LA Fairplex Blacklight Run

Our first time participating in 5K neon run. So Much Fun!!! The best thing is free DJ at the end of the run. I can dance in my sketchers instead of high heals :)

Not the biggest review writer in the world. But I have to write about this event as I was rather disappointed. Or maybe I anticipated this to be a little more serious than what it ended up being.
Having just ran my 1^st mile ever this summer I was super thrilled to run in what I thought was my 1^st official 5K. And it looked to be a fun one. I also thought this would be in LA proper but this was an incorrect assumption. I should have known when I finally received emails with information that seemed lacking and with errors in it that this was gonna be one hot mess. But my friends and I went in hopes it would be much better. And that’s when things got worse.
1– no IDs were checked! There was not checklist of any sort. We could have just shown up and participated for free
2– no information was given out. I had to track people down to figure out what the course was like.
3– the start line was a fiasco! They had everyone walk on in the opposite way we were to run. And since no one from the organization was actually communicating with us, it took an about hour later than 6:45 to get the whole thing started.
4– instead of scattering start times they let everyone go at once. Bad idea. This just caused «traffic» and many times, due to the amount of people and narrow paths. So much congestion it felt like we were on the 405. Parked cars! I think we basically had to walk a mile.
5– the course was not lite very well nor was it always clear what way to go.
6– glow stations were not what I expected. I had envisioned they would be throwing glow on us. Maybe a «snow machine» would have been good to have a constant drop of glow. But no. You basically had to stop and pick up the glow dust from the ground. By the time we reached the 1^st station, I was so tired of walking, I just decided to run right through the stations.
7– it wasn’t a 5k! I feel cheated. According to my Nike Running app GPS it was just under 2.8miles. That’s at least .3 miles short of an actual 5K. My friends and I must have looked silly bc we just kept running pass the finish line until the GPS reached 3.106 miles.
So as much as I love the concept of this 5k the organization needs to get their stuff together to make this enjoyable for all. A organizer I spoke to before the race mentioned that everyone was going to be released in different waves. Serious runners 1^st, then college runner/​partier types, then, walkers, children, strollers, etc. This would have made the event much smoother. But at least we got fun pictures at the end of it.

Letter sent to Blacklight organizers…
1N3 LLC,
My family and I attended your event on Saturday, October 5^th. We were horribly disappointed by the lack of organization. The parking situation was a nightmare. After paying there was a 15 minute wait to park. We go to check in and no one is even verifying registrants. We just basically said we had 3 people and they gave us 3 shirts and our race bibs. Next, the crowd was instructed to line up for the race. Apparently we were all told to line up backwards. Then the race couldn’t start because they wanted thousands of people to move onto the other side of the start line. All the while the DJ continues to play music instead of an organizer getting on the microphone to try and fix the situation. We were trapped at the start line in the middle of thousands because people had moved to what was apparently the correct side of the start line, while everyone else was lined up the way we originally were told. At some point people started the race both backwards and forwards. The area we were in eventually cleared enough that we were able to go around the multitude of people waiting for the race to start, and also began running. At this point it was 7:33, and we had not seen or heard any attempts by staffing to correct the mess that the event had become. It was impossible to run at first because all of the walkers were in the front. Runners had to wade through thousands of people and go off the track in order to start running. The race course had people going everywhere because the course was not clearly visible in the dark. The finish was nonexistent! There were crowds of people under the finish. Staff should have been there to clear people from underneath. We would like a full refund for the anxiety and disappointment we were put through. We will donate the money ourselves so we can make sure all of it goes to charity. The Blacklight run does not deserve to be reimbursed for the materials they bought. The event was a fiasco.
Thank you for your prompt attention in this matter.

I will NOT be going to any events by 1in3 because of what happened at the Blacklight run LA.
It is 2 days later and there has yet to be any updates on their website or Facebook for an apology for the first couple waves of people. All the previous negative reviews are true! Mine was very close to Jessica C’s. I’ll break down my experience at the end of this post (or maybe when I come back to revise and update) but my biggest complaint is there has yet to be any compensation– not even a public apology– for everyone that had a bad time. Not only that I went back to the website to find the best way to contact them and I had to search high and low to find an actual email instead of a contact page I have to fill out. I would feel a lot better if I had a valid charity to contact to make sure that my money didn’t go to a complete waste and at the bottom of the LA Blacklight page says «Childern Cancer Education and Awareness!!» (Did you notice they spelled «children» wrong!!!) There is no link to the charity, I Googled that name and I can’t find a listing for that specific charity. Now more than ever I feel ripped off. My party, at least, asked the venue for the $ 10 parking fee refunded back to us and they kindly did without complaint.
The closest thing I was able to find that I know will be a little effective are these two Unilocal pages started by other scarred runners. I am glad I am in good, angry, disappointed, jaded company.
:I will give a breakdown of my poor personal experience at a later time:

Disorganized to the point of being dangerous. I am very sorry I brought two nine year-​old girls here to hear obscene music, be yelled at by incompetent staff, be crushed by drunken crowds, and run a downright boring course with little color and no water stations. The most interesting part of the run was debating whether the stench we were running through was horse poop or pee. I have contacted 1N3 to see about some redress for the issues at the run, but from the way they are deleting all feedback on Facebook, I’m thinking holding my breath might be more useful.

