Blacklight Run – San Jose

My girL and I decided to do our first run and thought the BLackLight Run wouLd be perfect to bring aLong her daughter for some Late night fun/​bonding.
InitiaL impression: what the heLL did I get myseLf into?
There are swarms of groups– many haLf naked, fLashy, and|or geared up from head to toe.
Our party of three definiteLy stuck out Like a sore thumb. LMAO.
OveraLL, the concept sounded great but running in the pitch bLack dark, on uneven paths, and the Lack of gLow powder stations was not the business (onLy the first station had powder. Everyone was roLLing around on the fLoor at aLL the other stations– YUCK!)
The Neon Party consisted of everyone standing around, sQuished Like sardines. GLow powder is randomLy thrown and if you aren’t carefuL, that stuff wiLL definiteLy get in your eyes.
As if they didn’t make enough money off of the participants, there are food & beverages soLd towards the exit of the fairground. Make sure to bring cash.

I agree with what many of the other posters have written. The concept is fun, but very poorly executed. There were very few glow powder stations (3, maybe 4) with one person working. The first station had powder, the rest did not. People were picking up powder off the ground to throw.
There is almost no lighting or music along the course. It is very dark and hard to see. Besides rocks, ditches, etc. people had thrown their plastic water bottles on the ground and I tripped or slipped on several.
It was very difficult to run, walkers blocked most of the path. Glow powder at the end was also a joke. They only had green so our team of 5 was all stuck with the same color.
For the price they charge there should be more race employees/​lighting/​security.

Took my daughter for this run. I was really disappointing to see how badly it was organized. Terrain was a disaster. It was dark people were falling. Wouldn’t recommend for people who want to run. Good for walkers only.

We just parked in lot A which is the Santa Clara county Fair Grounds parking lot and they are charging $ 12 for parking instead of $ 10 like it says on the website. I think someone is ripping everyone off.

The event in theory is a lot of fun. But the course is confusing and easy to go the wrong way. The course is poorly lit and not enough volunteers directing you in the way you should go.
Other than that it was fun.

Someone accidentally threw an entire bag of powder into my eye and had to have my eye washed out for a very long time. A terrible an excruciatingly painful experience. I thought I was going to lose vision completely in my right eye. I would never go again.

This was my first ever 5k. So I had no idea if what to expect. I did a little Unilocaling prior to the event and heard about the dark and rugged terrain. I grabbed a small led flashlight and left! So glad I did! I would have broken my leg. Even with the lights I was tripping over the rocks.
Let’s talk about the course switch backs… Just when you saw the finish line you switched back or like most cheated and cut.
This fat girl rocked the whole dam thing! I will do another 5k but not this one! Did i mention that I’m a fat girl? The largest size is an XL… Most fit guys I know can’t wear a XL
I’m am super excited to report that The Color Run is a morning event and there shirts go up to a 3XL woo hoo! I get a shirt that I can wear! I’m giving this one 2 stars only because I loved @criscokidd and @djautomatic

Couldn’t make it out to the early packet pickup, was charged $ 5 extra to pick up on race day. The charge was announced in the welcome email but that doesn’t make it right especially given how much the course sucks.
The course was a mix of gravel, rocks, gras, and sand. Outside of the few and far between black light stations, it was not well lit at all. I jogged a bit of the course but mostly I waited until someone passed who was using their cell phone as a flashlight and kept up with them as long as I could.
At some of the stations with powder, there were no volunteers.
The finish line was extra treacherous because there were no volunteers keeping it clear. It was crowded with people waiting to get their bag of free powder. Instead of handling it assembly line style like a Brazen race, they made everyone queue to get powder to throw. I passed it up after I saw that it was the cause of the finish line being so backed up and dangerous.
There didn’t seem to be any photographers anywhere around. Not at the start, finish, or any of the black light areas in between.
Unless the organizers do a complete overhaul with better lighting and a new venue, I won’t do this race again. Not worth the risk of injury.
Black shirts aren’t a good idea for a night run (VIP).
Parents: Do a day color run with your kids.

Packet pickup, parking, and overall organization seemed fine to me. I lined up early and was in the second wave of runners. No complaints.
The bad… the course is VERY dark and uneven. You run through a bit of concrete and then mostly dirt and gravel for the rest of the time. There’s no lighting along the path so you’re blindly stepping and hoping you don’t roll your ankles. Its difficult to see and you have to be careful not to run over small children.
This concept is really fun, however I would not run this course at the fairgrounds again. They need to find another location.

Could not get Blacklight to respond specifically to safety questions preparations via email. They do not provide a phone number to contact them.
Had to call Santa Clara County Fair grounds for safety info — didn’t get a return call so be warned.

