  We study the real time evolution of the chiral magnetic effect
out-of-equilibrium in strongly coupled anomalous field theories. We match the
parameters of our model to QCD parameters and draw lessons of possible
relevance for the realization of the chiral magnetic effect in heavy ion
collisions. In particular, we find an equilibration time of about $\sim0.35$
fm/c in presence of the chiral anomaly for plasma temperatures of order
$T\sim300-400$ MeV.
