THOUSANDS turned out for Dorset's most colourful fundraiser on this morning.

Run or Dye saw a total of 3,000 people racing around King's Park in Bournemouth daubed in brightly-coloured paint for the Julia's House children's hospice and Help for Heroes.

From sprinters to joggers and walkers, all were welcome to take part in the 5k around the park today for the two charities.

See 60 pictures from the event in a gallery here.

Participants were showered with eco-friendly, plant-based powdered dye at every kilometre, which turned faces, clothes and hair a range of hues.

Friends Joanne Dewberry and Kailiegh Watkins, of West Moors, said they had been excited to sign up for the race.

"It just sounded like a lot of fun," said Kailiegh.

"I think it's a really good event."

Harriet Chase, of Bournemouth, said it was to be her first ever 5k race.

"The atmosphere here is really good, everyone's really happy," she said.

"I like the twist that you get covered with paint too. I've not done anything like this before and I think it's a really great idea."

The event is inspired by the Hindu festival of Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours.

Participants had been asked to dress in white, with organisers saying pale clothes will create 'the most colourful running event the town has ever seen'.

And one runner took the dress code seriously, donning her wedding dress for the race.

Karen Irons-Mclean is raising money for Macmillan Caring Locally at Christchurch by completing 40 challenges before she is 40 next February.

She said: "I ran the London Marathon dressed as a playing card earlier this year, and one of my challenges was to wear my wedding dress in public, so this went really well.

"It's been eight years since I got married so it's nice to have my dress on again."

Kirstyn Luton, community management executive for Run or Dye, said: "It's been an absolutely amazing day.

"We've had some really good feedback from runners - it's hard not to be happy when you're throwing dye in the air and having fun. The event went really well and we've already had people telling us they'd love to come back again next year, so that's really good news."