The untimed event has no winners or prizes, but runners are showered with colored powder, made of food-grade corn starch, at stations along the run.

[5] In 2012, it was held over 50 cities in North America with more than 600,000 people joined,[5] making it the largest five-kilometer event series in the United States.

[6] It was also held in Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Townsville, Sunshine Coast, Perth, Newscastle, Wollongong, Adelaide, Canberra and previously Cairns with more than 12,000 Australian joined and the money was partly donated to the Australian Paralympic Committee.

[9][10] In Australia, it was held at Sydney Olympic Park during February and 20,000 Australian joined and helped raise $200,000 for Heartkids.

[13] In April, 2014, It was extended to Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Bangkok, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur in Asia; Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Egypt in Middle East, and Barcelona, Madrid, Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Manchester, and Dublin in Europe.

[15] The sponsor, Swisse, were planning to generate over AUD$1 million in charitable contributions through all 13 Color Runs in Australia in 2014.

[3][20] At the finish line following the untimed run, there are typically celebrations featuring a dance party and food vendors.

[27] On Saturday September 5 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve at parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal will host the first edition of Color Run Night in Canada.

[33] On hand to get runners started were Hall of Famers Juan Marichal and Dave Winfield; former Twins Scott Erickson and Doug Mientkiewicz; MLB executive vice president of business Tim Brosnan; The Color Run founder Travis Snyder; actor/comedian Rob Riggle; and T.C.

Kat Perkins, the Minneapolis-based singer and top-five contestant on The Voice, performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the race.

[37] In 2016 The Color Run partnered with Sparkling Fruit2O for races in Canada where participants were given samples of the carbonated waters and teas at the finish line.

[41] In 2016 The Color Run partnered with Radio Disney Latin America for races in Argentina where the brand was in charge of selecting the disc jockey in charge of musicalizing The Color Run Argentina, who summoned Facu Rodriguez Casal [es], also distributed the promotional kits, in addition to adding a Disney stand and animators.

According to a Huffington Post article, "Color Runners around the country will have the opportunity to not only run in the happiest race ever, but also get involved in the movement to end extreme poverty through GlobalCitizen.org, where they can learn about issues, take actions, and raise funds for non-profits.

[48] Travis Snyder, founder and CEO of The Color Run, was selected as part of the Utah Business Magazine "2015 Forty under 40".

[49] He was the keynote speaker at Running USA’s "The Next Evolution" conference held June 2015 in Chicago,[50] with a focus on non-traditional races.

[51] The Color Run LLC in 2016 was ranked number 3420 on Inc. 5000 list of top 5000 fastest growing private companies.

[52] On June 27, 2015, a serious outdoors dust explosion occurred in Taiwan's New Taipei City due to colored cornstarch powder, injuring over 500 participants and causing 15 deaths.