I agree 100% with what most of the other reviewers have said. This is a dreadful event: terribly organized, unsafe, and definitely no fun. The terrain is ridiculously uneven, you can’t see where you’re going and it’s very easy to accidentally run over little kids. The color stations and the black lights are so few and far between you’re basically just running in the dark, in a crowd, on uneven ground. Oh, and did I mention there’s pretty much no music half the time either?
Total waste of time and money. Don’t do it.

I thought overall that the race is fun depending on who you’re with. I agree that the concept was fine but this was NOT the area to have held the race. It’s dangerous and dark where people can get or DID get seriously injured. The race was disorganized. The «swag» stuff that they promised was never given to us and the shirts were given on the day of the race which people had to get in line in order to get. Directions on where to go were never to be found nor were there any helpers around to guide everyone. The fun part I did find fun was the after party where everyone just there powder everywhere and it was just crazy. I WOULD NOT recommend this race for any serious runners. These types of races are mostly walkers that just like to chat and have fun. Definitely wasn’t worth the money I paid for this race which was $ 30. Music was pretty good. Volunteers could have definitely done more than stand there and dance around to their music.

This run was so unorganized and the Fairgrounds has to be the most unsafe place to have a 5k. Literally people were falling and I heard a someone fell and got injured up to the point where an ambulance was called. I also heard he passed away, if he did, condolences to the family. Just from that you can see how poor it was.
When you get your «Packet Pick Up» you don’t even get a packet, you get your bib. The bib had a coupon at the bottom that you had to rip off at the end of the race to redeem your color packet. While you run, it is very dark and you do not get any color thrown at you while you run. It’s literally running 2 and a half miles and then dancing with powder. I came early and one of the Glow Pack tents had a «Roll of the Table» kinda thing, the volunteers took the broken packets and spread the powder on the table and you got to roll it. That was probably the funnest thing i did at the race. Also the coupons were kinda hard to tear, I just ran a 5k, I’m tired, the volunteer at the glow pack station was super nice and tore off the coupon for me.
The dj was great, He played great music and threw out free color packs, glow sticks, light up glasses, and other great things. The afterparty had a Rave typa vibe and i enjoyed that very much.
They had a photobooth, but no photographer, weird right? You had to use your own phone/​camera and ask someone (probably behind you) to take the picture for you.
They also sold beer, kettle corn, and other foods at the run.
I don’t really recommend going to this run with your kids, it was dark and very unsafe.

This was the worst fun run 5k I have ever attended and doesn’t even deserve one star. These guys need to get their act together and follow the pros, like the Color Run.
It began with «packet» pick-​up in which I drive out of my way to pick up everything for my team only to find we only received the race bibs, no shirts and no color packs. What’s was the point? Don’t you think it would have been a lot less chaos on the race day if you had just given out the shirts as well? Not to mention it makes it easier for people to wear their shirt on race day. None of the volunteers were very friendly or even helpful, I had to wait in every single last name lane to pick up for my team instead of one person helping me.
Then we get to race night, where there are no clear signs as to where to go or what to do, hardly a volunteer in sight, a $ 5 fee for not driving out of your way to pick up just a race bib, and general chaos. The start of the race took forever with a very disorganized line and once we got on the course people were falling and tripping on the rocky terrain because there wasn’t any light to see where you were going. At the very least, they should have had downward facing lowlights or rope lights all along the path. I also don’t recall seeing a single safety person or volunteer along the path to keep everyone safe.
Not only was the path dark, at the ‘color stations’ there were maybe two or three black lights and ZERO color being thrown. We trudged onward only to come across a man who was on the ground and blue in the face with some volunteers around him not seeming to do much for him. Ambulances and a fire truck were attempting to make their way to him, but there were no volunteers helping to clear the road of runners for them to get through. I really hope he was able to get help in time.
Once we made it out of this horrific dark maze, we couldn’t even find any of our team members since it was so dark and decided to leave. We didn’t have a speck of color on us at all either. I can’t even imagine the horror if this had been in the rain.

I was part of the 4^th wave (1^st wave started around 6:25) and every 5mins after that… got to the venue early! Parking was easy. It was difficult to run all the way because there were parts of the course where you take pictures and some people were just walking. But it was such a friendly crowd and some made it like a family event. At the end of this 5k run… PARTY PARTY PARTY… dance dance dance =)

Doesn’t even deserve the one star but had to just write this! Firstly I enjoy running! I especially enjoy fun 5ks, sadly this by far is the worse one I’ve done! The color stations suuuuuucked! The people there didn’t seem excited! The lighting was poor! Music… What music? Not enough music! Poorly organized! I feel bad for all that where injured tonight! This was my first and last run for this event! I highly recommend Run or Dye!!! If your looking for a fun! High adrenaline music, color motivating run! All in all BLACKLIGHT RUN SUCKED! Sorry not sorry! Haha and if this was the first 5k or event you have done, you might have enjoyed it! It’s not your fault you don’t any better!

