The Blacklight Run

When you do a lot of events, you naturally start comparing them in terms of race quality, pre race information, safety and experience.
I mainly run OCRs but I do also enjoy the shorter 'themed fun runs'. I do them with a group of friends and it is usually coupled with post-race drinking either as a weekend away or just cause. After a good weekend in Manchester last year doing the Color Run for the second time (which is great fun), I found an event much closer to home at Donington Race Course called 'the Blacklight Run'. I bought a ticket at a discounted race and sent a Whatsapp message out for the troops to assemble for another run (with the bribe of cocktail night at mine afterwards).
The Blacklight run billed itself as a similar event to the Color Run, with coloured UV powder run on you whilst you ran a 5km course in the dark. Sounded fun.


I should have guessed the standard of the race from the fact we received upwards of 3 pre-race emails changing the location and possibility to pick up your race-packet before the race (they originally wanted to charge you £5 to pick up your race packet on the day but after moaning on social media, they changed their minds).
We arrived on site about an hour before the race (usually plenty of time to pick up your packet, warm up and be ready) to be greeted with a very, very long queue of people wanting to pick up their packet. Then it started raining. Great.


The race was due to start at 6pm and when 6pm rocked up we were still about 300 people away from the registration desks (and a good 80 people behind us). There was an announcement on the loudspeakers that the race start would be delayed due to 'everyone having too much fun'. At 6:20 we were nearly at the front of the queue (we'd been queuing for over 1hr 20 minutes now). When we registered we were given a random packet with a t-shirt and hurried out the building as the "last wave was going" (there were sill people in the queue at this point).


I'm not a health and safety geek by any stretch of the imagination but with a race in the pitch black, I was surprised that there wasn't a safety briefing, just a countdown and we were off.


The course itself was pitch black as expected and very hard to see where to go, so we just followed the people in front. I was genuinely surprised at the lack of marshals out on the course (I saw 2 in total who clearly were from the race course).
When we arrived at the first 'colour station' there was 1 person throwing coloured paint and this made it difficult to actually get any colour on you (especially with a group of people crowding round him refusing to move). As it was chucking it down, we moved on. The second station had 2 people throwing paint and I came away with the sleeve of my hoody covered in paint nothing more.


Like I said at the beginning of this post, when you do multiple events, you start to compare them. At the Color Run there was at least 8-10 people throwing paint at you and you came away covered (which is what you want). Each area was almost a mini party zone and you got into the atmosphere of the event. At the Blacklight Run there was music at some stations but once you left them, the atmosphere changed and you ran into pitch black silence.   


The weather (driving rain), couldn't have been helped but I wonder if maybe doing it in February was the best idea.


My other main concern about the event was about safety. When you registered, you were given a random pack with t-shirt, pins and race number. That race number had no ties to your race information or disclaimer you signed. If per say, you were running solo and had an accident, no one would have a clue about who you were. The whole point of a race number is to tie you to your emergency details if anything were to happen to you. Yes everyone I saw (though I did have my head down, avoiding the rain for most of the race), was in a group, but that's not the point.


Would I do the Blacklight Run again? No. It was a massive let down and it left a bitter taste in my mouth after raising the H&S and organisational points on their Facebook group and having both my posts deleted. A good event listens to feedback, positive and developmental and learns from it. Not delete any criticism.


All I say is, bring on the Color Run again.