Neon Splash Dash

The only reason for even two stars is even though we had to jump through so many hoops to actually race, we did have a fun time. Where to begin on the disorganization of this though. First, the packet pick-​up. An average of two hours in a line to pick up your supplies on a Friday in the Galleria area. Why on Earth would anyone put a pick-​up location in a place that is so busy and has so little parking? They said volunteers didn’t show up, but for something like this, you overbook your volunteers by at least three times what you need, and have back-​ups in place. By the time you were finally able to get to the front of the line at least you were treated well. Also the Sports Authority people were way too eager to get you to sign up for their rewards program and buy stuff with the 20% off coupon they offered. I did pick up a couple of things, but it would have been nice to have a number system so I could have shopped instead of standing in line the whole time. Needless to say I was there about three hours by the end of it all. So by the time the race comes around, I’m sure a few people already had sore feet at the very least. Okay then you get to the event day. Thank goodness I didn’t take their advice to get there early. We got there about 7:30. They had almost no stalls set-​up for food and drinks. And they were all crammed in a very small area. Needless to say, we didn’t purchase anything for it would have been a huge pain in the bum. Also they only had one food truck show up… considering the food truck festival was going on that weekend, and that it would have already ended for the day by that time, there would have been more than ample sources of food trucks in the area to stop by if they had arranged for it to be done so. Also the line-​up for the event itself was a complete mess. They should have had runners only up first, then the jog/​walkers next, and then anyone that planned on mainly walking at the very end. It wouldn’t have been hard to have three areas corralled off and then ask each group to line up when it was their turn. Then lets get to the «slime». I wish I had know what it was made of, they really need to list that on their site so people with allergies know. Let’s just say it burned my eyes very badly. It also when I started sweating from running aka pores opened up, my skin started burning. FYI it is not hypoallergenic, my skin reacts to anything that is full of chemicals and not good for your skin. Also it doesn’t wash all the way out of cotton, which if you know how to clean, it should have. I come from a family of dry cleaners so I know how to wash clothes needless to say. So I now have a bra with an interesting pattern. I know they said it might not wash out on the site, but if it was water based like I believe they claimed it should have come out of cotton, no problem, especially after a few cycles. Also the people flinging the «slime» at all but one station, kept shooting it off at eye level. Considering it would have been more effective to shoot either high up on waist level, I got tired of having to rinse my eyes out with water. So if you do this race in the future… eye protection should be mandatory. Plus I kept thinking I was going to do a slip and slide routine on the stuff… they should have had a way to drain it or wash some of it away between sets of people so it didn’t become so slippery. This is turning out to be a long review, but there is more… People were littering everywhere. It really was a shame. In part they didn’t offer enough waste receptacles, but really people it wouldn’t have been so hard to wait to throw something away. It made Houston look very trashy that night. Then the after party event barely had any black lights and they were clustered and often clustered near the finish line, which caused all kinds of back-​up. The announcer was also hard to hear, and they weren’t playing any music when we got there either, which I thought was the whole «after party» experience. Needless to say we left shortly after we finished the race. And honestly, the thing that aggravated me the most was that on their Facebook that any time a negative and often constructive piece of advice was left, it was taken down shortly after. They even took down their post about the Houston event, where people were complaining about the long packet pick-​up lines. Needless to say Facebook business pages are supposed to be a way for customers to connect. I don’t think I even read one that had any cursing or anything that would make someone have to take it down. Only allowing for positive reviews to stay, gives a very slanted view to future consumers. Constructively addressing the problem on their page would have done so much in the long run, and would have appeased most. I would have left a more favorable review too. If you ignore a problem, it doesn’t really go away, and chances are you left many a sore taste in people’s mouths.

Only 1 location for pickup in the middle of the Galleria on a Friday night. The line to pick up packets was 1.5−2 hrs long. The day of the event it took 45 minutes to park. The line to get packets (or to register) that day was @1 hr long. The «swag» (I hate that word) line was another 1.5−2 hrs long so we got none. There was 1 d*mn beer tent for 9000 runners. Basically, we wasted 4 hrs of our lives to do a 29 minute run and get coated in some sort of viscous fluid that does not dry… ever…and glow in the dark.
I have seen monkey sh*t fights at the zoo that were better and more organized than this. So you let them know how you feel on their Facebook page and they delete all the negative comments to make it seem like everything went smooth. Waste of $ 25 even with the groupon.

Very poorly organized! Waited over an hour for packet pick-​up; mind you this is only about a 30 min run. Then they asked us to get there early and relax. Well they had music and people dancing… but we waited over half an hour to get beers; mind you this is only about a 30 min run. But turns out the wait for a beer wasn’t such an issue because it took another half hour after the posted start time for us to cross the start line. We watched people finishing the run as we stood in line waiting to just start the run. There were walkers and strollers blocking the route because no one held them off the initial waves at the starting line. It seemed like they never closed registration and let too many people sign up and couldn’t handle the show.
The run itself was pretty cool, but for a 5k I waited too long in too many lines. Poorly organized.