estimated 750 runners take part in the annual True Color Run.

Registration is now open for the third annual True Color Run hosted by the United Way of West Central Mississippi. The race will take place Sept. 23 in Vicksburg starting at 8 a.m., but an official route has not been decided yet.

The race will include an approximately two and a half mile run through five color stations of various colors.

“Each one of the color stations symbolizes one of the issues we address in our community,” United Way executive director Michelle Connelly said. “Such as purple would represent domestic violence and pink would represent breast cancer awareness.”

There will also be a big blast of color at the start of the race that will coat the runners in a vibrant mixture of colored cornstarch.

Every runner will be given a white t-shirt in their pre-race swag bag with Live United printed on the front to wear during the race. Along with the white t-shirt, racers are encouraged to wear their wacky and fun outfits as they come out for a day of good times for a good cause.

“It shows the great colors that get thrown on you,” Connelly said of the white shirt. “We have people that show up with wacky socks, headbands, tutus, you name it the wilder and craziest you can get the better.”

Racers can expect to be covered in color by the end of the race.

The colors are designed to wash out of clothes, but Connelly said they can’t guarantee that there won’t be at least some staining.

“I wouldn’t wear my best of my best,” she said. “Sometimes when you are sweating it does leave a little stain. I would say 95 percent of it does wash out. I wouldn’t wear my $200 sneakers to it by no means.”

There will also be mini parties along the race route provided by the businesses that adopt the five color stations and a celebration at the end of the race featuring additional blasts of color every 30 minutes.

The True Color Run serves as the kickoff of the United Way’s annual campaign and every dollar from the registration fees will be used to support the United Way’s partner agencies.

The goal Connelly said is for people to have a good time, while also recognizing and raising support for all the United Way does in the community.

“When you do run through those colors, we ask people to take a second and recognize what they are actually doing,” she said. “When they are running through purple, think about the women that will be able to stay in the shelter and find a safe place.”

Registration for the race can be completed online at unitedwayvicksburg.org/run. The fee is $25 if registration is complete before Aug. 1 and $30 after that date. When registering, participants will also be able to pick a local school to support and the school with the most participants will receive $500 for its library.