Rave Run

I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been described here. I passed up running in a different (and much more organized) race to run the Rave Run… big mistake. What a waste of $$$$

It seems like this race was run by people who had never put a race on before.
1) Even if you pre-​register, they explicitly say that there is no guarantee of getting a T-​shirt unless you pick your packet up days in advance. If you live an hour+ away like we do, that makes no sense. WHAT?
2) When you do pick up your packet, the lines are a mess and the signage as to what line to get into is FLAT on the table, so you can’t see it til you get to the front. DUMB. Then the stuff is laid out in a linear fashion so the volunteers/​workers were constantly running back and forth gathering stuff for each and every runner. So, horribly inefficient.
3) On the course, you have to run THROUGH runners going in the other direction. This happens more than once.
In a town where there are tons of options for races, one would be wise to STEER CLEAR. Unless you are a glutton for punishment and like wasting time and money, then go for it.

Sooo… the rave run… I dont want to start off with all the negative, because at the end of the night I chalked it up as an enjoyable event. But when we got there, approx 7pm, there were lotsa long lines and it wasnt at all obvious what was what. Soooo, we picked one and got in it. We mustve been in line about 20 – 30 minutes, before we got up front and were told it was the wrong line. It was merchandise pick-​up, not registration. So what, this is a fun event, with ALOT of people, and shit gets confused. But I was a little agitated, I think because alot of people were bumping into me and not saying excuse me. They were trying to get through/​around the line to get where they were going.
When I did find my correct line (organized by last names), my email confirmation page didnt have my full name on it, just my first name, and it was basically worthless. He was cool and gave me a runners package anyway — that made up for the confusion in the other line. Plus he was working the table alone, and simply didnt have time to haggle about it.
The event didnt look like the pictures from the website, I guess that was another one in another city, and each one looks slightly different because the location is different. Okay. But really, it wasnt nearly as grandois as presented in pictures. The start point, had a stage, with three gogo/​rave dancers, some lights. They spun some electro party music. Then the race got started, Each park statue along the route was done up in rave lights and blasting music, so that was cool. You could stop and dance, then move on.
There was an idiot directing traffic midway through the race saying things like «go left at the first right», or «go straight» when you clearly had to turn — whoever he was, please do not bring him back.
There was a long stretch (about 1.5 mi?) with no music or lights.
The rave party at the finish line was alot of fun. The deejays and music were very good. I danced my butt off. Alot of people seemed afraid to dance (not rave run’s fault), and I wondered if that was because it was an alcohol-​free event? Most people stood and stared towards the stage. Bleh, thats what you paid to do?
IMPORTANT:
They sold coupons through groupon, amazon local, living social, and a site called zozi. We end up buying the zozi coupon b/​c the other sites had sold out. The week of the race, tried to register at
, the coupon code was invalid. Were ultimately told that it had expired 2 weeks BEFORE the race. We were offered a refund or could use the value of the coupon towards the $ 60 registration fee. Ummm, give me my f**king money back! What are they trying to do with that policy?
So, ultimately due to the confusion at the race — I participated for free. I was able to present my purchase page that I had printed out, even though I hadnt registered and they didnt have my name.
And my glo stuff didnt work. And the tee shirts were lame. At least put «rave run 2013». It only said rave run.
Great idea. Needs ALOT more tweeking. Not worth full price, but if you get a groupon etc, its okay. Actually, just show up. Dont bother paying anyone. Like other reviewers stated, It was chaotic, and anyone can get in the race.
The rave party ended at 1030pm.
It was amazingly weed and alcohol free. I think I smelled weed one time. But for several thousand people on 4/​20, thats like none. Very family friendly, bring the kids, bring the baby. I saw a babe with a glo-​pacifier, very cute.

Terrible organizing. Very few volunteers. Way too crowded. Pretty boring. Unsafe.

This event was terribly disorganized and totally overcrowded. You couldn’t even get through the start or finish because people were just stopped in clumps taking pictures/​being confused. I luckily skipped the packet pick-​up, but my friends who got the packets said it was a wreck too. The party was so crowded and hard to get into that we skipped even trying. I had my foot stepped on like 20 times as we walked (because too many people to even try and run). The path was too small for mass amounts of people to ascend on it, so I was forced to be on the muddy grass for a fair amount of time. The lights and music were okay, if you could see it through the mob. Badly organized event — I had fun with my friends, but I don’t think I’d do it again.

