School Colour Run Guide
The Ultimate Guide to Planning a School Colour Run
The team at Mighty Memorable have been involved in setting up obstacles for fun runs for over 10 years. To ensure a stress free event, below we have put together a huge guide to help you in organising a colour run at school. Be sure to copy this link and share it with your teachers, event organisers, volunteers and participants. The creative ideas below will ensure that your school colour run runs smoothly and is a Mighty Memorable event.
What is a colour run event?
A colour run (also known as a Colour Explosion Run, Colour Dash run or Colour Me Run) is basically a fun run with colour added as the main theme. The most common way that colour is added to a fun run is through the use of colour run powder (also known as holi powder). As the runners run around the course volunteers throw colour powder over them so that it rains down. By the end of the race all of the participants will be covered in a rainbow of colours. Apart from colour powder there are a number of additional products you can use to add extra excitement, flair and creativity to your colour run event such as colourful slime, inflatable obstacles or foam.
How does a colour run work?
A colour run is a fairly simple concept. A course is prepared in advance by the colour run organisers. The course may include a number of colour powder stations spaced out at intervals around the track. As the runners approach these designated sections of the course volunteers are waiting with handfuls of colour powder ready to throw it over the runners. For an easier way to blast the colour powder out, some colour powder suppliers offer the powder in squeeze bottles that get sprayed at the runners. In between the colour powder stations you may choose to set up other obstacles. In the paragraphs below we go into more details about slime blaster stations, popular inflatable obstacles, foam tunnels and more.
What is a colour fun run all about?
Colour runs help to put the FUN in Fun Run and the FUN in fundraising. They not only encourage people to raise money for worthwhile causes to support the community, but they are heaps of fun to participate in. A colour run is a fantastic way to entertain kids and adults alike in an active and healthy way. It is a great way to bring the community together. Volunteers tend to have a great deal of fun blasting colour at the runners and the participants always end up with huge smile on their faces as they are covered head to toe in colour. How fun your course is can be entirely up to you. Colour powder is a great start but there are many more ways to get participants, organisers and volunteers laughing and having fun with creative, challenging and funny additions to your course.
How to do a colour run fundraiser?
Colour runs are very popular for schools and charitable organisations as they are a great way to raise money for worthy causes. If you decide to host a colour run you can make money in a number of different ways.
Colour run ticket prices
The first option is to charge participants per head to be able to participate in the event. Colour runs are a lot of fun to participate in so it is not hard to find contestants willing to pay a ticket price to be able to run the course. You want to make sure you charge enough to cover the cost of the set up (e.g. the colour powder) as well as making some profits for your cause. $10 per head is a common charge for basic fun runs. If you go all out with lots of different obstacles such as inflatables, climbing structures, foam tunnels and such you may be able to (and will want to) charge more per head for a grander event.
Colour Run Sponsors (participants)
It is very common for schools and organisations to raise money by asking participants to find sponsors to sponsor them for the race. Sponsors are simply people who are willing to donate a certain amount of money to help the cause and support the individual competing in the race. This is a good option as there is no limit to the amount of money that participants may be able to raise for their school. Participants can also be incentivise to raise money with prizes provided if they are able to raise a certain amount of money, or grand prizes for the participants that raise the most money. By providing rewards or incentives the participants are more likely to put in an effort to raise more money. Some companies such as Australian Fundraising provide full service colour run packages where they assist in the safe collection of donations and distribution of prizes. Non financial or physical prizes can also be offered such as environmental incentives (for every $50 raised we plant a tree), or fun activity based rewards, such as slime the headmaster, where the highest earner wins the award of sliming a teacher or principal using a bucket of fun run slime.
Colour Run Sponsors (Corporate)
Don't forget to ask around for corporate sponsors for your event. Companies are often looking for unique ways to get their brand in front of particular demographics and a colour run with a lot of participants may be just what they are looking for. Companies could be asked to sponsor an obstacle or two on the course. If they cover the cost of hiring or purchasing the obstacles, then you will be left with less outlay and greater profits. A great way to show off sponsors is with large banners. Inflatable welcome, start and finish arches are great places for custom sponsor banners as participants and spectators usually gather around these inflatables. Our inflatable arch design pictured below is bright and colourful to suit the colour run theme, it also comes with velcro in place for sponsor banners. Learn more or buy an inflatable arch here. I have also heard of companies offering large giveaways for fun run events, these could be used to encourage ticket sales or as fundraising prizes e.g. a local gym might donate 500 branded water bottles for the event.
Buy Colour Run Products
Colour Run Food, Drink and Merchandise sales
A final way to make money at a colour run event is to sell food, drinks and/or memorabilia. If you have a large group of participants, volunteers and spectators, they are likely to get hungry at some point. Offering special food or drink packages, food trucks, or items of memorabilia, such as colour run T-shirts, could be a good idea.
What does a colour run raise money for?
A colour run can be used to raise money for any number of worthwhile causes. A colour run fundraiser for school may be used to raise money for important school supplies and equipment, or to support a charitable organisation. If you plan the colour run school fundraiser, you get to decide where the money goes.
