Last Updated on September 27, 2019 by Heather Hart, ACSM EP, CSCS
I really, really, really don’t like posting negative reviews. I’m a glass half full kind of girl, and I really try to see the good in every situation…even a bad situation. But as a blogger who reviews products and races in order to provide others with honest, unbiased opinions, I’m going to get to the point: 5K Foam Fest was a huge disappointment.
Of course, there were certainly thousands of other things that I could have done with my time on Saturday that would have been far worse. I had fun, I laughed, I spent time with my family, and I got covered in mud.
The day was not a waste, in fact it was far from it. This is a first world problem at it’s finest. But from a consumer standpoint, the 2014 New England 5K Foam Fest was, unfortunately, a “fail” in my race ratings book. The 5K Foam Fest, owned by Round House Racing, is a national run event. In other words, this was not their first rodeo; I expected much more out of this race series. Let’s get the negatives out of the way so I can share the good stuff and end this thing on a positive note.
NEGATIVES:
– We arrived to the offsite parking lot just over one full hour before our wave time, as instructed by the pre-race emails. Unfortunately, we waited in a line, in the parking lot, for one full hour just to get ON one of the buses. Then we had to sit on the bus for another 15-20 minutes before we actually arrived to the venue.
Half…yes, sadly, only half…of the first line for the bus to the venue.
– Once we arrived to the venue (already missed our wave), the volunteers were very helpful in trying to get the registration process expedited. While standing in the appropriate line for my last name, I was instructed to go to a different line. Here the volunteer took my waiver, put it in a pile, and handed me a bib. I appreciate the fact that they were trying to get us moving, but there was no cross check to see if I was on a list, no ID check, etc. It would have been so easy to just sign a waiver and walk right in, without having actually registered for the race.
Waves went off every 10 minutes, thus the starting corral was uncrowded.
– The course itself was indeed fun…but sparse on obstacles. All of the inflatable, foam filled obstacles were almost identical to the one before. Now, don’t get me wrong, they were FUN, but it felt like the same thing over and over. I understand that the inflatable obstacles are possibly expensive and hard to maintain, so my suggestion is to throw some more “standard” obstacles in there. Maybe a few more walls, low crawls, tunnel crawls, etc to break up the inflatables and add more “fun” to the course. I understand that this is a very beginner friendly course, but I felt there was so much lacking by way of obstacles.
The only set of walls in the race.
– The electric mud crawl? What was it supposed to be electrified? Because it was clothesline rope.
Sharon, kicking some muddy butt at her first OCR. The clothesline in the background? Not electrified.
– The Monkey Business obstacle was kind of confusing. There wasn’t a volunteer around nor any instructions on the signage, so we all kind of guessed what we were supposed to do.
Monkey Business. I think we were doing it right?
– Many advertised obstacles were missing from this venue. (Log Roller, Big Baller, etc)
-They ran out of medals. I LOVE medals, and call me silly, but it was a huge bummer to me that they had run out despite the fact that the race day wasn’t even half way over. I don’t understand how they were THAT under prepared, as there were hundreds of people left to run the course. I hate to play the “he said she said” game, but I read from a fellow teammate who ran much earlier in the day that the medal tent was not staffed, and people were just taking their own medal(s). This could unfortunately be why they ran out.
– The inflatable obstacles at the “festival” area cost about $2+ per child per obstacle. There was no mention of this in any of the emails or website (I specifically searched the “FAQ” ), so I was kind of taken aback that we had to pay.
– It wasn’t very spectator friendly…other than the slide at the end, there were no obstacles that spectators could see.
“Death Drop”…apparently the world’s tallest inflatable slide ?
-The line for the return bus was worse than the line for the first bus. We stood in a field in the hot sun for over an hour. At one point, a police officer on an ATV came over and told us that the entire hired bus service had decided to take their 30 minute union-break at that time. Sure enough, for a good 45 minutes, not a single bus made an appearance. He also informed us that the reason we had to park so far away instead of at the venue (there was plenty of space) was because some neighbors had recently complained about the traffic. People were hot, tired, and disappointed, and the crowd was getting rowdy. Later, a man got confrontational with a volunteer, and a police officer had to threaten to intervene. It wasn’t pretty.
We stood in this exact spot for at least 30 minutes…
POSITIVES:
– This was indeed a VERY beginner friendly course: Geoff and I ran with his sister, mother, and step mom. His mother is recovering from a recent bout with Lyme Disease, and this was his Step-Mom’s first ever OCR. And she LOVED it, which is a win in my book. It was great to see so many first timers conquer fears on obstacles many of us more experienced racers probably take for granted, like the cargo net climb.
Not a huge climb, but it was cool to see the teamwork that went on here, when many first timers found themselves becoming fearful at the top.
-The fun obstacles were incredibly fun. My favorite was this slide:
Slip n Slide
5K Foam Fest’s version of “Over/Unders”. Pro tip: don’t get the soap in your eyes. It burns.
-Gender specific finishers shirts, and very nice ones in my opinion. Soft, fitted, and great logo design/placement.
Women’s & Men’s finishers shirts.
– Free race photos
-Free bag check.
-Free for spectators.
