The Color Run

Southeastern Wisconsin loves its running, biking and athletic events. Whether that means a traditional (42.2K) marathon, tougher ironman-like triathalons, or charity-based 5K Run/Walks, many organizations have a fundraising stroll or jog in Milwaukee. Make-A-Wish Foundation‘s “Walk and Run for Wishes” was held Saturday and the “Fiesta Walk” for Diabetes and Obesity Awareness was held Sunday, ending at Festa Mexicana. But none are as colorful as the one held Friday outside Miller Park.

The Color Run features 1K gauntlets where participants are doused with a brightly-colored powder. This American adaptation takes its inspiration from the Festival of Holi, celebrated in India during Phalgun Purnima. The spring ritual celebrating good over bad has participants throwing scented and colored powders at each other as a sign of joy. This was certainly on display in Milwaukee, as the tens of thousands of runners filtered through the route; winding around the stadium, past Helfaer Field, underneath the freeway, and then back through to the outer (Uecker and Yount) parking lots where a giant party thrown by Chevrolet Spark awaited them late into the evening hours. A portion of the proceeds from registrations went to help the Brewers Community Foundation.

It was a wild event with some spectacular visuals, both from team costumes and from the applied day-glo yellow, blue, orange and red patterns overlaying faces, shirts, and shoes. We visited all the stations from the opening blast until the dust settled, and present our findings in a photo gallery below (or you can see the whole set via our Flickr account here).

If you missed out, don’t worry. The parent company that runs these nationally-touring 5K events stuck a glossy postcard on my windshield advertising a night-based “Glo-Run” along Milwaukee’s lakefront on Sept. 22, and a “Milwaukee Santa” 5K Run/Walk on Dec. 2. Plus, the Color Run is set to return to Racine and arrive in Chicago next May.