Hit and Run 5K

If there was a zero star I’d give them that. The worst customer service I’ve ever encouraged in my life. They promoted a member of our group to pay twice. And forget about transferring a name. They needed the person to sign. .Okay and that person lives outta state… they just told me we messed up on the paper work… I’ve done other races and no stress nothing super easy. I’ll never sign up a again for this. If you want rude customer service, difficult online services, double charge with no rufund then this is the place to go. I’m not even excited to do this race tomorrow cause part of my group aren’t able to run

Absolute worst experience you could imagine. 1.5 hour lines for EACH obstacle. Took us 6 hours to get through the 5k course. Halfway through they had to bring a water truck out to save everyone from heat stroke. There’s a million more things to complain about this race but I don’t want to spend any more time thinking about this terrible experience.

WIPEOUT?!?
I was super excited when I found out that something similar to wipeout was coming to the bay area. I immediately signed up and it was even better that there was a groupon deal too!
I shouldn’t be so harsh because this was the first time ever a Hit and Run 5k was being held but for what it is. it was disappointing. First, the organization of the run was messy and the event coordinators were not prepared. There were too many people per wave and they couldn’t control the crowd. A lot of things could be done differently but the biggest thing is that they need to handle is the wait for the obstacles. The time you spend waiting to get through an obstacle is longer than what you would normally take to run a complete 5k. Each obstacle had about 20 – 40 minute wait and it was ridiculous. The obstacles itself were okay, some of them were really fun but the other ones just felt like you were in those kid bounce houses… it was not how they advertised it to be. Also, I wish there were more obstacles that involved water and foam because that was fun and there was only one obstacle like that in the entire run!
This was far from what I envisioned and they have a long way to go in terms of making this event more enjoyable. I will probably wait a couple of years before trying again because my experience for this one was just not worth another try.

Where do I begin? Yes, as everyone has already mentioned, there were a TON of things that could’ve been done differently… Though the race started out on what appeared to be the right foot (coordinated waves, etc…), we literally ran into a wall IMMEDIATELY at obstacle one… It was during these periods of «reflection» (during the 30+ minute wait per obstacle), we were able to critique & brainstorm various ideas.
1. Registering on the site should’ve set limits on the # of participants per wave… My wave was at 9:30 & apparently, so was everybody else’s…
2. Obstacles that were obvious bottlenecks should’ve had at least (2) duplicate stations staged. Having a massive wave of folks funneling into a single obstacle was just ludicrous… It was during the 2^nd obstacle as well where I came to a realization (as the sun was beating down on the back of my neck) that Sunscreen would probably have been a good idea to have had on-​hand…
3. Water… What water? Actually, I saw (2) stations throughout, the first being relatively convenient (though warm, with an «essence of garden hose»). The 2^nd was closer to the beginning of the race as well in an odd/​inconvenient location… This was the last I saw of water throughout the rest of the course…
4. Obstacle #4 (Wobble Walk) SUCKED BALLS… We were forced to wait a bit as well considering a few of the muay-​thai bag looking thingies were apparently leaking air. After being patched, I quickly climbed across the dumbest obstacle out on the course. Seemed more appropriate for a kiddie bounce-​house (& I’m guessing probably WAS meant for a kiddie bounce house). Reason being? The damn steps to exit the obstacle couldn’t hold more than 20lbs & they literally had (2) volunteers assisting/​holding the steps just so you could claw your way out…
5. Where was the foam? The video kept showing foam at the obstacles (not to mention ZERO lines) & folks simultaneously running obstacles which was definitely NOT the case for the real event. The only foam «I» saw was the foam collecting on the corners of peoples dry mouths as they were dying of thirst from the lack of water stations…
6. Anyone could’ve snuck in without paying (& DID) considering the amount of folks I saw running obstacles in their JEANS, sans a bib…
All that being said, it was STILL better than the «Rave Run»… Please, let us bow our heads in silence & never forget the tragic Rave Run of 05/​11/​2013 (a date that will live in infamy)… I believe there is still a support group for all those poor souls who attended (myself included)…Regardless, we still had fun, I learned new things about my wife & buds having «chopped it up», standing in line for 30 – 45 minutes per obstacle & lastly, I got my tan-​on being in a 5k that took over 3 hours to complete…
In summary, great idea, poor execution (false advertisement as well with the video) & once again, WHY MUST THEY KEEP HOSTING THESE AT THE FAIRGROUNDS? Lastly, no iced cold bottled water at the Finish Line? Instead, the ice-​lined kiddie-​pools were filled with nothing but a funky Propel «Purple Drank» concoction, which I wasn’t a big fan of… (Nice Dimetapp after-​taste btw…) Come on race organizers, there’s got to be a better venue! Fix it or don’t expect as big a turn-​out next time around… You’ve fooled me (& everyone else who attended) once, so shame on you…

