Monday, July 29, 2013

Living Social Glow in the Dark 5K Dance Party Race Recap

The title basically explains this race! It was a night race in which we danced our way through a 5k! Here are the details for this fun run:

Where: Citi Field, home of the New York Mets


Rules: Untimed race. Wear all black. Dance. Have fun!

We were ready for FUN!

Race packet: a bib (Just for show I guess), two glow necklaces, and one of those typical two shoulder bags that we declined to take. (We have a million of them.) 

Our all black rule breaking friends from Daily Burn! Their shirts were awesome. We had so much fun hanging out with Matt and Em!

The course: It was a coned off course weaving around the parking lot. There were tunnels of lights, blow up tunnels, and music blasting on the entire course! Although I don't think it was a true 5k, I think I ran a 5k with the amount of weaving I did. More on that later.

Christmas in July!

Positives: 

- The race was in a unique location. It ended inside Citi Field, which was lights out for runners to go to the after party! They didn't have official photographers, but they assigned staff to take pictures with your iPhone at the finish backdrop (GENIUS):

I secretly wished I'd timed this run...these boys were fast!

- The after party was GREAT! There was a DJ, drinks for purchase, and the main concessions were open in the ballpark. (No, Shake Shack was NOT open! BOO.) There was tons of dancing and people watching. Living Social was projecting live tweets on the big screens which was fun to see. 

Huge stage with a DJ in an open air part of the stadium = amazing outdoor dance party!

- A LOT of people ran their first 5k. When the MC at the start asked "How many of you are running a 5k for the first time?" I'd say 75% of the hands went up! It was amazing to see probably 5,000 people crossing the start and finish line for the first time!

Negatives:

- Start line bathrooms were limited. There were 6 portapotties and 10,000 people. You do the math.

- The course was very narrow. It made it difficult to run. Despite it being a fun run, I wanted to get to the party! It was tricky to dodge people...especially people who clearly had no intention of running (ie those in dress shoes and jeans...really???)

- Stadium pricing was still in effect. The location was fun, but $9 for a beer can get pricey, especially when you wait in line for ten minutes to get one. The staff were efficient and fun, but we limited ourselves in beverages because, please child, that's expensive for Bud Light!

Verdict: It was a fun time! I'm not sure I would do it again, although the after party was definitely fun. I guess I would line up earlier to get going sooner! (I kept telling myself it was a fun run, but I had to keep up with the fast boys!!!)

How about you? Have you done a themed fun run? Have you seen these types of run motivate non-runners to join in the fun? Have any races you've run ended in a cool spot? TELL ME ABOUT IT!

No comments: