The Swisse Color Run

The Swisse Color Run

November marked the beginning of a colourful new era in the health and happiness of Australians with the arrival of The Swisse Color Run.
The five kilometre fun run with a colourful twist kicked off in Melbourne at Flemington Racecourse on Sunday, November 25th.

Catering for participants of all ages and fitness levels, The Swisse Color Run Melbourne course offered participants the rare opportunity to travel the iconic home straight at Flemington, passing the Winning Post to complete the run.

Donating through its Celebrate Life Foundation, Swisse hope to generate more than $1 million in charitable contributions over the next 12 months through The Swisse Color Run, and other fundraising efforts.

Just by being involved, participants will be helping the Celebrate Life Foundation and The Swisse Color Run to raise funds for a range of Australian charity organisations across the series, with a donation made to a selected charity following each event. The inaugural Melbourne run is dedicated to benefiting the Australian Paralympic Committee.

Once runners complete the course, the fun and festivities continue with the -Finish Festival'. A coloured extravaganza of epic proportions featuring music and a family-friendly party atmosphere, celebrations culminate in a mass throw of colour packets to create a cloud of rainbow colours. Importantly, there will also be an area for runners to get cleaned up before leaving the venue.

 Hawthorn footballer, Josh Gibson, participated in The Melbourne Color Run; 'I had a smile on my face the whole time," Josh said. 'There was an amazing atmosphere, not only at the colour stations but all the way along."

Josh Gibson carried the water and dust resistant Sony Xperia with him and was able to capture the whole event; 'I got some amazing up close footage of people getting hit by the colour and loving every minute. It was great not having to worry about my phone getting damaged by the dust along the way, and being able to just wash it off afterwards," he added.

The Color Run series began in Arizona in the US in January 2012 and instantly captured the imagination of the American public, attracting almost one million -Color Runners' to date.

Australia is privileged to be the first country to welcome the phenomenon outside of the US. Inspired by the Hindu Holi festival, with its tradition of welcoming Spring by throwing natural coloured powders, The Swisse Colour Run guarantees a truly memorable experience as runners are showered in coloured powder (made from food grade corn starch, 100% natural and safe) at each kilometre stage, turning their pristine white attire into a rainbow explosion of colours!

For a taste what The Swisse Color Run is all about, visit http://thecolorrun.com/australia/

Review: The Color Run (which started in the US, hence the spelling) is a unique event that puts the -fun' back in fun run because it's not about competiveness or personal bests; it's about being covered in coloured chalk whilst being with friends and family, and of course, having the best day, ever! I participated in the very first, sold-out, Color Run in the Southern Hemisphere and not only was The Color Run the best 5kms I've done, we also raised funds for the Australian Paralympic Committee.

With all participants wearing white, The Color Run combines the exercise of a fun run with various stations where you run through colourful chalk clouds and are sprayed with coloured dust, leaving runners covered in a rainbow of colours.

The vibrant Color Run is completely family friendly and allows participants to walk or run the 5km stretch – runners to the right, walkers, dancers, singers, cartwheelers and skippers to the left. The atmosphere was very positive and provoked happiness – everyone had a smile on their face.

As you can see, we wore sunglasses to protect our eyes from the chalk however the colour washes off quiet easily from hair, skin and clothes – just don't wear your expensive clothes, shoes or sunglasses because it does get messy! Messy is an understatement (see before and after shot) but none of that matters once you've run the happiest 5kms on the planet and your cool down includes jumping, dancing and throwing colour packets in the rainbow coloured Finish Festival! How many events do you know that throw a colourful dance party, after the course is completed?

As the Finish Festival concluded, we headed towards the gate where we got a blow down, allowing us to clean up a little, before leaving the rainbow coloured Flemington.

Sony Mobile, a sponsor of The Color Run, kindly allowed me to use their new Sony Xperia smartphone (which is water and dust proof) to take footage from within the midst of colours at The Melbourne Color Run. There is no way I'd suggest taking your typical smartphone on The Color Run (especially because I found coloured chalk in places I'd never have expected); however because the Sony Xperia is dust proof (and coloured chalk proof) I ran easily with it in my hand snapping away and then once I'd completed the 5km run, I dropped it in a bowl of water to clean it off!