Polytecnic students get colourful payback

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic students enjoyed the chance to ‘payback’ their favourite tutors yesterday, bombing them with colourful corn flour ahead of Tauranga’s inaugural Colour Dash.

Sixteen staff members accepted the challenge to don white overalls and goggles, with electrotechnology tutor Hennie Vermeulen proving a particularly popular target.

“He’s our favourite tutor – he’s a good sport,” explained electrical engineering student Oliver Lythgoe after drenching the tutor in colour.

“This started with egg throwing during the Polytechnic’s recent world record attempt,” says Hennie.  “We work together and it’s an awesome class that we have.”

The Payback event offered a fun preview of the much anticipated Colour Dash event, which will be held at the Tauranga Racecourse on October 5th.

The Colour Dash is popular in America but it will be the first time New Zealand has hosted one. Participants will get the chance to walk or run a 5km course while being bombed with different coloured paint powder along the way.

The Polytechnic is the key sponsor of the event, which is expected to draw thousands of people and will raise money for the Ronald McDonald House.

Hennie says the paint had a bitter taste and seemed easy to brush off, but he planned to spend the rest of his working day proudly displaying his multi-coloured hues.

*There will be another chance to preview the colourful event at the Mount main beach this Saturday, when members of the public will get the chance to throw paint at targets between 10am and noon.