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Run through Sydney with The Color Run

This event, which started a few years ago as a running event for 6,000 participants in the American city of Phoenix, has grown into one of the most famous sports festivals in the world. After editions in Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, New York and 150 other cities, and with more than 1 million participants worldwide, The Color Run will be descending on Sydney this year – and it is raining powder in all the colours of the rainbow.

Imagine: you arrive in snow white clothes for the start of a 5-kilometre running event, and after 1,000 metres, a cloud of blue powder lands on you. Another 1,000 metres further along and you are generously dusted with yellow powder, which is soon followed by orange and pink. By the time you reach the finish line there is not a speck of white left in sight. Then the Finish Festival erupts, even more coloured powder is thrown and you and the other 20,000 participants merge in to a large, multi-coloured living picture.

The Color Run: 23 August 2015 in Sydney
The Color Run: 23 August 2015 in Sydney

Sydney

The most colourful 5 kilometres on earth

Taking part is more important than winning – that age-old saying certainly applies to The Color Run. This is not a traditional running event, The Color Run is not a race and you don’t even have to run. The participants are not timed so there are no winners; it’s all about having fun. You can power walk, walk or skip and dancing is absolutely encouraged. There is only one rule: runners overtake on the right and everyone else stays left, as it is Australia. Other than that, anything goes and there is plenty of time to have fun with the other participants, take a selfie or to give your friends a little extra colour. As there is no winning ceremony at the end, there is instead one big celebration party. At the finish line, all participants are greeted by an enormous cloud of colour, followed by laughing, drinking and dancing. Until you reach the Cleaning Station, The Color Run is the happiest and most colourful 5 kilometres on earth.

“This running event is not a race; you don’t have to run and you can even dance”

Sydney is expecting about 20,000 participants

Inspired by the Holi Festival in India

Inspired by the Holi Festival in India, the American city of Phoenix organised the very first Color Run in 2012, during which about 6,000 participants took part and had colourful fun. The run has since conquered the world: there are events in 150 cities in 50 countries with a million runners annually. The organisation is not shy that its goal is making a profit, but part of the proceeds from every event go to charity. The hope is that with 13 Color Runs in Australia, 1 million Australian dollars (approx. 650,000 euros) can be collected for children who are living with heart conditions.
It’s a party at the finish!

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