On Aug. 4 at 9 a.m. at Wiscasset Middle High School, individuals and families will gather to participate in the third You Are Deeply Loved Color Run. The run is held in memory of Gavin Clark and Alex Taylor. They were best friends from the day they met each other at Wiscasset’s Summer Camp program before their kindergarten year. The boys were silly and sensitive, impeccably polite, and could often be seen waving at drivers as they skateboarded all over town. They were even known to shovel snow and sweep gravel aside to create a space for them to practice on their boards. Tragically, Gavin lost his life just before his 16th birthday in 2015. Alex missed his buddy every day and lost his own life at 19 years old in 2020.  

The Color Run is held in their memory, and in keeping with the boys’ kind hearts and their sense of humor, it is a non-competitive and light-hearted event.   Participants are invited to complete a roughly one-mile course and are welcome to run or walk it. Some past participants have even chosen to go through the course twice. As participants travel the course, volunteers spray them with colored powder, creating a joyful mess of color that washes out. The event is family friendly and, for the first time, it is completely free to participate. There will be temporary tattoos, T-shirts, and stickers available for free as well. Should anyone wish to make a donation, all proceeds will go to an award made in the boys’ memory and given each year to a graduating senior who exhibits exceptional kindness and demonstrates an interest in the arts. Donations can be sent to Gavin Clark & Alexander Taylor Fund, c/o The First, N.A., PO Box 431, Wiscasset, ME 04578 or @gavin-and-alex on Venmo.

The event is all part of an ongoing effort to spread a message of love and kindness in the boys’ memory. The You Are Deeply Loved message comes from a sign Alex saw on the side of the road a couple months before he died. He was touched that someone would share a message of love for strangers to see, and he stopped to take a photo. It seemed right to continue this message in honor of his life and the life of his best friend.