Runners were encouraged to pickup packets the day before the race at the Citadel Factory Outlets. Parking was easy and free, though we did hit a lot of traffic on the way there and got caught in a few downpours. Pickup was smooth, they had our bibs, tshirts, coupons for Outlet stores, rubber bracelet and tattoos and 1 dye packet per person. Additional dye packets and other items were available for purchase.
This was my son’s 1st 5K and I liked how the course description said it looped back to the start or ‘dye zone’ each time. I figured we could quit if he was tired, but It didn’t quite do that, or wasn’t marked with the option to do that I guess, so luckily he ended up doing the whole thing, which according to my Nike Runnning app was about 3.5 miles for us.
The race started over 30 minutes late as the line for race day pickup was SUPER long so maybe next time they should have a mail option and no race day pickup. There was no pre-race festivities really except one stand I saw with ‘breakfast burritos’ and the Run or Dye merch booth. Hopefully they get some vendors in the future to participate pre-race as it was pretty boring, and we couldn’t hear the announcer even from where we were in the starting chute. Post race they had a DJ playing tunes and more dye being thrown around. No post race food or drink that I saw anywhere so we hit up Figueroa Philly across the street (love that place! so another plus for location of the race 🙂
My son had a great time though and I liked the course running by Natural History Museum, Science Center, Colliseum, Expo Park and Sports Arena. Good 1st experience for my son.
