The Color Run

Founding

The Color Run, also known as "The Happiest 5K on the Planet", was founded by Utah native and event producer Travis Snyder in March 2011, in an effort to encourage professionals and novices to run together for fun and to promote healthiness and happiness. The first event took place in March 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona, with 6,000 participants.

Origins

As of 2017, the official website acknowledges that the event "was inspired by several awesome events, including Disney’s World of Color, Paint Parties, Mud Runs, and festivals throughout the world such as Holi".

International growth

The Color Run has reached more than triple growth in the number of events held, with more than 300 events hosted in over 50 countries in 2014. In 2015 The Color Run have held hundreds of events worldwide including 112 events held in the United States, 7 in the United Kingdom, 6 in Australia and 4 in China. With the increasing popularity of the event, The Color Run has introduced "The Color Run Night" in 2014 which features a 5K run after dark with glow-in-the-dark chalk.

In 2012, The Color Run held events in over 50 North American cities, with a total of more than 600,000 participants. It has therefore become the largest five-kilometer event series in the United States. In 2013, events were planned for over 130 cities in the United States, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia. In February 2013, IMG Worldwide announced a multi-year partnership with The Color Run, LLC, with plans to expand the event series into dozens of countries in Europe and Asia. Hundreds of similar color-themed running events have since launched throughout the United States and internationally.

Color Run IMG

The Color Run and IMG extended their partnership for the expansion of The Color Run into dozens of countries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. "IMG has announced an aggressive slate of events across the globe in major markets like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Barcelona, Madrid, Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Dublin, Manchester, Toronto, Vancouver, Vietnam and many more. IMG continues to add countries to its portfolio with a new focus on the Middle East with the addition of Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Egypt."

Color Run Australia

The Color Run events in Australia began in 2012 and are held in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Townsville, Sunshine Coast, Perth, Newscastle, Wollongong, Adelaide, Canberra and previously Cairns. The inaugural Australian Color Run took place in November 2012 in Melbourne. The run had 12,000 participants, and over 3,000 kg of colored powder was thrown around the 5 km track at Flemington Racecourse. Part of the money raised was donated to the Australian Paralympic Committee. The second Color Run, held at Sydney Olympic Park in February 2013, had over 20,000 runners. The event raised around $200,000 for Heartkids. The 2014 national charity partners include Australian Red Cross, Beyond Blue, Vision Australia, Cancer Council, Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia, RSPCA, Heartkids and Fight Dementia. The sponsor, Swisse, were planning to generate over AUD$1 million in charitable contributions through all 13 Color Runs in Australia in 2014.

Course and participants

The untimed event emphasizes fun over competition. Open to first-time runners as well as families and children, the event is for runners and walkers. Registration fees typically start at around $24 US but can vary depending on region and package. According to The Color Run’s 2012 figures, over 60% of the participants were running a five-kilometer race for the first time, and over 70% of the participants were women ages 18–40. In 2013, there are expected to be a million participants.

Runners begin dressed in clean white T-shirts, and pass through 5 color stations, one every kilometer. Each color station is associated with a different color, with volunteers blasting the runners with dyed cornstarch out of bottles. At the finish line following the untimed run, there are typically celebrations featuring a dance party and food vendors.

The Color Run currently holds the title of the largest running event in the world. Since early 2011, Travis Snyder has grown The Color Run from a start up to over 200 annual events and over 2 million annual participants in countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, UAE, Australia, and Asia.

Tropicolor World Tour

In 2016, The Color Run theme was the Tropicolor World Tour featuring new experiences including the Tropicolor Zone where runners were covered in a tropical array of colors and island scents as they passed through palm trees and island-style music. Each runner received a limited-edition race shirt, finisher's medal, and an embroidered headband to wear in the 5k.

Shine Tour

In 2015, The Color Run's new tour was the Shine Tour. With the new Shine Tour, the Color Run created an immersive and transformative experience beyond anything runners have experienced with them so far by adding glitter to the powder and other unique elements.

Kaleidoscope Tour

The Kaleidoscope Tour was The Color Run's new tour for 2014. The planned features were to include kaleidoscope attractions on the course, photo opportunities and "Kaleidoscope fun" at the finish festival. The Color Run Erie, one of 98+ tour stops in the Kaleidoscope Tour, sold out in less than a month with 10,000 participants.

Color Run Night

On Saturday, October 18, 2014, the very first Color Run Night took place in the United States in the Philadelphia area. Around 10,000 people gathered for the event. The run involved glow-in-the-dark powder, glowing color zones, black lights along the course, and a black light head lamp for each participant to run with.

Participants dress in black and get coated with fluorescent powder on this 5k course. The run finishes with a festival that includes more color and light, and lots of music and dancing.

On Saturday September 5 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve at parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal will host the first edition of Color Run Night in Canada.

In 2016 The Color Run Night included glowing tee, black light headlamp, and glow color packet

Corporate sponsorship

A variety of corporations sponsor The Color Run in different locations. For example Chevrolet sponsored The Color Run US in 2012 and 2013, Shout in 2014, Swisse in Australia,. and Dulux in the UK and Ireland. Mitsubishi was named the “Official Vehicle Partner” of “The Color Run Night” on October 18, 2014.

