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5K Friday: Have You Done The Color Run?

a boy with a colorful arm raised
Written by Charlie

If you read about 5K races, you have undoubtedly seen advertisements or mentions of The Color Run. The Color Run says that it is “the happiest 5K on the planet” and continues to expand throughout the world. They currently are held in almost 100 cities around the world with another 25 coming soon. For a series that is only two years old, that is incredible. In fact, their first year saw over 600,000 participants!

The Color Run

As popular as it is, it also has had a lot of controversy with it as well. With stories ranging from the photographer who accused them of using his work without permission (and received a settlement from it) to the way that various outlets view their charity work, there has been a lot of ink about a negative aspect to the event. Some of the people that have not positive things to say have their criticism rooted in the cost to run in it – $45 for an individual to run the 5K distance. Some of that criticism may also stem from regret that some of the people had not thought of it first. 🙂 An average color run is said to bring in around $500,000. Not a bad event to own!

However, it can be hard to argue with success. Their events draw thousands of runners and many are sold out events. For those who are not familiar with it, it is basically an un-timed distance run of 5K with colors being sprayed at the runners at various points throughout the race and then a huge finish festival with more of the same.

So, I am wondering if any of you have run any of The Color Runs and, if so, what your thoughts were on the event. Was it something you would do again? Do you like it or not? If not, what was it that you did not like? From a personal basis, I doubt I would ever do one of these since it just isn’t the type of event I would normally like to run in, but I can tell that there are many who do like it!

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About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.

2 Comments

  • My husband and I are serving as Peace Corps Volunteers in Jamaica and a number of our Volunteer friends have participated in the annual Color Run here. They had a blast and came back with fantastic pictures. We’ve participated in the Reggae Marathon and Jake’s Triathlon- both fantastic- but unfortunately, it wasn’t convenient for us to get to the color run from our volunteer site.

  • Do it! Ive participated in Philadelphia and it is one of the most fun runs I have ever done! Not to mention one of the most colorful. Gotta do it with other people!