Mud Run Race Report (Race Event needs help!) (Read 489 times)

modified subject line from "Worst Race Ever" to "Race Event needs help!" Ok, I didn't run, but my wife, her friend our daughter, and son. Here is the miserable report. The event - 10K Mud Run (Trail run with a mud pit at the finish line) 1.5K run for kids. The debacles.... * It was a $$$ making thing, not for charity (except for the $4 burgers afterwards) so the race day registrants (who were to register by 9AM) kept the money grabbing whores occupied for an extra hour amaking everyone who pre registered wait around in the already hot sun and absolutley annoying constant loudspeaker commentary from the MC. * Race kits were pick up the day of the race only. and the pick up lines were divided into adults and 14 and unders....so you had to re-line up for your teen's kits. The teen pickup line was combined with the race day registration area which was a huge line! * The race kit pickup line ups were also divided as per the norm - A to H, I to M etc....BUT, if you were in line for yourself and someone else...they made you re-line up for the other surname! This included (at least one) lady who remarried and her daughter goes by a different name. So she lined up for herself, then they made her re-line up for her daughters last name, then they made her line up a 3rd time in the teen's pick up line! &$^$%#! * The web site claims - "race entry, race souvenir, race nubmer, post race souvenir digital photo, computer timing, great swag, healthy post race snack, outdoor showers and prizes for top finishers" Well, our race kits included some flyers and a couple of single packs of Vitamin I Ibuprofen...that's it, no souvenirs, nothing. To boot, there was apparently post race food but it was not seen and never announced (except for the annoying MC repeating over and over about the $4 burgers and dogs... which were the only items where proceeds went to charity. Also, they didnt have nearly enough race bibs so about 25% of the people wore leftover bibs from a race the previous week. No fun for us enthusiasts!...oh, and di dI mention lot's of people got only 2 pins...and some of the late comers go NO pins! Chip timimg was for the finish only so no chip personal times, only gun times. When we joked about it, the race director taunted us by saying EVERY race does it this way. * They hassled dozens of pre-registrants for re-payment due to computer errors. They did not have any change for lot of race day registrants and had to write IOUs on their bibs for post race $ pickup. * So the races got delayed by at least 1 hour (not good on a hot day!) And all of the people ready to go on the start line now had to go pee again! The 10K race according to GPS watches ended up being about 4K at the halfway '5k' point and well over 7k for the 2nd half. PLUS the terribly marked did not have enough guides and sent wellover half the people for a wrong turn and they ended up doing almost 15K. A lot of people strolled in quite tired not expecting to run that far. * The kids race was run without a 'lead runner' into the woods and the top 20 kids (one of which was my guy) never came in at the expected 7-8 minute mark. We're at the finish line and we see all of these kids coming in, some very young and running fairly slow....there was definately something wrong here. Nyself and several other parents travelled the course backwards and couldn't find them. The race director then hopped in his truck with a megaphone and went looking for them. I made it back to the finish line and there were parents quite upset and didnt know what was goin gon. There was a anothe rrace director who got a hold of the guy who went for the kids. He apparently found them but couldnt confirm if it was all of them. I ran back out on the course and tried to locate them. He was apparently taking them back on track to finish the run for the kids sake. This was fine but there were parents back at the finish freaking out still. My wife told the annoying MC to make anannouncement but he wouldn't. He just let the parent wonder what was going on saying he didn't want to create a stir. Anyway, my daughter and I on our 3rd trip out, found the truck just as he was drving to a point to get the kids back on to the course. I grabbed my son and we ran it back in together. He was fortunately unfased as he was in a big group of kids and they had just been running with no clue they had ran almost 5K! * Lastly, the mud run that offered showers afterwards? ya, 4 slowly streaming showers with a 30 minute lineup to get to them. egad. A lot of people left quite upset. It had potential to be a great day but a series of unfortuane events led to a very disappointing outing. I did get some pics that highlight someof the better aspects of the day. As always, anytime spent with falily is a good day. So here is the proof. http://www.daddyo.ca/photo-galleries/mud-run.php Maybe next year? P.S. I am horribly sunburned as we expected to be spending a couple of hours in the morning sun, not until 2pm waiting for race delays, looking for kids and waiting for showers! Dave

That's too bad, Dave. At least they are refunding you for the kid's entry fees. I was told that this Mud Run was quite fun and am thinking about signing myself and the kids up later this year.

So, my wife spoke to the race director this afternoon, and he was very well mannered and not overly defensive. He took full responsibility for everything and listened to all of our thoughts based on the report above. He offered full refund for the 3 adult racers as well and apparently has done so with many other people who contacted him today. He called back a bit after that and said he was very impressed with my wife's thoughts and the way she handled complaining without being to agressive. She just wanted to make sure he was aware of everything moreso than bitching about it. We don't want refunds but as the money is not going to charity we will take it and putit towards the next race! he also asked if he could hire her to help him plan future races! it just goes to show you, you sometimes need to be vocal to make sure people are aware of everything going on around them and how their actions affect people. It looks like this one will turn out for the best. Hey, maybe I will even help them redo their website! MudRun