The Charity Bomb

This was a really horrible event. Everything the other reviewers said is true. I will never go to another charity bomb event and think that the organizers owe us a refund. Only 2 water stations, no first aid station, a boring after run area (one bounce house and food area with outrageous prices) For this I paid $ 100? Not again!

I think there is a reason why there are so many bad reviews… including mine. Getting to the parking area was a joke, it took me 45mins from the main entrance to park. I feel sorry for anyone that came later because the line was even worse. Cars had to pay $ 5 for parking while in the same parking lot another event was going on and motorcycles parking was free, we are taking about hundreds of motorcycles… ya that made since. Parking was about a mile from the event. Once I got there I had to wait another 45min for registration. This was another joke, there was a long line but no one was monitoring the line so people where just cutting straight to the tables. For some reason they had a big gap from the front of the line to the registration tables so anyone could walk straight up — I didn’t realize this until I got to the front. There was no one to throw the color chalk, you had to reach into a box and through it on yourself or roll on the ground. Most of the stations had already run out of the color. I only saw one water station and they ran out of water; the event knew it was going to be a hot day and yet they didn’t provide enough water to the runners. The paths were not well marked and the total track was not 5K. When I was done with the my run, there was no water at the end. I went to one station to buy water and they were sold out. I tried the vending machine which ended up taking my money. At that point I just wanted to get the heck out so I had to take hike another mile back to my car only to find another long line just to get out. Whoever organized this event should never be involved with events again. If you were a vendor at the event then you made out. They had the premium parking at the entrance, since there was no water you had to spend a fortune for a drink. It seemed the vendors were better taken care of then the people participating in this event.
I would highly recommend to stay away from any other event that the Charity Bomb puts together. I guess their name should have said it all.

There are many ways to collect money for charity than rip everyone off and over sell the event. Our team arrived 1 hour early and after waiting 2 additional hours on the street waiting to get into the race we realized we wouldn’t make it to the starting line in time and had to turn around and go home. We had a team of 6 of us who had been looking forward to this for months. There was absolutely no organization to this event and this «charity» needs to be investigated. Shame on you Charity Bomb.

I agree 100% with all the previous reviews. This race was horribly organized. The long lines of traffic, the lack of color at the stations, and most importantly the running out of water at the ONE water station in 100 degree heat was completely unacceptable. I was so completely disappointed in this event since I had been looking forward to it for so long. Only wish I knew ahead of time and I would not have wasted a whole Saturday at such horrible event. :(

If I could give zero stars, I would:
First off, they advertise The Charity Bomb on Groupon as an event with proceeds going to 3 charities. After the race I started looking around online and there was an article saying the race was to benefit Scientology — what? Turns out 2 of the 3 charities are Scientology groups.
I started investigating and it turns out NONE of the proceeds benefit those groups. According the Charity Page: «We ensure 100% of the donations collected upfront as well as donations collected at the after-​party and promotional items go to local and international charities».
You’ll find this in the FAQ page: The Charity Bomb is not a charity or non-​profit organization. The Charity Bomb, dba is a «for profit» event company with a good purpose in mind.
Not only do I feel completely mislead, I didn’t get what I paid for since by the time I got through the horrendous traffic, parked, walked ½ of the 5K, and stood in the registration line for an hour — they were out of colors, water, and no one was throwing anything. Instead is was «well there is some yellow on the dirt you can throw» … nice…
*just for reference we pulled onto Santiago Canyon Road at 8:30AM and our start time for the race was 11:30AM

absolutely terrible. Echoing what previous reviewers have already said, this was horribly organized and executed. It’s not even an actual charity, it’s a for profit corporation. They ran out of color. Like, the event started at 10, and by 11 or so most of the tents were bone dry. No one was «throwing» anything.
They ran out of water. I live at the edge of the canyon and it took around 1 and half hours just to get to the parking lot. Because of where the parking lot is in relation to the start and registration, you ended up doing the course twice by the time you are done. It was way over-​hyped and over-​sold ticket wise and I think all in all the whole thing was a huge scam. Someone made out with a bunch of money, but little was spent on the actual event and I have my doubts very much (if any at all) went to any charity.
Really, just pass on this if they are dumb enough to use the same company name again.