-One free Mikes Hard Lemonade at the finish, a fun change from the usual beer.
You might want to card those two in the front, Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
-Protein bars at the finish line.
– Jumping around like we are a bunch of 5 year olds in bounce houses made for adults: hilarious. I couldn’t stop laughing!
– They let my kids play in the starting line foam. MUCH appreciated!
Mr. “I don’t want to get muddy” loved this foamy alternative.
-The volunteers went above and beyond. Not only were they super friendly along the course, but they kept coming by with water and protein bars for those who were standing in line waiting for the bus. They were so incredibly apologetic about the whole situation, which was nice, but not their place to take the blame.
I truly want to give 5K Foam Fest organizers the benefit of the doubt regarding the transportation issues. However, the lack of staffing, the lack of medals, the lack of obstacles, and charging for festival activities for kids left me feeling that this was just a money grab by another company looking to hit up the obstacle course racing world. Disappointed is the only word I have to describe my overall 5K Foam Fest experience. I have heard that others really enjoyed this race at different venues, so I truly hope that this is not the norm for this race series. As I mentioned earlier, it has the potential to be an awesome introductory race for first time obstacle course racers who want to get their feet wet (literally!). So I’m going to list this race in the “buyer beware” category…register and race at your own risk.
But all of that said, it sure beat staying home and folding laundry. A good time is what you make of it, and despite all of the disorganization and chaos, we still laughed a lot.
Louise (Geoff’s mom) relaxing in the over/under pool.
Have you run a 5K Foam Fest? Did you have a better experience? I’d love to hear that this was a one time fail…
Heather Hart is an ACSM certified Exercise Physiologist, NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), UESCA certified Ultrarunning Coach, RRCA certified Running Coach, co-founder of Hart Strength and Endurance Coaching, and creator of this site, Relentless Forward Commotion. She is a mom of two teen boys, and has been running and racing distances of 5K to 100+ miles for over a decade. Heather has been writing and encouraging others to find a love for fitness and movement since 2009.
Alyssa
I’m sad to hear your experience was such a disappointment! I’ve done the Richmond location of this race two years in a row and thought it was very well-executed. We never had issues with wait times (even for registration, which is usually the norm at fun runs with day-of check-in), supplies or volunteers. The inconsistency is a little mind-boggling!
Heather
I remember you saying that! I’m glad you guys had a great time ! 🙂
Eat Pray Run, DC
i am so super skeptical about all these relatively new foam/obstacle/mud/etc races. most of them get terrible reviews for many of the reasons you listed here. sorry you had a negative experience. i think i’ll still to road racing for now!
Heather
As an OCR convert from road racing, it’s races like this that make me mad for the exact reason you just listed! It gives our sport SUCH a bad name. But believe me when I tell you the ones who do it right, do an EXCELLENT job. Try a Spartan race, you won’t be disappointed 🙂
Carolyn
Not a foam race, but did my first OCR last week, the Tough Mudder in Doswell, VA, and felt EXACTLY the same way. It was a huge disappointment – a watered down course and many advertised obstacles were missing. It was a kinder, gentler TM compared to all the Youtube videos I’ve watched, and based on reports from friends from previous years. Other than maybe 6-8 obstacles – monkey bars, Arctic Enema, Electroshock Therapy, Walk the Plank, and some wall/rope climbs, it was all a variation on a single theme – walking through mud, wading through mud, crawling through mud, oh – here’s a tube to slide through into muddy water, etc., Yes, we still had fun because we are fun people and made the best of it, but for $150, we had hoped for something a wee bit more challenging. After having my 2 previous TM’s canceled due to…mud…specifically, muddy parking lots and severe weather, my only thought when I crossed the finish line was, “I waited 2 years for this??” and my partner looked at me and whispered, “I thought it would be harder.”
Heather
Oh wow, Carolyn, that stinks! I kind of felt the same way about our first Tough Mudder. We had a BLAST…but it wasn’t as “tough” as I had imagined, or that the internet made it out to be.
Kim
Was it at Kimball Farm? I recently did the color run me rad run there. The race was well run but the Parking (onsite at least) was also a nightmare. Sounds like the venue itself isn’t really suited to these kinds of events. After my experience and reading yours, I am not likely to go to another run event there.
Heather
It was on Kimball Farm! A police officer told us they didn’t have onsite parking for the Foam Fest because of the issues with parking at the color me rad run. I feel bad, because it was an awesome venue as far as the race itself was concerned…BEAUTIFUL views. Just needs better planning by the powers that be.
Kim
I hope they get it right! I agree it was a great venue and had beautiul views especially in the spring.
rwagner8
I did the Foam Fest 5k here in New York, and I’m surprised by how different our experiences were! I’m writing a review for mine today, and had no complaints. Our parking situations were very different (we had no issues with ours) and from the sound of it, we had more non-inflatable obstacles. It was also incredibly organized; I wonder why our experiences were so different???
Erin (@girlgoneveggie)
Thank you for the honest review! This honestly sounds like a nightmare to me, which is really good to know since once is coming to my area. I’m passing.
grabyourkicks
We are doing the Foam Fest this Saturday in Milwaukee. I really hope it’s better organized than the one you went to!
