The ‘happiest 5K on the planet’ is heading for the city. It’s taken as read that Abu Dhabi Week checked it out ahead of the green light…
Red and yellow and pink and green, orange and purple and blue. You can sing a rainbow but can you run it? Dubbed the ‘happiest 5k on the planet’, The Color Run is making its Abu Dhabi debut with thousands of lively residents expected to get down to Yas Marina Circuit on 29th March.
Colour the world
Imagine a race where no one cares about your finishing time, where competitors are smiling more when they cross the line than they were before they started.
The Color Run was ‘born’ in January 2012 in the Unites States as an event to bring together a happy and healthy community. Since its inception, the fun run has painted the world, with over 170 lively events in more than 30 countries in 2013.
With a tour schedule that includes Argentina, Australia, Finland, Japan, Romania, South Africa and Uruguay, The Color Run is attempting to make having a healthy lifestyle fun.
The 5km run is an untimed course that sees ‘color runners’ start in white and finish doused in vibrant hues from head to toe. Once you pop, the fun don’t stop; at each kilometre mark, a kaleidoscope of colours are thrown at participants. Runners let loose at the Finish Festival, showing their true colours with live music, dancing and of course, regular colour throws.
The Color Run takes care to use 100 per cent natural and safe food-grade corn starch in their multi-coloured explosions. If you’re a neat freak, there are designated ‘cleaning stations’ at the Finish Festival to dust yourself off.
Paint the capital
Last year’s Dubai edition, which was the first Color Run in the Gulf Region, welcomed a whopping 8,500 participants to the Dubai Autodrome and the capital’s March edition hopes to beat its neighbour’s turnout.
UAE health insurance company, Daman, through their initiative ActiveLife, aims to make healthy living fun so teaming up with The Color Run was an obvious choice.
It’s crazy, it’s colourful and best of all it’s casual. Although the event is presented by ActiveLife and calls itself a run, that shouldn’t deter you. Whether you’re an experienced triathlete or wouldn’t run unless your life depended on it, The Color Run is the perfect excuse to get active without even thinking about it.
This year, Professional Egyptian triathlete and ActiveLife ambassador Omar Nour will be joining the lively throng of revellers. The formerly overweight triathlete, who tipped the scales at 100kg, is the perfect spokesman for a healthy lifestyle, offering inspiration to many.
“Having transformed my own life through sport, I felt drawn to The Color Run because it provides a rare, unpressured platform to kick-start a new healthier, happier life,” said Nour.
After ripping two suits while getting out of his car, a heavy Nour signed up for a local triathlon only to realise how unfit he was. Vowing to live a healthier lifestyle, Nour lost over 30kg, climbed up the ranks and turned pro just in time for the 2010 International Triathlon Union season. During the winter, the Olympic hopeful trains in the UAE and recently competed in the capital’s TriYAS competition.
“The Emirates are full of challenging, hard-core fitness events, which are perfect for me, but are not for everyone. It felt incredible to be surrounded by all different types of people having so much fun at The Color Run in Dubai.
“The atmosphere was exhilarating and that’s what I can’t wait to see again in Abu Dhabi this month.”
Be a colour runner
Participants of all speeds, ages, shapes and sizes present themselves squeaky clean at the start line on Yas Marina Circuit. Competitors will be sent off in waves for their 5km dash towards the finish, tossed with bright powder along the way. Forget about the clock. Participants can run, walk, crawl, push a stroller and even cartwheel their way through the happy 5k. If the event’s youngest one-year-old competitor and oldest 97-year-old runner can’t convince you to sign up, we don’t know what will.
Part of being a true colour runner is making sure you look the part. On run day, head over to The Color Run Store and accessorise yourself with retro running socks, official race tutus, disco trucker hats or party sunglasses to complete your colourful attire.
For those who have a sanitation fetish or want to catch the action from a distance, spectators are welcome to attend, although even they may not escape clean. Organisers suggest locking up phones and cameras in ziplock bags and covering your eyes with chic goggles or colour-rific shades to avoid going ‘colour blind’ (not really).
There’s no age limit, no fitness tests, and no excuse. Sign yourself up for the one of the silliest events there is. The capital’s edition takes place at Yas Marina Circuit, the first Color Run in the world to be held on an F1 track.
Registration is now open but you better hurry as tickets are selling fast. You can grab your race kit from the Color Run crew at TrainYas or GoYas on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Entry costs AED 140 and includes a race pack with The Color Run T-shirt, event number, tattoo and an official Color Runner headband.
Colour for a cause
If taking part wasn’t enough to put a smile on your face, you can feel good knowing The Color Run is putting a smile on someone else’s. The organisers will donate $1 of every entry to Operation Smile UAE, with further proceeds being given to runners’ chosen JustGiving charity initiatives.
Operation Smile is an international children’s charity devoted to saving the lives of children born with facial deformities. Donations go towards providing free surgeries to allow children with clefts to smile properly. Operation Smile UAE was established in 2011 and is run by a team of volunteers who help conduct overseas missions and build awareness on the deformity.
To find out more, visit: ArabEmirates.OperationSmile.org
In numbers
2012: Inaugural Color Run
29th March: 1st edition in the capital
$1: From each entry donated to Operation Smile UAE
$3 million: Raised for charity since inaugural event
4: Colour zones over the 5km
15: Minute intervals of colour throws at the after-party
42: Countries on the global
Color Run tour
Registration closes at 5pm on 22nd March. For more details or to register online visit,
www.thecolorrun.ae/Abu-Dhabi
