Better Business Bureau Warns About Theme Runs

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If you’re getting ready to sign up for a new fun run or theme race, you might want to take a closer look before you register. The folks over at Runner’s World shared news this week that the Better Business Bureau is advising theme-race registrants to proceed with caution. The warning comes on the heels of a flood of complaints the Bureau received about organizations canceling runs and not issuing refunds.

Several national run series, like the Electric Foam 5k and Dirty Girl Mud Run, have canceled events or gone out of business completely without refunding registrants, causing a major uproar. (Note: Last summer’s canceled-and-never-rescheduled Electric Run 5K angered a lot of local participants, and it’s a story we are actively pursuing to parse out what happened. Stay tuned.)

To help would-be participants navigate future race registrations and avoid getting ripped off, the Bureau created a list of things to consider when you’re signing up. Runner’s World summed them up into a quick list of tips, which you can read over here.

But the basic takeaway is this: Use common sense, friends, and don’t sign yourself up for anything that seems shady.

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