My girlfriend Courtney does not enjoy running. So, imagine my surprise and excitement when she suggested to do a race together. My initial elation dissipated a bit once I learned that it was a color run, but how could I miss an opportunity to convert a non-runner!
I am staunchly undecided on the subject of for-profit "theme" races. On one hand they introduce new people to the sport. New people, who find running boring and never would have tried a race. On the other hand, commercialization tends to get out of hand and entertainment gets ahead of running.
The 5K race Courtney and I signed up for was one of the Color Me Rad series. They are similar to the Color Run events. You run a 5K and people throw colored dust at you. To avoid any kind of pressure, the run is not timed.
Race planning is a details business. Especially, if you are selling it and emphasizing the entertainment value. Unfortunately, Color Me Rad folks are far from mastering it. To begin with, for this NY/NJ race, they limited packet pickup to a Sports Authority store in NJ, near Meadowlands. So, like many of our car-less NY'er brethren, we had to make our way to NJ on public transport, about 1 hour each way. The packet pickup was uneventful. Just a lot of product placement and merchandising. Yay, profits!!!
Getting to NJ on Saturday was inconvenient, getting there Sunday morning was almost impossible. There were no trains, no shuttles and a single bus line that ran once an hour! We lined up at the stop, but the bus was full before we (and dozens of other runners) could get on. We waited some more. Our bus didn't come, but a different one came. Of course this wasn't going to the event. The bus driver dropped us at the closest point, which required about a mile of walking by the highway. It was a funny sight really. 100 people in white shirts, walking single file.
We got to the event 10 minutes before our assigned "wave" time, but there were no waves really. You just lined up at the start, some guy counted down, someone else doused you with painted liquids or powder and off you go! Of course with blaring music in the background.
The course was set in the parking lot of the Metlife Stadium. Thus died my dream of running inside the stadium too. To cover the 5K distance, organizers created a zig-zagging course with "color" zones every mile or so. The bare, lonely parking lot and dust coming from the color zones made the course look like a set from a post-apocalyptic movie. On second thought this was actually a good opportunity to play Zombies, Run!.
Going back to Manhattan was even harder than getting to the stadium. The once-an-hour bus showed up after an hour of waiting. Already full. So, we couldn't get on. We ended up calling a cab and making a cabbie really happy with a $60 fare (+tunnel toll) for 20 minutes of driving.
All in all, this was a pretty bad race experience. I get the concept and I see how it can be enjoyable if organized well. This race, unfortunately, was not. My suggestion is, treat for-profit races like any other business. Check the reviews before you go. My suggestion for the NY/NJ Color Me Rad folks is, get a shuttle bus and find a better course.
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