Corn Starch in different colors thrown at you while you run 5K at Irvine Lake.
My buddy Ching T pointed out quite a few things. For me, the thing I noticed the most was the driving time.
I spent over two hours on the street leading into the event, due to the parking and manual $ 5 cash payment system.
We only saw 2 water stations and we did not see a First Aid station.
At times, the water ran out, pretty scary considering the heat
We did not see enough signs outside or inside, signs to point to stations, registration, miles, etc…
Towards the end, we met a young lady, was all by herself, at a water station, I commend her, as the other volunteers left. She gets 5 stars.
Parking lot was a dusty and hot area of gravel, rocks and dirt.
The good:
I did see plenty of bathrooms, but after a mile walk from the parking area.
There was a cool Motorcycle event in the same area
Raspados were good
Some people had fun at the sumo wrestling area
There was a guy with a water hose, he was awesome
I would suggest some revising of the strategy for the next event…
Song parody of Snoop Dog’s 1994 song «Ain’t No Fun»
You tube link to ^^ song (Clean Radio Version)
When I signed up for the race cheery
I thought that it would be all that
But then I saw five dollar parking fee
And it set all traffic back
Over two hours to get in there
Not at ten am for all
If you have another event
I may not sign up at all
I thought some things were kinda funky
Please issue refunds, and break us off
But if you can’t to that fairly
Then an apology, would be good, no doubt
Cause I may never
Attend a Burst
Set up like this
In the whole wide world
Well, if Dragon signed up for more stuff like this, I’d always be broke
I’d never have no mofo reviews to joke
I got hot and looney, lost, hot and fumey
Walking on dirt and rocks, where is the cool breeze?
100 degrees or more
Sweating more and more by the pound
So, how the heck am I supposed to
Run this though, cause I paid for so
So I don’t see many signs, got lost a couple mo times
And I thought I was through with it, no reason for doing it
I hung in for the homies, lets run it
Cause I ain’t leaving if I paid the fee
And y’all know, i aint giving my cash for free
No First Aid what, where is that freaking station?
Out of water, my imagination?
Oh what a burst?
Will probably be my only one
It ain’t no run, if the parking ain’t well done
It ain’t no run, if the parking ain’t well done
It ain’t no run, if the parking ain’t well done
It ain’t no run, if the parking ain’t well done
Guess whose late to his mofo house
Parking lot jammed, good luck getting out
Angry drivers hot, cars are too
Not much direction, cones or lanes, wooh
On dirt, rocks in the summer, don’t know
So I’ll advise you to not drive here, yo
Silly of me to fall straight up for this pitch
Signed up online, without expecting all this glitch
Now as the sun scorches and the heat grows bigger
How many angry drivers, do you figure?
Down the street but, the end of our woes
People swift and our toes
Getting corn starch out our nose
But see, it ain’t no fun,
If the runners can’t drive out in dozens
Cause the traffic ain’t for them
Whoa!
Hey, now ya know
Registration had no flow
Paid for event, who got the riches
Knowing what charities, one of my wishes
Scientology & Boy Scouts to be exact
Need some race posters, which are stating that
So rework this, cause it was struggling
Logistics, safety, start juggling
Put together a plan with nothing cut out
Then I’ll sign up, in the future with no doubt
Whoo!
It ain’t no run, if the parking ain’t well done
It ain’t no run, if the parking ain’t well done
It ain’t no run, if the parking ain’t well done
It ain’t no run, if the parking ain’t well done

Poorly organized: no traffic control off Santiago Canyon until after 11am (1^st wave was at 10), waited over 1 hour in registration line and then just had someone handing out bibs when we got to front of line (why did we even bother to wait), poorly designed course (run 1.5 miles and then turn and run straight back the way you just came. This caused a lot of congestion and made it difficult to run), parking lot was at the midway point of the course. So after we parked and walked ½ the course, we stood in line over an hour for our bibs and then ran back the way we just came. And then we were supposed to turn around and run back to the finish line and then walk back again to the parking lot to leave. So idiotic! We just left and never finished. I was under the impression we’d have people «shooting» us with color, but instead had people throwing it from a box while they were under an easy up. You had to walk to them to get some thrown at you. I can’t imagine this ever being a repeat event. Just terrible on so many levels. They ran out of the color at one of the tents and water at the one station they had. The 8 people we ran with will all spread the word. Event organizers failed all around.

I just ran this today, but was so pissed about how poorly organized the event was. I received an email after registering online for this event that registration (bib pick up) would be open starting at 9AM and the first wave would be starting at 10AM. Also, that no print outs would be necessary. I wanted to get there in time for the first wave because we’re in the middle of a heat wave and wanted to finish before the temperature peaked. So we tried to get there at 9AM.
I was about halfway down Santiago Canyon once traffic started getting really bad. It was about 9:10AM when I got there. However, It took an hour just to drive into the parking lot. So we were too late to catch the first wave. Once we parked, we started following all the people to the starting area. Now, they said in the email that the starting line may be far from the parking lot, but it was a lot further than expected! It was about a mile, so it took about 30 minutes to get there. And once we got there, there was a ridiculously long line (at least 0.25 miles, not an exaggeration) just for registration. I was sooo annoyed. It looked like there were only 3 registration tables for thousands of people.
We waited in the sweltering heat for about 15 – 25 minutes. Then some people started coming down the line with bibs. One of them… a bitchy lady wouldn’t give me a bib because she said she only accepts printed confirmations. Even though she didn’t even bother checking any of the papers she was handing out. So most of us were stuck still standing in line. With no shade. It was 2 hours in… and I still had not gotten my bib. My friends were waiting for me and they had to leave before 12 so I got really impatient and decided to go back and try to sweet talk someone into handing me a bib for a phone confirmation because I really needed to start ASAP to finish on time.
So I walk towards the end of the line, and there’s a guy in the very end just passing out bibs. WTF man. Why would you start at the very end of the line when there’s clearly at least 500+ people that have been standing in line for 30+ minutes!!! Anyways I was relieved to just finally start. The course is on a dirt path, and we had already walked about half of it on the way there. People are still arriving and walking down the same path while people are running in the opposite direction. It’s incredibly retarded and there’s too many damn people in the way. The actual runners need to run off-​course because everyone is just walking and taking up space on the trail.
It was somewhat fun just because I got to run with my friends, but I was so pissed off about how disorganized everything was. Oh, and also I only saw one station where people were throwing the color on you. All the others just had a box of color where you have to stop and grab your own to throw it on yourself and your friends. So ghetto. I really don’t understand the course that they picked. You literally have to walk the whole course to get to and from your car. And that just creates even more foot traffic for people that are trying to run. I haven’t been to any other color runs, so I’m not sure how this compares. But I definitely would not do this one again.