Tourism & Hospitality | Sunday 24 March, 2019 2:36 am |

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia received its first big splash of color this weekend as over ten thousand participants joined The Color Run presented by Sunsilk hosted for the very first time in Khobar. In association with the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), the untimed event saw thousands of Saudi residents and expats doused from head to toe in different colorful powders as they enjoyed The Happiest 5k on the Planet. 

The celebrations continued at the larger than life finish festival with a live DJ and MC entertaining the crowd. The post run activities featured music, photo ops, activity booths, vendors, and the world-famous color throws every 15 minutes. The make-up of participants reflected The Color Run’s ethos of inclusivity, with young and young-at-heart, friends and families, the super-fit and the uninitiated, all involved, inspired and thoroughly entertained.

The Color Run aims to act as a catalyst to inspire continual healthy living across the Middle East and worldwide. The Khobar run, which coincided with the Sharqiah season, served as a celebration of health, happiness and individuality in a fun, un-intimidating running environment where participants could enjoy getting fit.

The main theme for the non-competitive run was about celebrating the hero in you, where nothing is impossible, and you are unstoppable! Each hero dressed the part with quirky merchandise received in their participation kit, including exclusive Color Run t-shirts and headbands. Participants who ran, jogged, walked and skipped their way to the finish line also received their very own 2019 limited-edition medals.

The GEA backed the event and commenting on their involvement in the event, Mr. Sultan Al Faqir, Chief Operations Officer at GEA said: “The first event of The Color Run series held in Khobar over the weekend witnessed a marvelous turnout, thousands of participants gathered from across the Kingdom to engage in a healthy activity that combines fun, exercise and charitable giving. The Color Run presented by Sunsilk is a great opportunity to create picture-perfect memories and celebrate health, happiness and individuality. Following the great success of this event, we will be revealing the dates for the following two events set to take place in Riyadh and Jeddah soon”.

“The Color Run presented by Sunsilk, enjoys a vibrancy that matches the aims of the GEA to support and create new options that boost participation across cultural, entertainment, and sports activities. We look forward to introducing more sport and entertainment events of this caliber which have a direct impact on the quality of life and well-being of citizens”, Al Faqir added.

The single largest event series in the world, The Color Run has hosted over 7 million runners worldwide in more than 40 countries, with KSA now added to the list. With the dates for the runs in Jeddah and Riyadh to be announced soon, KSA visitors and residents can keep informed on the latest updates by logging on to www.ksa.thecolorrun.comand sign up to the newsletter.