Major League Baseball and the Minnesota Twins teamed up to host the inaugural "The Color Run MLB All-Star 5K presented by Nike" on July 13, 2014, at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights, Minnesota as part of the festivities of All-Star Week. On hand to get runners started were Hall of Famers Juan Marichal and Dave Winfield; former Twins Scott Erickson and Doug Mientkiewicz; MLB executive vice president of business Tim Brosnan; The Color Run founder Travis Snyder; actor/comedian Rob Riggle; and T.C. plus eight of his fellow MLB mascots, along with Runicorn, mascot for The Color Run. Kat Perkins, the Minneapolis-based singer and top-five contestant on The Voice, performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the race.

In 2015 Major League Baseball and The Color Run partnered together during All-Star week in Cincinnati for "The Color Run MLB All-Star 5K, Presented by Nike". The event featured appearances by baseball legends, mascots and other special guests.

In 2016 Major League Baseball and The Color Run partnered for the third year in a row during All-Star Week in San Diego for "The Color Run MLB All-Star 5k, Presented by Nike." The event featured baseball legends and MLB mascots, and singer Michael Franti performed at The Color Run's new yoga event, Soul Pose.

In 2016 The Color Run partnered with Sparkling Fruit2O for races in Canada where participants were given samples of the carbonated waters and teas at the finish line. The Color Run also partnered with Epson in 2016, where they provided an Epson EcoTank tent for post-race photo ops and new technology to check out. In addition to these companies, The Color Run also partnered with Sally Hansen Canada where they did a giveaway for some beauty products as well as tickets to a Color Run event. In the same year Alcatel, Kohls, and KIND partnered with The Color Run in U.S. and Canada. KIND gave away a bike once a month and products at select Color Run cities.

Charity partnerships

The Color Run, LLC a for-profit organization, partners with a national or local charity at each event, such as a children’s hospital or a local food pantry.

Global Poverty Project was The Color Run's global charity partner in 2013. According to a Huffington Post article, "Color Runners around the country will have the opportunity to not only run in the happiest race ever, but also get involved in the movement to end extreme poverty through GlobalCitizen.org, where they can learn about issues, take actions, and raise funds for non-profits."

For 2016 along with local charities for each city, The Color Run partnered with the Huntsman Cancer Foundation and the Sigma Chi International Fraternity to be the generation to end cancer.

Reception

According to Running USA, non-traditional running events have increased from low six figures in 2009 to 4 million in 2013. About 60% of The Color Run entrants have never run a 5K. Most are brand new runners of all ages.

Media

The Color Run was featured on an episode of ABC’s Extreme Weightloss which aired on September 2, 2014.

Awards and recognition

The Color Run was honored as the "Best B2C Marketing Team" at the 2014 Utah Marketing Awards.

Travis Snyder, founder and CEO of The Color Run, was selected as part of the Utah Business Magazine "2015 Forty under 40". He was the keynote speaker at Running USA’s "The Next Evolution" conference held June 2015 in Chicago, with a focus on non-traditional races. Runners World named Snyder one of "The 50 Most Influential People in Running" for his innovation, social media savvy, and strategic influence in the running industry.

The Color Run LLC in 2016 was ranked number 3420 on Inc. 5000 list of top 5000 fastest growing private companies.

Safety concerns

On 27 June 2015 a serious outdoors dust explosion occurred in Taiwan's capital city Taipei due to colored cornstarch powder, injuring over 500 participants and causing 15 deaths. This brought public attention to the possible health and safety dangers of airborne powders such as the combustible starch powder used by The Color Run. The Taiwanese authorities have since banned events islandwide involving combustible colored powder.

On 30 June 2015 the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a joint statement that they will assess all safety aspects associated with the use of colored powder before granting approval for the upcoming Color Run event to be held in Singapore. Additional measures such as changing the colored powder to non-combustible materials such as colored water mist may be required before the event is given approval to proceed.

Due to ongoing safety concerns, Shanghai called off its Color Run. On 2 July 2015, Shenyang also decided to call off its Color Run and promised full refunds to all participants.

Hong Kong officials also considered banning the use of colored powder spray in public events, and the cancellation of two upcoming events that employed the use of these colored powders - a music party called “Life in Color” scheduled to be held on 25 July, and “The Color Run” set for 6 December 2015.

The Color Run has since returned to China where IMG hosted 5 events in 2016.

The organizers of The Color Run have disclosed that the colored powders they use are "a combination of cornstarch, baking soda, and FD&C dyes". They have said they are committed to staging safe and secure events, asserting that they have "not had any fire-related incidents in over 500 events around the world involving more than 4 million participants". They have also stated that "as a professional events company with highly vetted policies and processes, we conduct thorough testing to ensure the safety of our materials and their application, and we are confident in the safety of our events". However, details about the nature and extent of safety and health effects testing have not been publicly released.