Extremely excited for this 5k event, which ended up to be a disappointment. I would like to first mention this was the most unorganized event I’ve attended.
My team: oohHitEm. We all registered for the 10a slot, but was notified one day before the run that we were all changed to the 1:00p wave? WTH? (not happy) Reasons why they automatically changed our time? they underestimated the people who would register for the slots. #SMH
Fortunately we showed up at 10:00a and they accommodated us at 11:00a since we were running late.
My experience? The first obstacle consisted of a beam balance and being watered down/​hit by a dodge ball. I would like to say it was fun! but once you fall there is no cushion at the bottom, you basically fall down on the gravel. That is a safety issue! I watched each individual fall and landed the wrong way, with volunteers (TEENS) asking are you ok?
The next course was horrible-​I felt like I was at an amusement park waiting for a ride. The line consisted of 45mins? TSK TSK. Actually majority of the lines were 25min of a wait time, do I need to say more? One more complaint before I stop ranting: the running course which was unpaved & rocky gravel. Again I could of injured myself or twisted my ankle.
I can honestly say this though, if my team wasn’t so much fun then I would of been pissed! THANK YOU HIT AND RUN!

0 stars. I was expecting an obstacle race… not theme-​park lines.
It was crap. mostly long lines… my friends and I ended up skipping most of the obstacles because we weren’t prepared for standing in the sun for hours getting burned. 5k takes 30 – 40 minutes to run. With obstacles, about an hour — tops.
From the people I talked to who did all the obstacles, it took about 2.5 hours. That means you’ll be standing in lines for about 1.5 hours.
No thanks.

My wave was at 8:30am, so the lines for each obstacle was about 10 – 20 minutes each. However, I heard from later waves that the lines were unbelievably long. Before the race begun, we had to line up at the starting point. The speaker/​mc threw out freebies while we were waiting, which was really nice.
There were no one to guide us through the run, so we had to figure out where to go. Fairgrounds is a very interesting place. At one point while running, there was a strong stench smell. There were also motocross races for people to watch while waiting in line for the second obstacle.
It would’ve been awesome if there were photographers for every obstacle! I wanted to take photos to share with my friends and family, but I didn’t want to lose my phone or get it wet.
The obstacles themselves, however, were really fun. Although I didn’t complete all the obstacles successfully, I had a fun time. But i could see much improvement needed from the organization.

I was under the impression that this was going to be great fun. I saw the video and immediately bought a ticket. Needless to say I regret buying the ticket to run this 5k. The beginning before runnings was pretty fun. They really hyped up the whole situation and I was excited to run. They gave out free frisbee’s and handkerchiefs, which was cool. Then our wave started to run. This race was so poorly executed in so many ways. First of all during the obstacles, there was a huge wait time between them, it was at least 30 – 45 before a person could go onto the obstacles. Then for the first obstacle, people fell from it, and instead of having the proper safety measures, people fell down, and scraped themselves on the concrete floor. Its like the management didn’t care about safety for the runners. After running the ½ mile to the obstacles, I felt that it wasn’t even worth running anymore because the wait time was so long between obstacles, that it didn’t even matter if a person ran the whole thing or walked it. Regardless 5k’s shouldn’t take 3 hours to run because most of it is waiting time. This race is very disorganized and a huge disappointment (some of the obstacles were broken and had people having to close the holes so the jumper wouldn’t collapse). To make matters worse there were only two water stations, and the water wasn’t cold and tasted terrible, making me not want to drink any water. I even witnessed a lady being brought bottled water from a vending machine because their water was so nasty. By the time it got to the final 5^th obstacle course I didn’t even want to go into it because we were so over the whole race, and just wanted to leave. This race is a great idea, however, it was poorly organized. They would have done well to have more obstacles closer together, with less waiting times. Clearly the managers just wanted a huge event, but didn’t take into consideration how this whole event would affect the runners. I will definitely not be running this again, and I strongly advise people against going to this terrible event. Use your money elsewhere because this 5k was a waste of time.

Once bitten, twice shy… I should have know any event at the fairgrounds was gonna be crap!
Not only was this event not worth a single penny, I mean maybe if it was for charity but it wasn’t. I wasted 3 hours of my life here. I’ve come to fairgrounds another time for the «Rave Run» and that event was lame af too. But at least you got to do the run in whatever time it takes you to run approx. 3 miles. Anyway, for hit and run, it was shittier. Every obstacle you had to wait 45+ mins to even get through it. My group already decided to leave when we saw the second obstacle. We passed by the last one and just decided to take a dip cause it was HOT AS HELL TOO. There was barely a line at the last obstacle cause I bet everyone else started leaving after the second obstacle. OMG, words cannot express how disappointed I was. Just can’t. It was just horrible. I hate it when the big guys decide they want more money than they do with more satisfied guests. Clearly a big sham for money type of event.
Anyway, here’s a big EFF YOU to the people who put the event together. It’s time to change careers cause you suck. You may have taken our money this time, but good luck getting away with it next time. Again, F U!

The concept was good, but the execution poor. Wait times for each obstacle were easily 15min+. They really need to add more obstacles or keep the number of runners down.

Crowded, waited 45min at one obstacle. Skipped one because of the lines. Watched many groups skip because of the lines. Also, felt short changed as there were only 5 obstacles.
Water was scarce, only one water station on the course, but they did end up bringing a water truck to one location.
Would not run it again.

