Dear Safari Park; with Love The RyRy

Below is my email to Safari Park:

To: Safari Park Race Organizers

Preface
I am a runner. I have participated in dozens of events ranging from distances of 5k to full marathons, with fields in the hundreds to the tens of thousands. No event is perfect. Each could use work in one way or the other. I do not go out of my way to point out these flaws, but you made my wife cry. And that is unacceptable.

Parking/Arriving
I got the numerous emails. I heeded the warnings of the volunteers. "Be there by 6:50, or the roads will close". Leaving my home to get to the race 1 hour before the gun should be sufficient, read: it wasn't. We were backed up from the corner San Pasqual Road and Via Rancho Pkwy just before 7 and parked on the shoulder of the 78 over 1.5 miles away from the start. The race had started as we began our trek to the start line. 20+ minutes later we turned around in the same direction we had just came.

The course
The first thing I look at when I sign up for a race I've never run before is the course. The route and the elevation are key. It helps me with my training and ultimately helps me decide whether or not this is an event I would like to participate in. I reviewed the course map and saw there was one 'hill', I can do that; sign me up. Circumstances beyond anyone's control turned that 1 hill into 2 as we'd have to revisit it due to road closures. Understandable. What's not understandable is your elevation data, listed below, describes the elevation gain from mile 3 to just past mile 4 as approximately 150 feet or so. However, per my race data (also below) and confirming w/ google maps, the actual elevation change on the race's lone 'hill' is nearly 250 feet. Your course map is inaccurate, misleading and can be construed as false advertising.



The route itself is dangerous. At miles 6/12 you have the race leaders converging on the slower runners. Runners running at a 5 min/mile pace weaving through 12 minute runners. As dangerous as it was, I can only imagine how frustrating it must've been for the faster runners. I know this is related to the course changes noted above, but a little more thought should have been placed here.


Lastly, with regards to the course, I expected more safari park 'experience' during my run. I'm not naive and did not expect to have a Rhino chasing me as I chased down a cheetah (as depicted on your logo), but the only time I saw any wildlife (side from cows) was from the cheetah enclosure as I made my way to the finish line.

next year's race logo?






My Race
I finished quite happy with my race effort. Yay for me! With the gates closed off, however, I didn't have the opportunity to run back onto the course and run my wife in. That's fine, I'll wait at the finish. I waited and waited and 45 minutes later, I figured I somehow managed to miss her come through the narrow finish line. I made my way out of my the finish line area to find my wife at the top of a hill. She broke down in tears as she saw me. Confused, she told me that she had not completed the race. At 9 am she was not let back outside the park via the service gate at approximately mile 8 and was redirected to the finish line. I understand the need to re-open the roads, but ending my wife's race 1 hour before the course closure is wrong; she was on pace to finish within the event's time limit, but wasn't given the opportunity to do so. Two months of training for 13.1 miles and she was only allowed to complete 10 or so miles of the course.

Prideful, she refused a medal as she felt she didn't deserve one. I disagree. She 100% deserves a medal and at the very least an apology.


Ryan P. Espiritu
bib# 957

full garmin activity