Cloquet Color Run Dedicated to Enthusiast

Cole Drechsler Loved Color Runs, so Rotary Club Honored Him

CLOQUET, Minn. – The Cloquet Rotary Club is ready for the city’s 4th annual Color Run.

“It’s just a really fun event we do to raise money for community projects in the future,” said Junior Rotarian Holly McGinn.

One of the Rotary Club’s three major fundraisers, Cloquet’s Color Run gets bigger every year.

This year the Rotary Club decided to dedicate the Color Run to the memory of Cole Drechsler, who died in July of 2015 after a head-on crash on Highway 61.

Drechsler was part of a set of triplets. His brothers say dedicating this race to Cole makes sense.

“He always liked color runs,” said Trace Drechsler. “Before he passed away, he was actually planning on doing this color run,” added Garrett Drechsler.

Organizers hope dedicating the run to Cole helps boost an event growing in popularity across the country.

“It’s an exciting event and I think a lot of people travel to come up here and do it,” said McGinn. “And the fact that our Color Run is dedicated to someone who was part of the community, a big part of the community, is getting more people out here.”

And while the last two years have been tough for the Drechslers, having the Color Run dedicated to Cole helps them heal.

Ultimately it reminds everybody of his memory,” said Trace. “It’s a great way to bring support together.”

“It’s been hard,” said Garrett. “You just have to move on. With our faith we believe we’ll see him again, that definitely helps.”

Registration is open through the start of the race, which starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, July 22nd at Pine Valley.  In-person registration starts at 7:20 a.m.