Heather
Check back in after your race…I’d love to hear how it goes!
kaci
Interesting. I was reading reviews for this race just a few days ago sms decided not to register. I found multiple bad reviews for different locations and noticed all of the good reviews were from last year. It seems they’ve gotten worse as their popularity has increased. Thanks for your honesty!
Kelly @ Cupcake Kelly's
I feel like the more popular these races get the more ridiculous the parking situation is. When I did the Spartan in 2010 at Amesbury sports park it was awesome. I was pregnant the following year but all my friends did it and they said parking was a nightmare, waiting for hours, paying $30 when it was free the year prior (and no mention of cost anywhere). I’m so skeptical of any race in that general area now. Which is super sad 🙁
Heather
$30 for parking? As far as I know, Spartan has ALWAYS been $10. I wonder if they parked at a private lot or someone else who was charging for parking trying to make some $$ on the race.
Erica
I’m so glad you were able to post an honest review that the organization can’t delete! Which is what they did on their Facebook page. I completely agree on all counts! This was my first Foam Fest, and second OCR. The parking was a logistical nightmare, running out of medals halfway through the day is inexcusable, and I was definitely hoping for more obstacles.
In addition, I was really annoyed that they advertised “no outside food or drinks” (although they didn’t look through our bags), so I had to pay $3 for a small, barely cool Powerade and $1 for a tiny apple.
There definitely should’ve been at least one volunteer at each obstacle, for clarification AND safety. I thought the location was PERFECT for this event, so it’s a shame it didn’t run smoother. Doing the actual race with my friend was fun, but it wasn’t at all worth the $70 entry plus $10 parking and all the aggregation throughout the day. This will be my first and last Foam Fest.
Lastly, I also want to give a shout out to the volunteers! They were stellar!
pickyrunner
Yikes this doesn’t sound like a good race experience at all. I wanted to do this but I’m glad I didn’t! I think these types of races are very hard (and expensive) to execute well and this is just another example of that. I’ve only heard good things about spartan races, so maybe I just need to hold out for one of those!
Liz
This was the second time I ran the New England foamfest and was really disappointed in how it went. It’s only my 3rd experience with an OCR (I’ve also done the Diva Dash) so my knowledge of good obstacles is limited. The course did have some differences from last year which was really nice though the electric crawl was actually electrified last year. The transportation issue was a joke. Way too few buses for the number of people there. Like you I spent more time waiting in line to get on or off the bus then at the race itself. It was also so spectator unfriendly. My family that came to watch had to stand around the whole time. At least last year they had had some picnic tables but there was no where to sit but one small “beach” area with 8 chairs. It doesn’t make one want to hang out after the race. They also didn’t pay very close attention to the festival obstacles because I did that death drop thing without turning over any tickets ( though I did try to hand them over). It’s a lot of fun but unless some major changes are made I don’t know that I’ll do it again.
Runner Blogger AZ (@runblogaz)
Don’t be afraid of writing a negative review! that’s what we bloggers are here for! I’m glad you still see the positives though, I’m the same way. I strongly believe that there are SO many people/groups tryin’ to get in on this “fun run/mud run/color run/foam run” franchise that some of them are going to fall short of expectations. Nevertheless, it looks like despite the negatives, you still had a blast and came away with some killer pics! Thanks for the review and happy running!
Courtney @ Don't Blink. Just Run.
I ran it last year, on the same farm, and enjoyed it far better than this year! The shuttle bus situation was just terrible. I understand that they were only given 2 weeks to figure out a solution to be able to keep the event where it was, but how can the race director claim (somewhere I saw on Facebook) that they were told that over 1000 people more were registered than what she was told and that explained the bus shortage situation? I sincerely doubt 1000+ people registered in the two weeks before the event, seriously.
Yes, it’s not a very challenging course but it’s very fun. This was actually the first OCR I’ve ever been able to complete all the obstacles (and this includes this race last year). I even did the Death Drop, which for me was horrifying because I’m afraid of heights. And I only did it to be able to say I finished everything.
The finish line was a hot mess. Last year, after you were supposed to do the Death Drop (which had deflated by the time I ran at 11am so we couldn’t), there was still one more 50 ft slip n slide right at the finish line. After that, there was an orderly corral with volunteers handing you your medal, you then got in line for a professional photo op in front of a large banner and they gave you your tshirt. I didn’t even understand where to go when we finished this year. And the dude just pointed us to the table and told us to take a medal and tshirt. Oh, OK then. And that professional photo op this year? Stand in front of the sign on the changing tents. We went to walk in to change and I got scolded by the photographer who asked us to go in the back so she could take her pictures.
The worst thing? Clean-up? Last year, where all those portapotties were lined up this year, was an entrance to that wonderful river behind all the vendor tents. This year they blocked it off and just gave us the garden hoses. The hoses were still an improvement on the “showers” they had last year, but I can’t tell you how awesome it was last year to just jump in the river full clothed and come out clean and refreshed. You missed out on a great thing in that aspect.
Good review! I’m still working on mine but it will be pretty similar I imagine, even though I didn’t have to experience those awful lines for the bus (only registration).