Denver. April 20^th, 2013.
Please tell me they can do better than this…
For the amount of money they charged, you would think they could be at least a little organized. SEVERAL things went wrong for me.
1. The packet pick up at Runners Roost was a nightmare… crowded and crazy.
2. None of the employees/​volunteers could answer any questions about anything.
3. I pre-​paid for LED hair noodles and they were sold out and unavailable at pickup… How does that happen? I already paid for them. They should have been set aside.
4. I also pre-​paid for LED gloves, and one pair didn’t work.
5. They looked me up in the system to tell me what I ordered and then didn’t give me half the things that were paid for. I had to come all the way back after leaving and getting to my hotel to retrieve the rest.
6. I paid 40 bucks for the «VIP Package». What a flipping joke! According to the site, it included separate restrooms, and snacks. At package pick up I asked all around until finally one gal there told me I had to wait until the Race and all I had to do was show my receipt and ID and would get access to VIP area. At the Race I searched for over an hour and no signs and no direction to where VIP was if it even existed. No one at any of the desks even knew anything about VIP!!!
7. It was so crowded during the run, it was like jogging in place. Um hello… Anyone thought of waves???
8. People were not supposed to bring pets and yet there they were… being tripped over right and left.
9. A man yelling in a megaphone to go right if it’s your first time through, or left if it’s your second was such a stupid idea!
10. It wasn’t even 3.1 miles, and the music stopped through half of the run itself. The lights only lit up a quarter of the park and weren’t that impressive. I had to use my phone as a flashlight in the portapotty… sheesh. I would’ve expected better lighting for those at least.
I’m so disappointed in this event.

The Rave Run left A LOT to be desired. For the upwards of $ 50 you spend for ‘registration’, you’d expect they’d AT LEAST have some experienced people staffing this thing. I was appalled at the CHAOS that I found upon arriving. I not receive many of the glow items they advertised, and the Rave Run bracelet I did get didn’t work. Furthermore, nothing was bagged and even though they requested your shirt size during online registration, they apparently only had size mediums available. Perhaps what was most shocking was the fact that not one person ever checked my ID, or even asked me my name. They just handed me a number which were littered on the ground for the taking. Why did I bother to pay the $ 50?!
As for the run, the website was TOTAL false advertisement. There were no such light displays as they pictured, not even remotely close, a majority of the race was darkness with the exception of the runners glow cks, most of which thestiy clearly brought themselves. The music was sporadic and the direction non-​existent. I only saw 1 mile marker which was a bummer, as I enjoy seeing my progress. There was only one water station which was manned by a few teenagers to handle the thousands of thirsty participants. The finish line had no order, and the bottleneck of people walked and/​or waiting for their friends meant no one was run through it. The producers of this event took the money and ran.

The Rave Run in Denver last night in City Park was a highly unorganized mess from packet pick up to the actual execution.
Packet pick up was a free-​for-​all assemble your own kit fiasco. Every race I have ever done has had completed packet bags for you upon arrival. Here you had to go from table to table and try to get all your own stuffers. I KNEW that this was going to result in people not getting stuff they paid for on the last day of the event. Glad I went on the first day. This whole set up was annoying, but the run itself is what was so bad.
The run was in the dark. Virtually NO LIGHTS. There was absolutely no direction, practically no volunteers, the route was poorly marked, people were herding in all directions, no idea where the start line was, no idea when to start, no ability to run as about 60 percent gave up and were just walking. Ground electrical cord boxes were not marked on the track with any kind of lighting or reflective tape. I tripped and nearly biffed as I am sure many others must have too. The route veered off and thousands ended up doing the same loop twice. There was no way to even get to the finish line due to the bottle neck of people so we just turned around and left the course.
FYI: The pictures on the Rave Run website with the bright canopy of lights illuminating the parade was completely false advertising. I got curious if the photo was even from a Rave Run event due to the old people in the photo without any glow gear whatsover. A five minute search on line yielded the result: The organizers of Rave Run stole the photo from the Austin’s Trail of Lights Christmas event. I contacted Austin Trail of Lights organizers and they were not happy. There were no spectacular lighting displays in this race. I called them out and bitched a fit to Groupon. Groupon gave us a 25 dollar credit.