The banks of Lake Burley Griffin exploded in colour on Sunday morning as thousands of Canberrans danced and skipped their way through 4½ tonnes of colourful and glittery powder for the race dubbed the happiest five kilometres on the planet.
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A record-breaking 7000 runners pounded the pavement for the 2016 Color Run, in what organisers described as one of the most successful Canberra legs of the popular event.
Sunday's event was the third year the Color Run has been held in Canberra.
Color Run Australia general manager Luke Hannan said the race had been an overwhelming success.
"We had almost 7000 runners come down to Stage 88 at Commonwealth Park and there were just smiles and laughter absolutely everywhere," he said.
Melissa Browne, 25, of Queanbeyan, was one of the thousands of runners who took part and said it was a fantastic morning. It was her second year in the run.
"It was great, so much fun, lots of colour," she said.
"Last year was so much fun and it literally is the happiest 5ks so we decided to do it again [this year]."
Campbell couple Michael Bennett, 27, and Victoria Murray, 25, said they had an "awesome" time doing Sunday's run.
"It was a lot of fun, a lot of colour all through the run," Mr Bennett said.
"The whole time we were just laughing and smiling. We almost didn't want it to end."
It took the couple about 45 minutes to complete the course.
"It was our first time doing it, it's been on my bucket list for a while so we just decided to make it happen this year. There's a very high chance we'll do it again next year," Ms Murray said.
"The event staff were just wonderful, all of them were just so happy and energetic. It just made it so much more amazing."
Mr Hannan believes the inclusive nature of the Color Run was the key to its growing success.
"I used to work on very serious fun runs and very serious triathalons but this is just so different in the fact that there's no timing, it's all about having fun and putting a smile on your face," he said.
"It's all inclusive – whether you're two years old in a pram or whether you're 92 years old and running with your grandkids."
This year saw organisers use more colour than had been used before, with runners doused in five tonnes of shimmery coloured corn starch.
"It is just unbelievable that we continue to see people coming in and participating in droves here in Canberra," Mr Hannan said.
"It's just an amazing community effort to see so many people just laughing and having fun, it was just an amazing day."
