The Color Run phenomenon hit the UK for the first time yesterday with the London Color Run at Wembley, the first in a series of 5k races across the country, with upcoming runs in Brighton, Manchester and Belfast.

I was lucky enough to bag a spot in the run and join in the messy, colourful fun! The ‘race’ is really a casual, untimed affair, with many more walkers, strollers and dancers than competitive runners, and is open to all the family, so there were lots of little kids and older folks enjoying the day too. Every kilometre, participants are dusted with a new hue in the form of harmless clouds of colour-saturated cornstarch thrown from the sidelines by volunteers, and at the end of the race given bags of colour dust for the famous, mass release colour clouds at the buzzing after-party. There are opportunities to clean up on site with staff using air blowers to clean off any excess dust and, for those happy to get wet, a massive shower spray which was popular in the hot day.

The whole event was extremely well organised and easy, with plenty of water provided and a friendly and helpful attitude from all the staff and volunteers. It was excellent fun and I will be signing up next year if the Color Run comes back to London. To register for the upcoming Brighton, Manchester or Belfast runs, check out the Color Run website here: http://www.thecolorrun.co.uk/