SOUTH PORTLAND – The coastal air was full of colorful bursts Sunday as South Portland welcomed 5,000 participants for the city’s first Color Run.

Runners, joggers and walkers – clad primarily in bright, white T-shirts, tutus and tube socks – lined up at the starting line on the campus of Southern Maine Community College, ready to get soaked in red, yellow, green, purple and blue powder as they power through the 5K course.

“The atmosphere was electrifying,” said Dianne Lane Terrio, who traveled to South Portland all the way from Millinocket to take part in the Color Run. “It felt like a party instead of a run.”

But the Color Run is both, a party and a run – and much more. It is an aid event; in each city the internationally known Color Run travels to, it partners with a local charity. On Sunday, the organization generated funds for the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

“We were looking for a family-friendly event to host,” said Kate Richardson of the hospital’s development office. “This is the perfect partnership.”

“It’s a great opportunity for us to be out in the community,” Richardson said. “Being able to interact with all the people that are here today … it’s a good opportunity for us, talking with folks about the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital, and the services that we provide.”

Richardson, who manned the hospital’s information booth, adds that a number of the hospital’s nurses took part in the run.

“A lot of people are here because of the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital,” she said. “They’re here and they share their stories with us, about their grandkids or their kids who’ve spent time at the Children’s Hospital. It’s been great to interact with folks.”

The Color Run is a burgeoning global phenomenon. Inspired by a variety of other events, including Disney’s World of Color, paint parties, mud runs, and Holi (a Hindu spring festival), the Color Run debuted in January 2012, but in the next 12 months the organization held more than 50 events and hosted more than 600,000 runners. It quickly became the nation’s largest 5K series.

The media has latched onto the event. It’s been featured in a long list of big-name publications and other news outlets, including Spirit Magazine, Market Watch, CBS News, the Washington Post, TIME, CNN iReport, Nickelodeon, National Geographic, the Wall Street Journal, Running USA, ESPN, Runner’s World, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Health Magazine, MSNBC, the Huffington Post, O Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times.

And in 2013, the company – the Color Run is a for-profit entity – will undoubtedly continue to create buzz. This year, it expects to hold 100-plus events and host greater than a million participants around the world.

Among the runners were Terrio and her nieces, Shelby and Taylor Lane. Taylor, diabetic since the age of 10, is an SMCC student studying dietetics; signing up for the run was her idea. She enlisted her sister and their aunt, as well as their cousin Kelly Angotti Falone and her husband, Jason Falone, both of Alfred, to form a team.

“I turned 46 this year and set a goal to be in the best shape I have ever been in by the age of 50,” Terrio said. “It gave me great incentive to kick my workout up a notch”

“I have heard other Color Runners’ stories and they had a blast, so I thought why not!” Angotti Falone said. “I do run on and off, but this gave me a reason to train. I plan to continue to run on a regular basis.

“I’ve run other 5Ks and they don’t compare. This was fun, like a party, and it did not feel like 3.1 miles. We all crossed the finish line together and it felt amazing! And then we got to party, dance and celebrate. What’s not fun about that?”

The Color Run is an emotional endeavor, both a social and an inward journey in search of positivity. It bills itself as “the happiest 5K on the planet,” and happiness is squarely the focus. Color Runners plaster themselves in temporary tattoos reading simply “HAPPY,” and they cover the course at exactly their own pace – no official times are kept; it’s not a race at all, except for those Color Runners who wish to time themselves or one another. They hear encouragement as they pass each kilometer, where volunteers lining the path thoroughly dust them with brightly colored (but non-staining and non-toxic) corn starch powder. And most hang around after they finish, flooding to the front of a stage where Color Run employees spin dance music, announce “color throws,” and fire off T-shirts and other swag into the crowd.

“I’m a little bit of a mess,” says Peter Dewitt of Gorham, among the first to finish the course. “But a good, colorful mess. There are worse messes.” Dewitt ran with his daughters, and family members were among those runners who allowed themselves to feel a bit of competitive spirit.

?“I wanted to do an event with my daughters,” Dewitt said. “We’re all trying to have competitive times today. So we decided, we’re going to do the Color Run. It’s a great cause, beautiful course – what better way to spend your Sunday morning?”

Even the Color Run employees seem to genuinely enjoy themselves, despite that they’re on the job.

“Best part?” said Brandon Trump, the start-line master, stage-maestro and swag-slinger. “Just dancing with the color runners, man. Seeing them all get happy – I’m having as much fun as they are.”

Trump, 22, is from Salt Lake City, Utah. This is his first summer working for the Color Run, a job that’s taken him all over the country already.

“I’ll be in Des Moines next week, Indy the next,” he said. “We were in Alaska two weeks ago. We started in LA; Lubbock, Texas; Tulsa, Okla.; Omaha; Seattle, Wash.; Anchorage, Alaska; we’re in Sacramento – all over. I think I’ve done, like, 12 so far this summer.”

Trump is one of only a handful of Color Run employees needed to pull off the race itself. Much of the manual labor is handled by a partner company, Silverback, and a small army of volunteers picks up the rest of the slack. “There’s probably about eight Silverback and 10 or 12 Color Run employees here, and we just put on the whole thing with about 200 volunteers,” Trump said.

Five thousand runners, 200 volunteers, “and that’s actually a really small race. Next year, we want to do a lot bigger,” Trump said. “This venue is just limited because of parking. But we definitely want to do bigger. There was a lot of interest here, so we definitely, next year, want to try and double or triple it.”

“I’ll definitely come back next year,” he said, echoing a sentiment expressed almost universally. Terrio, the Lane sisters, Angotti Falone and her husband are all looking forward to 2014’s run as well.

“We are definitely doing it next year,” said Terrio, “and after sharing our pics on Facebook, we’ve picked up more family members who want to join us.”

Runners zoom through thick swirling clouds of color, picking up plenty for themselves. (Staff photos by Adam Birt)In a packed scene reminiscent of, for instance, Woodstock (only cleaner), Color Runners revel, turning their runners’ highs into dancers’ highs.Isabel Dusch, right, and Julia Bailinsin, both of Cumberland, somehow managed to keep their teeth white.Taylor Lane, an SMCC student, does, in fact, look happy.During a color throw, everyone tosses a packet of colored corn starch into the air.There’s no lower age-limit at the Color Run – anyone can join, run, and get just as messy as anyone else.Brandon Trump hoses down the happy Color Runners – but not to clean them off; just to prep them for the next color throw. Noell Palmieri of Bangor color-ran for two on Sunday.Nate LaSpina of York, expert orange-flinger, got a little on himself, too.Kate Richardson of the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center mans the Hospital’s booth, displaying pictures of kids who’ve been patients at the Hospital.Peter Dewitt, of Gorham, recovers, just after crossing the finish line.Pristine Color Runners, prior to getting doused in bright pink, blue, orange, yellow, etc.

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