Back in March a friend convinced me to sign up for Mudderella Boston. It was a hard sell, but I decided to give it a try.
A Mudderella race is a 5-7 mile, muddy obstacle course. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
I’ve been hearing for years about Tough Mudders and this seemed like a simple way to ease myself into a mud race.
I registered, joined a team and trained. My annual triathlon was placed on hold and Mudderella was going to be my big race this year.
The race is scheduled for this Saturday and I won’t be there for a very good reason.
Then the emails from Mudderella started showing up in my inbox. One after another.
Mudderella changed the location of the run 4 times!
I was willing to travel to all the locations until the final email arrived.
Eight days before the run, Mudderella let participants know that the race venue had been changed, yet again, to Westbrook, Maine. This new spot is about 2 hours and 15 minutes from my home. And it’s in Maine, not Boston.
Not quite feasible when you have other life commitments to drop everything and spend an unexpected day in Maine.
What was originally marketed as a Boston Mudderella is now a Maine mud run. Not what I had signed up for.
Mudderella stepped up to the plate and decided to help their loyal runners out by offering the following:
- All parking will be free.
Why was there a parking fee in the first place?
- On-site spectator ticket purchases will be only $10. We normally charge $20 for on-site spectators, but we will continue to honor the online price of $10 for any spectators who want to come to the event.
That’s right-if you’re watching a family member run in the mud you have to pay $10!
And best of all (insert sarcasm):
- You can transfer to a future Mudderella event in 2014 or 2015 for free. If you are really unable to make it to Mudderella Boston this year because of the change in location, you can get a free transfer to any future Mudderella event.
No refunds people! We had no choice but to transfer our $96.00 entry fee to another Mudderella race. Just what I want to do after losing complete confidence in this organization.
I’m not the only one who’s angry. There’s an entire Facebook Page dedicated to this- Mudderella Boston: We Want a Refund.
But from every loss there is a gain.
This weekend I won’t be joining the Mudderella gang in Maine. Instead I will be running a 5k close to home in support of an incredible organization.
ME STRONG is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting the friends, families and individuals battling cancer. The organization was formed in the fall of 2011 when a group of four friends organized a 5k in honor of their close friend Linda Ryan. The summer of 2011, Linda had just completed her first marathon when a few weeks later she was diagnosed with recurring cervical cancer. Today Linda is healthy and is living with no evidence of cancer. Yay Linda!
How would you handle Mudderella’s poor planning? Would you travel the 2 plus hours to the new venue?
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After signing up for RUCKUS and having that race cancelled a week or two before it was scheduled (they went out of business)and losing the registration for FOUR of us (we run as a family) and running Foam Fest just days before they went out of business, I no longer register for ‘adventure’ runs that do not have a corporate sponsor. If I really want to do one, I’ll register the day of, IF it really happens! It’s so frustrating. Runner’s World has an article this month about these adventure runs going out of business because they are so hard to make profitable.
I am running the Shape Diva Dash (Marshfield Fair Grounds) for the 3rd year in a row tomorrow. I received free registration as a black Friday deal last year so I was willing to gamble on it. I have friends who signed up for Mudderella instead and are not pleased. Chances are high they will be out of business before any race happens next year. It seems Spartan and Tough Mudder are the only reliable ones, but also the most challenging!
Enjoy your alternative race tomorrow!
Wow – what a boondoggle. Glad to hear you found another race to run instead! Have fun!
Micaela @MindfulMomma recently posted..Top Blogs for DIY Beauty Products
Wow. They should offer refunds; it’s no longer the race you signed up for.
maryanne @ mama smiles recently posted..Save Money on Kids Clothes with Moxie Jean
You should definitely get your money back! But I think your new race sounds even better — so perhaps there’s a silver lining here!
We have been to many races to watch my husband do triathlons and cycle cross races. I did a couple triathlons as well. Some are better run than others. Some are small others are huge but none have been as badly run as this sounds. What a shame! There are so many great groups that run races and over time you get to know which ones to trust I guess.
Oh, I would be hot. And, likely dispute those charges with my bank/credit card company. That’s not acceptable (not to mention the fact that they charge for parking and spectators!)
Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? recently posted..How not to give a good gift
I agree with Krystyn! That is a big relocation- not like, “Hey… we moved 10 miles to a different start.” I am glad that you have a new event to attend- close to home.
Well that is really shitty of them on their part. Change the venue 4 times, that is nuts!
Drew Bennett recently posted..Big Hero 6 is This Fall’s Big Animated Movie #BigHero6
It truly is nuts Drew. What a disorganized mess.
Big location is right Carly- out of state! The whole thing is crazy. The other race was lovely. Happy to change.
Great idea Krystyn. I need to touch base with my cc company to see if they’ll reimburse me.
I’ve done quite a few races Leah and this one definitely take the cake for most disorganized. What a disaster!
So unfortunate that they’re not willing to refund participants. So much for customer service! The new race, which I did today, was wonderful. There was a silver lining after all!
I agree Maryanne. That’s the least they could do at this point. No luck!
Yes, Micaela is was a disaster! The new race was much closer to home so it was a welcome change!
Hope the Diva Dash went well Kimberly. Good advice on not signing up too far in advance. Unfortunately this race offered huge incentives for signing up early. The fee was still $100 per participant- not cheap!
Hi Lori!
I, too, registered for this race, intending to be a part of a team that was formed. The others dropped out, so I decided I’d go it alone (same thing happened after I registered for my second Tough Mudder, held June 1st at Snow Mt., VT; my brother hurt his knee & couldn’t join me, so I went solo!) I’d read the e-mails from Mudderella, but the one just the week before the race, that read: “changing again”? Not cool. I deferred my race to a later date, rather than lose my money entirely. Tough Mudders give you reduced rate parking if you pay early, and spectator fees are about the same. I assume these fees are all an attempt to minimize costs and liability to the organizations sponsoring and running these various races and other races that I’ve done. These mud races require massive alterations in the natural terrain and the recovery of that terrain back to its original state is very costly. I don’t know of any such races that refund your deposit or full donation, but this one had me looking for one, for sure. The massive scale of change in venue for this race was the limit for me. Such disruption absolutely should have resulted in a full, or at least near-full refund for those who chose not to attend.
Nope, TOTALLY wouldn’t travel. Not a huge fan of mud runs to begin with (a bit old fashioned in thinking that there are plenty of naturally muddy courses to run without all the hype). This would have made me so angry. Glad you aren’t doing it. Glad you wrote about it and glad you supported what sounds like a wonderful organization in its place! Now, what run are you doing next?! I need some good ones up in this area!
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