There are some national community events, such as "The Colour Run" which is a touring event with colour run races taking place each year in many Australian cities. The colour run charity for these particular events is currently the Starlight Children's foundation.
How much Colour Run Powder is required per participant?
100-200 grams per participant is usually recommended for shorter courses to ensure each participant gets a nice, colourful coating of colour run powder. The 350g spray bottles are the easiest way for volunteers to blast the powder over the runners. For larger community based events that are run over longer distance courses we suggest anywhere from 300-500 grams per participant.
End of Race Colour Blast
Some event colour run organisers, like to distribute small 100 gram bags of colour powder to each participant for a final colour blast at the end of the race. Participants throw their own powder up in the air in a final colour party celebration.
Other Obstacle Ideas for your Colour run
Slime Colour Runs
School colour runs have become increasingly popular each year in Australia for the last 10 years or so. As more schools realise the amazing benefits of hosting a colour run, fun and unique ideas have been created to keep the courses fresh and exciting. Our team at Mighty Memorable has developed a one of a kid slime fun run product which is perfect for colour runs. Sliming stations can be setup in place of, or in between colour powder stations. Rather than throwing colour powder at the runners, volunteers blast super colourful slime at the participants using large water squirters. Our Party GOAT branded fun run slime packages make 160L of slime per pack in 4 great colours (40L of each colour). Adding some slime blaster stations to your colour fun runs is a very cost effective and easy way to guarantee more fun and excitement during the race. Kids love slime and volunteers always have a ball firing slime at the runners. Click here to learn more about or to buy colour run slime. One of the minor set backs with colour powder is that it doesn't always stay stuck to the runners if they are dry. Our slime however is a wet product that will stay on the runners skin and clothing until they wipe it off. Slime stations work well before colour powder stations. The slime helps to wet the participants which means that the colour powder sticks to them better at the colour powder station.
Buy School Fun Run Supplies Here -
Inflatable colour run
Adding extra obstacles and challenges to your colour run is a great way to make your course unique. Inflatable obstacles are perfect for colour runs as they are quite often bright and colourful structures that can be erected quickly in various locations around the course.
Inflatable arches Australia
Mighty Memorable sells large inflatable arches that we have specially designed for colour runs. These large arches ensure that participants know where to meet, and where the races start and finish. They are a great help making sure everyone knows where they are going. The arch design has four bright colours which were chosen to represent the most common colour powder colours and slime fun run colours, as well as representing the four colours most used for school house teams. View our low cost inflatable arches here. They are great for a range of school events throughout the year (not just colour runs).
Inflatable crawl pit
Mighty Memorable also has a one of a kind inflatable crawl pit obstacle that is available to purchase in Australia. This inflatable obstacle was also designed with colour runs in mind. Participants are made to get down low and crawl through a long pool underneath a low hanging net that attaches to the top of the inflatable. The pool can be filled with water (perhaps to wet the runners prior to a colour station), or for the more adventurous, the pool can be filled with our unique range of messy products - bulk slime, fun run mud or bulk easy set Jelly. Imagine how excited the kids will be to hear that for one of the obstacles they get to swim through a giant pool of jelly!
Inflatable obstacle courses and slip and slide
Hiring a large inflatable obstacle course or water slip and slide can be a great addition to a school colour run. Inflatable courses come in many different shapes and sizes meaning you can hire a different inflatable for each year's event. Be sure to check with the inflatable hire company at the time of booking as some companies will not allow the use of colour powder on or near their inflatables. Also keep in mind that difficult inflatable obstacles can slow the flow of traffic around the course as safety requirements mean you can only allow a certain number of participants on the inflatable at the one time. If you are planning a large event with many participants you may need to stagger the start times, or choose an inflatable obstacle course with several lanes. Some companies offer full service packages that include colour powder, colourful slime and inflatable obstacles as well as help with the collection of donations such as the Australian Fundraising Color Run. Examples of fun inflatables are pictured below. Colour stations would usually be set up in between the inflatables.
Colour Foam Runs
Add colour to the foam fluid
How to set up a colour run course?
Step 1. Decide on the course layout and length
First of all decide on the course layout. Community courses are often set out over a 5km colour run track. School colour runs however often have much shorter courses to suit the age of the participants and the budget for the event. Some schools choose to have the kids run laps of a school oval, meaning they go through each of the obstacles multiple times. Decide on the best idea for your school or group.
Step 2. Set up the colour stations
It is a colour run after all so the colour part of the course is the most important. You can choose to use colour powder or colourful slime or a combination of the two. A colour run course usually consists of several designated areas that are referred to as colour stations. Spread the colour stations out around the track. For example, if you have 5 colour powder colours on a 1km track you may decide to put a colour station at every 200m interval around the course. You may make the first station for yellow powder, the 2nd station for orange powder the 3rd station for green powder and so on. Ensure you have at least a few volunteers at each colour station ready to throw the colour powder or spray the slime at the runners. Fun run slime will need to be mixed with water in a large tub so it is best to set up slime stations closer to water taps with long hoses. Click here for more information about mixing the slime.
