jeneralist 

Well, so much for that goal.

One of the goals I had set for myself this year was a 5K run + obstacles + zombies: "Run for Your Lives" near Baltimore.

I didn't get to participate, and it wasn't my fault.

The short version: the event was staged as a series of "waves" throughout the day. Each wave had 300-400 runners setting out on a 5K course with obstacles (crawling through "sewer", climbing over fence, etc) as people in zombie make-up tried to steal the runners flag-football-style "life points". I was scheduled for the 3:30 wave. We were told to try to get there an hour early.

So my friends and I were about 5 miles away at 2:10, when the traffic just stopped. Turns out that the parking lot for the event was a grassy field, and all the cars going through the same entrance and exit had turned the approach into a mud-bog. Cars were getting stuck, blocking other traffic. We got to the parking lot at 4:30, then took the shuttle to the actual site of the event. By the time we got through with all of that, the organizers had closed down the event: it was getting too dark.

That's the short version -- the long version is quite a rant.

Anyway, moving on to my next goal: the Philadelphia half marathon in about 4 weeks. Eeep!

kevin_stevens

I didn't see the word "bike" anywhere in that.

KeS

jeneralist 

Nope -- but since I tend to share my fitness goals (even the non-cycling ones) with the gang here, letting folks know how well I do (or don't) achieve those goals makes sense.

indyfabz

Sounds like poor planning on their part.

Several years ago I did Velo Quebec's week-long Le Grande Tour. Unless you arrived at the start early (like I did) and got to park in the gravel lot, you had to park in a farm field. It had been a very rainy summer, and it rained the day before the event and every day during the event. The parking field became so saturated that parked cars began to sink into the mud on their own. When the unlucky finished, they had to get on cue, hop on one of several tractors that had been brought in, get rides to their cars and sit in the drivers' seats to help steer as they were towed to solid ground.

RichardGlover

Sounds like it could have been very cool. Pity it didn't work out. I'd ask for a refund.

Now I want to find a zombie run in my neighborhood!

shawmutt

Sorry you were one of the ones that didn't get to race I knew with the area and the amount of people they were expecting it would be a nightmare (and not just because of the zombies). I signed up for the earliest wave I could, 900am, left 4 hours early for a two hour drive, and still missed my wave. I was able to run in the 0930 wave and had a great time. After the race I chugged my free beer and high-tailed it out of there. I'll definitely be signing up for the Pittsburgh 2012 race and hopefully they'll have the kinks worked out. Regardless it will be the same plan--early wave, get the heck out of Dodge asap.

They are giving refunds to those that didn't get to race.

I have my blog entry all ready to go for the race but I'm hoping they have good pics to add.

eta: they are coming back to Baltimore next year! I just got this email--hopefully it will make up for the mess ups:

1. We're coming back to Maryland in 2012! Many of you have demanded it, and we're making it happen on October 27th, 2012. Same location, better traffic/parking – we've already rented out Ripken Stadium's parking lot (more info on that to come).

2. We know that paying $10 for parking after sitting in traffic must have hurt. To make up for this, we're offering $10 off a purchase of the 2012 Baltimore race. You can use coupon code "ParkForYourLives" (no quotes, no spaces, cases sensitive) between today and November 1, 2011.

3. Because of the traffic/parking debacle, as well as our last wave being shut down by emergency officials, there were some of you who didn't get the chance to run. We did our best to get you in to other waves if you missed yours, but obviously couldn't accommodate everyone. We hate that this happened, and want to make it right. We know we can't give you back your day or time, but we'll be offering a full refund to anyone who was signed up between 3:00 - 5:00, and who didn't have the opportunity to run. We'll also be offering you a free race of your choice for next year, including a race pass, camping pass, and parking. It's not perfect, but we hope this will help some of you. We'll have more details later this week.

4. G4 was on-site at our first race to film a segment for Attack of the Show. Tune in tonight at 7pm EST to possibly see your ugly mug on national television.

CliftonGK1

The Zombie Run out here was the evening after the CX race a few weeks ago, and they were double-billing it for people saying "hey, since you're already here at the venue, why not do this too?" Thankfully, the place has a fairly hardpacked dirt road in/out, so all it does is get a couple of puddles on it. No real traffic blockages.
I did not run after racing that morning. Not that it was the primary reason... I don't think I'd finish a 5k obstacle course these days. My running is reserved for about 100yds or less per lap on a CX race course.