I completely agree with the negative reviews for this event. If you wanted to run the 5K this was definitely not the race for you. When the DJ announced the race was starting most people who wanted to run went to the location that he said was the starting line. There wasn’t any signage indicating a starting line or organizers to ask so the DJ was all we had to rely on. We then waited in line for an hour for the run to start. At one point people were so frustrated by the wait that they started chanting for the race to start. And yes, I did notice people leaving the venue because they got fed up. Anyway, at some point people in the back started running in the opposite direction from where we’d lined up. So now you have most of the runners in the back of the pack trying to run through walkers and people who wanted to leisurely enjoy the race. And people just started running there was no countdown or announcement that we were starting. Keep in mind that in the race materials they said they would release people in waves with the last wave leaving at 7:30. Here we had everyone just going together AFTER 7:30 and with kids and drunk people in the mix people were getting pushed and cutoff– it was more like an obstacle course. I was behind a group of runners who tried to make a path to run on the left so walkers could walk on the right but about 10 minutes into the run through a very narrow stretch of the «course» we came upon metal equipment just lying on the race course and a car parked on the race course, both were extremely dangerous considering we were running at night! I’d just assumed the organizers would’ve taken precautions to make sure the race path was clear since they’d organized a night run. The «course» wasn’t clearly marked with signs or rope or anything and race organizers were nowhere to be found (my guess is they were hiding). I didn’t even see any emergency services in the venue or along the «course» in case someone got hurt. The glow stations were very limited (maybe 4) and crowded so most people ended up picking up powder from the ground and throwing it on themselves. The finish line wasn’t marked with anything indicating it was the end so you couldn’t even push for a real finish if you wanted to. There wasn’t even a glow station there. The worst part is they did not have water at the end of the race (as they’d advertised) and I didn’t see any water fountains so you had to go pay $ 3 for a small bottled water from the food vendors. I’ve never been in a race where water wasn’t available for the runners both along the course and at the finish line. I didn’t see any swag bags (as they’d advertised) but after I got my water I just left. This event was so disappointing. If anyone that wants to run a race is considering this event for next year or Blacklight Runs in other cities I’d recommend saving your money and making a donation directly to the charity of your choice. Running at your local track would’ve been much more fun and safe.

DONT DO THIS RUN. I DID IT AT THE POMONA FAIRPLEX ON OCT. 5, 2013. WASTE OF MONEY! Extremely unorganized and not even the staff knew what was going on. Save yourself the headache and walk around your neighborhood, you’ll have a way better time.

What a disappointing event! I am hoping for a full refund plus my $ 10 parking fee. UGH! This was billed as a «family friendly» event, yet the DJ played songs with lyrics like «nigger» and «I’d rather be a dick than a swallower.» Nice! The run was supposed to start at 6;45 and runners would go out in waves. We stood on the dark track until 7:30, with no instructions– even though the aforementioned DJ’s pumping bass could still be heard and his microphone would have been available to make an announcement that all could here. Finally, we were allowed to go– the opposite way they had us lined up for 40 minutes! There were no «wave» starts, just one MASSIVE crush of people. There was no room to run, so runners were squeezing along the sidewalk, on the curbs, through bushes! The track was dark and difficult to follow. There were only 3 glow stations and hardly any black light, so that gimmick was a bust. When we finished the run, which was less than the 5K billed, we were supposed to all get a free pack of glow powder in return for the tear-​off at the bottom of our race bid. Well, they totally ran out. My children were disappointed and my husband and I feel like we got fleeced. We drove over an hour for what we thought would be fun and it was terrible instead. Find another race people! Don’t waste your money. I posted comments on their Facebook page and they were removed by morning– seems like that happened to others who also posted negative comments.
UPDATE: I DID GET MY MONEY REFUNDED. THANK YOU BLACKLIGHT RUN.

Sigh, what a big disappointment and waste of time. I tried to think positive that making donation to people who need it, but really frustrated with the fact that I wasted my time of making extra trip on Friday to pick up the packet and my hours of waiting for the event which is poorly organized. People are confused about the starting line, and there is no one to instruct the crowd. After an hour of wait, everyone just decided to walk/​run on their own.

I am posting this note as a warning to everybody considering doing this run in future cities. DON’T do it. We had a team of 11 people do it tonight in Los Angeles, and it was the most poorly run event we have ever done.
1) The lines were incredibly long with only a few volunteers working the check-​in. Thank goodness we got there 2 hours early.
2) The race was supposed to go off in waves, sorted by race numbers. Instead they kept the entire 9000 people waiting on a horse track for 30 minutes while constantly saying, «Five more minutes». Finally, they lost control of the front of the line and everyone took off. A couple people at the front got TRAMPLED (we got it on video).
3) After that start, the race then ran through barely marked back parking lots, alleys and (inexplicably) an herb garden?! All areas were so DARK that people were tripping over curbs and planters and rolling ankles. There were so many people trying to cram into narrow paths, that the entire pack had to stop and walk shoulder-​to-​shoulder every 30 feet or so.
4) They clearly didn’t have the course planned out at all. It wasn’t even close to a 5k. Our GPS said 2.2 miles total.
5) When you finally did reach a «Glow Zone» they were a couple of lame black lights on a narrow bridge over the course. The crowd was so packed at each one of these that you’d have to stop and waddle in place for about 10 minutes before you could make it in.
6) When you did get in, there were no paint powder bombs dropping color. At the first zone, there were a couple volunteers with buckets of powder to toss over people’s heads, but after just 10 mins (the time it took me to waddle up to Zone #1) I saw the ORGANIZERS WALKING AWAY SAYING, «FUCK THIS.» So, if you wanted color, you had to scrape some powder off the ground, toss it onto yourself with a sad little «wheee» and keep waddling like herded cows through a very long and dark corral.
5) At the finish line they made everyone pick up their after-​party powder packs at just 2 little card table sized booths staffed by maybe 3 volunteers. There was no order for this line (which took 20 minutes). It was just a mass of bodies ramming into the booths from all angles! The line wasn’t moving because they had no exit. Once you made it to the front, you could not get back out! If I hadn’t jumped up onto the tables and jumped the barricade, I would have been CRUSHED BY THE MOB like the poor girl to my right.
In sum, this event was poorly run, dangerous, and in my opinion organized by a company that was just jumping on the zombie, mud, glow run bandwagon because they’re popular, and there’s money in it. However, I must compliment them on how *excellent* they were at selling their glow toy novelties at the after-​party rave. Those overpriced glow stick bunny ears and white tulle tutus were just flying off the shelves… Funny that.

Ripoff Alert! This was highly disorganized and I could have had a better time with family and/​or friends doing anything else but standing in line with thousands of people not knowing where to go. The supposed 5k «race» eventually started, not a 6:45, but closer to 8pm. This is not a race but a more of a parade of drunk people and people wanting to party. There is no clock for people racing. So why are thir bibs with numbers? No reason that I can see.
People had no idea where to line up or how to line up. Many people just left believing it was a ripoff even before the «race» started..
No staff were around to help or direct. No staff with microphones instructing people where to go. Glow stations were a few, small and not worth stopping at as they were overcrowded.
Most people that I talked to actually thought the event was in Los Angeles until after they purchased their tickets and found out it was in Pomona. Promoters eventually updated their site to more accurately communicate the exact location.
Lines where terribly long. I just can’t say enough of how badly this event was marketed and then operated. Truly unprofessional. Stay away.
But if you really want to attend I suggest you just show up and do not pre-​register or pay.. It appears the organizers have no system to track who has paid. They simply confirm that your ID matches the signed release form — then you get your bib. So if you want to attend I don’t think you need to pay. There are so few staff to check on compliance, let alone your safety, that it should not matter.
Lastly, I never received promised swag from sponsors. In fact, I saw no sponsors at the event. Only vendors. Suspicious too that there are no specifics as to what actual specific charity is receiving monies for children’s cancer. Avoid.

Awesome run 5k run for the best charity for cancer children. Major crowded but well worth the run. But they need to organize it better since at the area where you get powdered with neon it pretty much SUCKED! First hit was 2 guys and you have tons of people. Second stop maybe about 4. The 3^rd neon area there was NO ONE there. You had to roll on the floor to get that color. What kind of crap is that. So Unorganized. The t-​shirt pick up was whack I could have just said a number and got extra t-​shirts. The Neon package pick up at the end of the finish line was not there. You had to go back to where the t-​shirt area was. Well Why would I want to do that. If i was just doing the run. I only like that they have this at night and the they do this for a charity for cancer children. They really need to fix this.