Race leaves city awash with colour
THE annual Color Run left plumes of pink, red, blue and yellow paint powder hanging in the heavy summer air at the Sea Point Promenade.
Thousands came out in support of the event, which runners often use to raise funds via crowdfunding platforms.
The weather played its part, with only a slight breeze wafting off the Atlantic to provide much-needed relief to the runners. Due to the number of participants, the race organisers stagger the start of the race, giving groups of runners a head-start.
Despite this, there was a bit of a bottleneck at the first red powder paint station as the participants covered themselves in colour.
Being a family affair, the route was a sea of children and toddlers among the adult runners, many of whom had torn and cut their Color Run official T-shirts to customise them, while others donned wigs, colourful socks and leggings, oversized bowties and rowdy prop neckties.
There were even a few infants strapped to their dads in papooses, who did their best to escape the protective towels and receiving blankets preventing them from getting too dirty with powdered paint.
The efforts of mom and dad would come to naught, however, as the powder, fine as dust, got into every nook and cranny. There will be parents who will be struggling to get that last bit of powder out of the tight cracks between the panels of their baby’s pram for weeks. But no matter: the powder used is completely non-toxic and washes out very easily.
At the finish line, a carnival atmosphere was made even more tangible by the plethora of food stalls, performers, stilt-walkers and dancers, while Heart FM kept the crowd entertained.
All finishers walked away with a medal this year for the first time, and once runners were ready to go, volunteers with leaf-blowers were on hand to rid them of any excess powder before they left the premises.