Step 3. Set up any additional obstacles
If your budget allows for it you may decide to set up other obstacles around the track. It is usually a good idea to position the extra obstacles in between the colour stations. For example, start the race at the inflatable arch, have the participants run through a slime colour station, then a colour powder station, then an inflatable obstacle course, followed by another colour station, followed by a foam tunnel, then a colour station and so on. Mixing in obstacles between colour stations will keep the course exciting and interesting. Also keep in mind that wet obstacles are good to place before colour powder stations as it helps the colour powder to stick to the runners. A slime station before a colour powder station is often a good idea.
Step 4. Decide on the schedule for the colour run
Plan out a schedule for the colour run. If you have a large school, running all students at the same time may not be feasible and can cause safety issues and hold ups on the more challenging obstacles. Consider breaking the day up into age groups or ability levels and having staggered start times.
What to wear for a colour run?
Colour run participants are encouraged to wear white clothes so that the colour powder or coloured slime thrown or blasted at them will stand out on the white material. Although colour powder and our fun run slime, washes out of clothes very easily, we advise you not to wear your best clothes or most expensive shoes. Leather and suede especially are known for easily absorbing colour powder. Both the powder and the slime thrown or sprayed at the participants could be potential eye irritants if the product comes in direct contact with the eye. For this reason volunteers should be advised to aim for the body when colouring the runners. Wearing sunglasses is a good idea to avoid this minor risk/discomfort to the eyes.
Where to buy colour powder for colour run Australia?
There are many different companies that provide colour powder products for colour runs in Australia. One company that we can confirm has safe, certified, non-staining colour powder, as well as many other colour run accessories (such as sunglasses, headbands, colour run spray bottles and more) is Holi Colour Powder. If you are looking for fun run slime it is available from Mighty Memorable or Crazy Town Parties.
Is colour powder safe?
Most colour powder products are essentially made from corn starch with permitted food colours. Check with your chosen supplier to ensure they are using food grade ingredients. The best suppliers will have manufacturers that are ISO 9001-2005 certified Crisil rated companies producing the highest quality product. The colour powder from these companies is not considered hazardous. As mentioned above getting colour powder in the eye could be a source of irritation. However the product is non toxic and a simple rinse of water should take care of it. Breathing in colour powder would be a lot like breathing in dirt or dust, extensive exposure is not recommended. People with lung issues such as asthma should be careful in their decision as to whether or not they participate. Some people choose to wear masks or bandanas wrapped around the mouth to avoid inhalation. However for the majority of participants this extra precaution would not be required.
How much does a colour run cost to organise?
Colour run costs will vary depending on the number of participants and the scale of the fun run course you are trying to create. Some rough estimates are provided below to give you an idea of potential costs involved. Please note bulk discounts apply on some products so costs may be reduced for larger events. Also the course design and amount of product used is entirely up to you so this is a rough guide only.
- Colour run powder (200g per person) - $2 per person
- Fun run slime package with water blasters and tubs (2L per person) - $1.25 person
Obstacles to consider buying -
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Inflatable Arch with welcome start and finish banners (purchase price) - $1,490 (this product can be used for many school events throughout each year).
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Inflatable Crawl Pit - $1,490. Fill the pool with bulk slime, fun run mud or Easy set Jelly. View prices here.
- Foam machine with optional foam tunnel. These are made to order and Mighty Memorable can source them for you. For more details please contact us for a foam machine quote.
Inflatables to hire
- Inflatable obstacle courses - usually start from around $500 to $600 per inflatable for a full day hire and go up depending on the length and width of the course. For large crowds you may need to hire more than one inflatable to go side by side to ensure a steady flow of traffic.
- Foam machine hire - there are not too many companies currently offering foam machine rental. Some major cities may have them with prices usually starting from around $500 to $600.
How to clean up after a school colour run?
Colour powder and fun run slime are both biodegradable and environmentally safe. Any product on the grass will break down over time. Hosing the product into the ground will help it disappear faster. Any colour powder or fun run slime that lands on the pavement can be washed away with a hose or high pressure water sprayer. Please note that fun run slime can be slippery, especially if left in thick piles on the ground. Excess slime should be swept into a thin layer and hosed down, scooped up and placed in non foot traffic areas, or covered with dirt or sand to prevent the chances of slips after the event. Alternatively an exclusion zone could be set up around slime zones to prevent traffic through the area until the product has broken down.
It is recommended not to get colour powder on athletic tracks as the material can be porous leading to staining.
How to clean clothes after colour run?
Colour powder and fun run slime should wash out of clothes in a normal washing cycle. Depending on the material of your shoes you may need to give them a scrub with warm soapy water. The sooner you can clean your shoes after the event the better before the product has time to sink in.
Will the colour run stain hair or skin?
Colour powder and fun run slime will wash out with a bit of a scrub in the shower. Lighter coloured hair (e.g. blonde hair) may required a couple of washes. To prevent minor/temporary hair colouring participants could wear hats, bandanas or funny coloured wigs.
More more fun ideas for kids, schools, youth groups and camps?
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