Now I can’t review for the event from start to finish… but the very reason that I didn’t even make it to the starting line is what I want to share with any people who may be thinking of attending this in the future.
First of all, there were two nights prior to the race for picking up packets, which took place in the parking lot across from the fairgrounds. My husband and I went on Thursday and the atmosphere was chaotic. I looked at many of the individuals behind the folding tables and most of them seemed to have no idea what was going on. We got our bibs and safety pins but were told the shirts that should have been a part of our «packet» weren’t ready yet. Awesome. So all we got from driving over an additional time were the bibs (along with some attitude from the lady behind the table telling me to «take some safety pins and go away» when I tried to ask a question).
On the actual night of the race, we arrived in the area around 4pm (didn’t park in fairground parking lot). We did some shopping, and walked over to the fairgrounds. arriving about 5:45pm. More chaos. No signs nor staff advising which way to go to get the shirts. No organized system of lining up to get said shirts once we found out where they were. Finally, we pinned our bibs onto our shirts and walked toward the end of the MASSIVE line of people waiting to get to the start. The start line was not far from the entrance to the fairgrounds and it wrapped around to an exit further down Tully and turned into the little parking lot out front. Already annoyed and not feeling much like ‘partying’ for what we assumed would be hours of waiting, my husband and I took our $ 20 t-​shirts and left.
This event was poorly organized and the «staff» I dealt with had no idea what they were doing. Having said that, I have to take responsibility for going in unprepared since this was my first 5k and this one seems to be meant more as a party with a bit of running thrown in. We should have planned it as a group event and pre-​partied to be more into it. All we felt was confused, frustrated, and annoyed. If you want to get a big group of friends together pre-​drink and maybe show up extremely early, I imagine this could be a good time.

True definition of awful! You couldn’t see anything! We were running in the middle of as another review put it «about 10 different terrains». There was absolutely no light except at the beginning, and end. There were maybe a total of 8 black lights along the route. We ran through a field of huge rocks, and dirt clumps. People were falling and tripping everywhere. This was so crazy and dangerous.
Then you add ALCOHOL into the mix! Then it just gets plain stupid. There were lots of drunks, people puking, it was a mess. Drunk people running 3 miles in the pitch black doesn’t mix. Ive done lots of color runs and marathons, none of which have alcohol. Why? Because it is extremely dangerous!
Now heres the worst part! A man collapsed right ahead of me and I was in the first 15 or so on the scene. He was gone with no pulse. The nurses who happened to be running began CPR, and we began calling for help! I having CPR and rescue training was ready to step in if needed. It took their medic team 10+ minutes to get out there. Their medical team didn’t even have a defibrillator. The security for the race had no idea where we were! It was pandemonium. It took SJ Fire and Medical 15+ minutes to get all the way to the back where he was! There should be a plan in place to stop the race and get the first responders in, when someone is dying on the ground you do what you have to do, and fix the problems later!
This race had terrible planning, awful staff, drunks everywhere, and was just chaos! Overall I truly feel like this whole thing is scam! I really want my money back!
I expected a black light race to have tons of black lights! AS it seemed on the website! The entire race from start to finish probably had 20.
NOT KID FRIENDLY

This was so much fun! Very well organized! Nothing like the first two reviews stated. I had a blast!

The concept is fine, but the venue (Santa Clara County Fairgrounds) is horrible. The course tracked through concrete (mostly bad), asphalt (worse), gravel, sand, grass, dirt and mud, with ruts and obstacles throughout. I pity those who tried to actually run in the dark through that mess – walking it was hard enough. I saw a few folks trip on the rough stretches.
The course conditions were awful, even with the best-​case weather scenario: clear and mid-​50s, no rain all week. With more typical late February weather – say 46 and drizzle – this could have been even worse.
The event seemed oversold – it took us over an hour to get to the starting line, and people were still starting 30 – 45 minutes later. Renting a few cops to help with traffic flow and pedestrians crossing Tully would have been wise.
They made poor use of the massive facility – 50 people lined up to use the bathrooms at the permanent concessions, while a dozen port-​a-​potties sat vacant – because their was no signage or people to direct them.
Side note: hope the person/​people who needed all those ambulances was OK. That looked awful, and it took forever to get EMS personnel to that corner of the venue. (I’ve since heard the man passed away… how tragic.)