KAPOLEI, Hawaii — It was the “happiest 5K in the world” that was the slogan for the 2012 Hawaii Color Run. There was a great vibe in Kapolei where hundreds of kids and adults came to participate in this colorful event. With four different color zones of yellow, orange,red and blue, powdered chalk was being tossed around the participants. It made the scene very energetic and colorful. There were nothing but smiles on the faces of participants, besides some parents desperately chasing their kids from having too much fun.

“I’ve never raged with chalk before, I have to do this again,” said Jay Cantu, a student at Hawaii Pacific University.

Arriving at the event there were hundreds of people already walking, running dancing around. It was more like a party rather than a run. Many people walked around and partied in chalk powder rather than run their 3.4 miles and finish the event. The event is meant for people to forget about their worries and just love life, if you were planning on getting a serious workout this event was not for you.

Marie Esposito a student at Kapiolani community college said, “It took us an hour in a half just to get here from palolo, it seemed like we were in line for a concert.”

There were four color zones throughout the whole event. At every color zone volunteers working the event would throw powdered chalk all around the participants to the point where they could be covered with pink, orange, blue, yellow chalk all over them. This event was prepared to support Ocean Lotus Hawaii, a non-profit organization that helps and supports under privileged kids around Hawaii. It cost $45 to pre register and $60 the day of, all the money was donated to the non-profit organization of Ocean Lotus Club Hawaii. With such a great number of people in the community getting involved it became a very successful event.

“ This was my first color run and I never expected such a great time,” said Hawaii resident Kendall Percich.

At the end of the 5k is where things really started to get crazy. You could have either stayed or left. For those who stayed, they ended up dancing, socializing, or like most, just staying covered in colorful powdered chalk. Most decided to stay and act ridiculous. While participants started the day off with nice hair and clean white shirts, it ended with a variety of color and a lot of energy. There was loud techno music playing throughout the whole 5k, and it only got louder at the end.  The college kids even decided to wake up early on their Saturday and walk with color. It was a community event at its finest.

Rebecca Smith, a senior student at University of Hawaii, said, “Waking up to traffic was not so great, but once we got here and saw everybody, I knew it was all going to be worth it.”