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8,500 register for Colour Run in Capital on March 29

Participants of all ages are encouraged to run, walk or dance the five-kilometre track, passing through several colour stations to celebrate healthiness and happiness. .

The first-ever Colour Run will be held in Abu Dhabi on Yas island on March 29.

According to the organiser, IMG, it is not just a first for the UAE capital, but also it is the first time it is happening on a Formula1 racetrack.

Dubbed as the “happiest 5 km on the planet”, Colour Run is a paint race that celebrates healthiness, happiness and individuality. There is no trophy, no timing and no actual racing involved in the run.

Instead, participants of all ages are encouraged to run, walk or dance their five-kilometre track, passing through several colour stations, where vibrant coloured powder is thrown over them just for fun. At the finish line, all participants are rewarded with ever more red, blue and various other colours.

“The Colour Run fun doesn’t have to end with the Finish Festival. Located just 45 minutes from Dubai, Yas Island and our official partners have everything you need to escape the everyday, and add some colour to what will make a spectacular weekend,” said Greg Sproule, managing director of IMG Middle East.

On the day, Yas Waterworld will offer 50 per cent discount and Yas Viceroy hotel has a preferential rate via the official website thecolorrun.ae/Abu-Dhabi, as well as a free two nights stay through its Facebook page.

With thousands of people expected to take part, Abu Dhabi Motors has just announced it is joining the part by launching its all-new Mini Hatch at next weekend’s Colour Run.

The run will actually start when the Mini Hatch, wrapped in official branding, will lead waves of Colour Runners over the start line at the circuit. MINI will also sponsor the ‘Red Colour Station’, one of four spots along the course, where volunteers will shower runners with coloured powder.

In the lead-up to the event, fans will have the opportunity to win a Mini for the weekend if they spot one of the three branded cars driving around key Abu Dhabi locations and send a picture to Mini’s social media channels. Colour Runners will also have the chance to win a Mini for the weekend on the day by taking the “craziest photo” at the Mini photo booth.

Only launched in January 2012, Colour Run started with 50 events that year and moved up to over 100 runs in 2013. This year, at least 250 runs are projected, involving some three million participants worldwide.

The Colour Run presented by Activelife burst into the Middle East in December 2013, when the sold-out Dubai event saw 9,000 Colour Runners dance, walk and run their way around the course. Among them, the youngest “runner” was a one-year-old and the oldest a 73-year-old.

Worldwide, the oldest Colour Runner was 97-year-old Hilda from Louisville.

Meant as a happy event, some 94 people took advantage of the occasion to propose marriage to their loved ones!

During the Abu Dhabi run, about 3,000 kilogrammes of colour will be doused over runners. The organiser, though, assure participants all colours are 100 per cent natural, safe and food grade quality with the main ingredient being corn starch.

After the event, the clean-up will take about two hours, using an industrial air blower and the stand-by sweep-up team.

The 8,500 tickets are nearly sold out, but organisers are considering increasing the numbers. Each ticket is Dh140 and includes a pack with an event T-shirt, sweatband and colour pack. In keeping with The Colour Run’s tenet of giving back to the community, $1 from every registration will be donated to charity through Just Giving.

silvia@khaleejtimes.com