More than 200 runners kicked off the Austin ArtWorks Festival Saturday morning with a blast of color.

The Hormel Institute and Austin ArtWorks Festival hosted the second annual Color Dash, which started and ended at the downtown Austin Utilities Plant, the base for the festival this coming Saturday and Sunday.

“The main thing about this race is it’s the colorful way — being that it’s this paint and flash of color — to kickoff the Austin ArtWorks Festival,” said Gail Dennison, the Institute’s director of development and public relations. “That’s the main thing we’re doing.”

The 5-kilometer run/walk wasn’t timed, as runners were hit with color at five color stations along the route.

After attracting more than 600 people for the first Austin Color Dash last year, numbers dropped to more than 200 this year. However, the 5K raised $1,131.58, which will go to the ArtWorks Festival and the Institute.

Dennison said part of the reason for the decline may have been an increase in price from $30 to $40. Last year, the race was at a discounted price. Organizers plan to revisit the price next year, but they didn’t want to change it after registration opened this year.

Next year, Dennison would like to do something like a UV, night race — with glow-in-the-dark color— or host a costume competition to offer a new twist on the race. Jonathan Arjes, race director with The Color Dash, an Owatonna-based group, suggested they use UV-dyed water over UV-dyed powder, though they do both. The runners then pass under black lights.

“In the summer, water’s awesome,” he said.