Absolutely terrible. Would never do it again… Almost feel like they should be giving refunds based on the or quality of the execution. After waiting for 30 minutes part our start time because they wanted to space people out on the obstacles, we arrive at the very first obstacle five minutes in and wait 20 minutes to go through. That ended up being the best case scenario. The next wait was 40 min, we skipped the third because people had made plans not expecting a 3 hour 5K. 30 min at the 4^th obstacle and broken elements of the obstacle. Last obstacle was the only one with a reasonable wait. Finished 2.5 hours after our scheduled start time, minus 2 obstacles (since the 6^th promised obstacle didn’t exist). The running was over dust and asphalt next to a motocross course sending choking fumes.
I would give this zero stars if I could. If this has been a charity race, I would have been more forgiving. But this was a pure money maker that was oversold. That should feel ashamed for this event. It had so much potential, but so poorly executed.

Where to start? Let’s start with how the event was run. It’s a nice concept to add obstacles to a 5k. It makes it different and brings something unique to something that is common. However this was very poorly managed. The event planners seemed more interested in «selling out» than making sure they had a great event. They were posting on Facebook about tickets that they had left the day before. They couldn’t handle the participants they did have. They shouldn’t have been try to sell even more tickets.
Generally speaking the issue were that wait times were too long. An event like this should not have you wait more than 5 to 10 minutes. However typical wait times were around 45 minutes while the longest one I had was over an hour at the Bouncy Ball. Also the obstacles did not nearly have as much water as the promo video showed. No foam in the obstacles. They used garden hoses to spray people randomly at one. Also they couldn’t keep all the obstacles working right. The second to last one, Wobbly Walk, was broken. You couldn’t even try to walk across the columns. They were deflated and broken.
The other issue was that the hydration stations were poorly run. The water wasn’t cold. I think I only saw two stations the entire way. Not nearly enough. If there were more, they were most likely abandoned.
In the end this really wasn’t a 5k. It was more like, run ½ mile wait a long time then repeat.
The one thing they did right was marketing. The person who did the video about the event deserves a raise. He managed to make the event look really fun and exciting. I’ve never been duped so badly by a marketing guy. Kudos to that person!
In summary it was very disappointing. I had hoped I would enjoy it enough to do with my kids next year. Definitely would not do it again. Save your time and money and go do something else.

A 5K shouldn’t take 3 hours. I know there were obstacle courses, but then a reasonable time should be closer to 1.5−2 hours max. Silly. And you do NOT get timed because it is impossible to get a good time. The promo video on their site shows a fast paced suds filled race with water being sprayed. I guess water and soap use would have been detrimental to their bottom line.
The venue location itself was excellent. Many of the larger obstacle races seem to be held remotely away from the large cities where land is plentiful and cheap. Santa Clara Fairgrounds is easily accessible and we have no problems getting in and out. There was plenty of street parking in the earlier waves if you want to avoid the $ 8 parking at the Fairgrounds. We parked at a nearby shopping plaza at The Plant and walked over after a light breakfast.
Things fell apart after that. Right from the beginning I was ‘WTF’ing. Workers throwing out free stuff. Yayyyyyy right? WRONG! Plastic frisbees being thrown at your face isn’t a fun thing to experience even before starting the race. Give them out at the end ya dummies! Or at least get everyone’s attention before throwing them. During the race there was a single water station in between the 5 obstacle courses. I felt a little light headed from the sun/​heat, not because of the running. It was a cakewalk with so many stops. The waiting was where it kicked our butts. Planners/​organizers listen up, here is some feedback. Either cut down ticket sales in half per wave, or put water stations at every obstacle course. Waiting 30 min to an hour per obstacle race with no water is very bad!!! I don’t need to further elaborate.
Obstacle courses were crappy. Most were made of inflatable ‘jumpy house’ type material that were mostly partially deflated and sagging. This was during my 9:30 wave, and I can’t imagine what the people attending the later waves had to go through. The last obstacle course was skipped by many because the water was bateria filled poo brown color, people were dehydrated, or nearly impossible to cross due to the under-​inflated tubes. Ugh. My friend injured his tailbone landing his ass on one of the slides. Sure we made fun of him and patted his butt when he least expected it because he ‘walked it off’ but I think we need to buy him a rubber donut to sit on. The slide didn’t have enough cushion! BAD!
In the end there were laughs and I enjoyed spending time with my friends, but I left with a bitter taste in my mouth and a sun burn. The only other bright side were the vendors afterwards. They were very pleasant to talk to and we got some free samples. The t-​shirt is kinda cool but I feel a bit embarrassed to wear it. Oh the volunteers are worth a mention as they worked for hours in the sun and were there to support the race, and I hope they donated to your organization (Boys & Girls Club?) but there was absolutely no mention of it.
Lesson learned: We can assume this race was purely for profit. With no mention of a cause or charity, all the overbooking of tickets was out of pure greed. Keep race events accountable by looking for figures or percentages that goes to specific charitable organizations, and filter out the ones that do not.