Last Friday, my husband and I ran the Electric Run KC. It was the first time I had done a night race and I was super pumped about my gear (particularly my LED green afro)! However, I wondered how the actual race would be since I had heard mixed reviews about it from friends who had run the race in other cities. But Vanessa Hudgens had raved about it, so it had to be good right?
The Start
The race officially started at 9:00 p.m. The late start gave our group time to meet up and grab dinner (and a beer or two) before the race. Prior to the race, we were told that we should arrive around 7:00 p.m. to find adequate parking, etc. We got there at 8:15 p.m. and had no problems. Would have been boring to hang around for 2 hours!
At the start of the race, they were giving out free cans of Rockstar. Wasn't the biggest fan of the flavor, but still a nice idea.
Like I said, I was pretty excited about the gear I had chosen for the race. I had LED spike bracelets, glow-in-the-dark sunglasses, a glow afro and my brightest running clothes. My husband was smart and opted for neon sweatbands. I'm telling you, with the humidity the night of the race, I was dying under my wig!
{Our friends' LED shoelaces}
{My husband and me at the start line}
Besides the Rockstar at the beginning, the race also gave pretty good swag - a nice performance material tee, an LED bracelet, a glow-in-the-dark bib and glow sunglasses (none of ours worked well, though, so we wore our glow-in-the-dark sunglasses, which looked awesome in the blacklights along the course but made it VERY difficult to see).
{The starting chute}
The starting line was pretty chaotic. The race wasn't timed, but they still had to start us in waves to thin out the crowds. We were there early and still very far from the start. But, they kept us entertained with a DJ (all techno music, so beware if it isn't your thing) and threw lots of glow toys into the crowd. It was really hot and muggy in the chute and we probably did not start until almost 10:00 p.m. - and there were still masses of people behind us.
The Course
The course was fun, filled with lots of light shows and techno music. However, these areas got very congested. It was difficult to run, but you really wouldn't want to run through these, so if you are against stopping for photos during a 5k, this isn't your race. Here are some of the cool and electric sights along the way:
{Hitting my stride down rainbow road}
{Stopping for a photo in the bubbly, glow colon-esque tunnel}
{Refreshments along the route - water and more Rockstar}
All in all a fun run. It is definitely an untraditional race that draws a lot of non-runners, but definitely worth trying out at least once.
{Our team somewhere along the way}
The End
The end consisted of over-priced light beer (not necessarily a fault of the race, rather the venue...Cricket Wireless Amphitheater), loud techno music and a massive dance party. Not necessarily this group's finale of choice, but we hung around for awhile and took in the sights of all the craziness that is the Electric Run. Out of 5 stars - this would be a 3.
