Race Recap: Color Me Unimpressed

Well, my last official run of the 2015 season is in the books, and if I'm honest, I have to say that not only am I completely unimpressed...I'm downright mad about it.

The Color Me Rad series of color runs takes place at various locations across the country during the year in a 'coming to your town soon' format.  They advertise, advertise, advertise before they move in, take over, and move on, carnival-style.  And so, I suppose, it should be no surprise that...like a carnival ride...there should be loose bolts here and there with their setup.

Here's the thing:  this is probably the most expensive race I've ever paid for, to date.  Even given the fact that I waited very late in the day before registering, the early registration rate was high...$35 bucks for a 5K is high in my books...your mileage may vary.  It was so high, in fact, that I was forced to wait until very late in the day to register, because I was having trouble scraping up the money for the entry fee.

(That may or may not have anything to do with the *cough* two *cough* speeding tickets I got over the summer.)

By the time I did get paid, I wound up doling out over $50.00 to register.  Color run or no, that is something I would have never done on my own.  But seeing as how the majority of my department had already registered to walk it, I didn't want to be the lone ranger. 

And yes...it was on my bucket list.

The day was rainy, drizzly, dreary.  Half our contingency did not show because of it.  Only a die-hard handful of us showed up, myself included.  After working so hard to pony up the dough, a monsoon would not have kept me from showing up.  I will admit that the race did seem fairly well organized and fun.  People were getting into the spirit of the thing, despite the nasty weather, and color bombs were going off in the crowd well before the race actually started.

I knew going into this thing that it was not going to be a timed (chipped) race, that it was billed strictly as a 'fun' run, and as such, the rules were going to be much looser.  Since I was going to be the only one in our group running, I had signed up to start in the first wave, thinking that I would be able to head back through the course after I finished my run, and meet up with the rest of the group so I could finish walking with them.  But warning bells should have gone off in my head when, as I was standing in the corral at the start line, the announcer kept stressing the fact that we shouldn't worry about the time or distance and just 'have fun'.

I may have listened, had I not already had my Runkeeper app loaded and ready.  I knew I probably wouldn't get a great run, but I wanted to count those calories and mileage for other goals besides just that particular run, so I started the app as I crossed the start line,  and then I stopped it after I crossed the finish line....

...exactly 2.57 miles later.


*ahem*


That was 2.57 miles.  Not 3.1, not a 5K, like they'd been advertising.  And not just a wee bit off, either.  That's a half a freaking MILE we got shorted!


After I saw that, I couldn't even look at the rest of my run....the numbers were all skewed, so I have no idea what that run would have been if it actually HAD been a 5K.  But I'm really glad I didn't see it until I got in the car to come home, because I probably would have ruined everyone else's great time if I had.


See....I had already decided that 'fun' runs are not my thing.  They are fun, yes...but unless they are free, I don't want to waste my hard-saved entry fee money to spend on a run that isn't timed.  Many people love them, and I'm glad they are there for those who have different (but no less important) goals than I do.  But I prefer more serious runs, even if I get left in the back of the pack.

That being the case, I had already decided that this would be the last of its kind for me, and I intended to make the most of it, rain or shine.  And I did.  I had a blast with my friends, and I don't regret it for that reason.  But I have a serious beef with the event coordinators shorting all those innocent people (me included) by a half mile.  That's false advertising, it's misleading the public...dare I say scamming?...and it's just plain wrong.

I plan on lodging a complaint on their website.  It wouldn't surprise me to find out that I wasn't the only one that did.  I will be curious to see what...if any...response they give, but rest assured that I will let you know if I hear back from them.


In other news, Keith and I had a great hike on Sunday, but I will save that for my next post!


Your turn:  Ever had a disappointing race that had nothing to do with the run, itself?  What, if anything, did you do about it?  How did it turn out?  Leave your comments below!