A COLOUR run event held by two young business owners exceeded expectations with hundreds of participants raising thousands for charity.

The cricket green at Overton Recreation Centre became a vibrant canvas of colour when more than 200 participants covered it with explosions of powdered paint in a fun run to raise money for a children's charity.

Taking place on Friday, July 26, the event was organised by Tyler Bradley and George Metzger, both 22, from Basingstoke, who own the GT Sports Academy, specialising in teaching cricket.

Bowled over by the success of the event, cricket coach Tyler told the Gazette that it "went better than expected".

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The colour run exceeded expectationsThe colour run exceeded expectations (Image: Aimee Collins/Jason Metzger)

He continued: "The event was a great success, we had roughly 250 people there throughout the afternoon and everyone who we have spoken to has said they had a great time with us."

A first event of its kind for the pair, Tyler was delighted to have raised thousands for his chosen charity Little Lives UK, which works to support disabled and disadvantaged children.

Tyler said: "We raised £2,500 including money over the bar, this was £800 the cricket club took and we made the rest all in a four-hour period."

As well as the colour run, the pair organised a number of other fundraising activities, including cricket-themed games, an auction and a raffle which boasted some top prizes.

Tyler said: "The raffle and auction were amazing and took the majority of the funds raised, the speed throwing and batting challenges were a great hit of competitivity from everyone competing for the top spot of the leader boards.

"We had some great prizes including a Eurocamp holiday, tickets to Lords, afternoon tea at Oakley Hall and much more.

"One of our auction pieces went for £150 which was a Joe Root Signed photo and another went for £75 which was a Jimmy Anderson signed photo."

Following the success of this event, the pair are excited to announce their plans to make it an annual occasion, and are already thinking about how they can expand next year.

Tyler said: "We will most certainly be running this event on an annual basis and already have bigger and better plans for next year."

To find out more about the GT Sports Academy, go to gtsportsacademy.co.uk/home.