MORE than 400 runners were pelted with powdered paint as they took part in a colour run for a brain injuries charity.

Headway Essex staged the record- breaking event at Ardleigh Showground on Saturday. Participants run five times around a 1km course while ‘colour bandits’ squirt paint over them.

Headway’s Anna Smith said: “We had just over 400 people and it looks like we are going to hit £7,000 which might be a record. We started in 2013 and were one of the first to do it in the UK.”

The event is inspired by Holi – the Hindu festival of colour.

Matt Newman took part in the event after turning to Headway when he suffered a stoke aged just 28.

Anna added: “He walked the 1km course.

“It was a real personal challenge so it was a huge achievement for him.”

The finale is a colour extravaganza where all the runners are given a cup of coloured paint to throw.

Anna said: “It makes a big cloud of paint - it’s a real spectacle. All the runners were rewarded with a medal but the real badge of honour was the paint-smeared smiling faces.”

This was the first year the charity invited other local charities to get involved. They thanked Boot Group for donating Ardleigh Showground as well as Waitrose, Tesco Highwoods and Bookers for donating water.