The Spark Run

Cool idea, terrible location. The fairgrounds was a big muddy mess due to rain that week. It even smelled like a cow pasture. I thought I signed up for a 5k and not a mud run. If I would have known the conditions were so bad, I would have worn old running shoes. Ended up ruining a new pair.
The neon and music part was fun, but I think i was a bit old for the crowd. I felt like I was old enough to be a parent to most of the runners. Lots of teens and early 20’s.

Anything + Kaskade = my heart. So, having this in Orlando was awesome!
I signed up the very first day it was announced. The weird thing, I never received an email when the packet /​detail information came out. I was just lucky I was following them on social media. How weird? Like send an email to those who paid you, please.
My friend went to pick up my pack as I was out of town the day of pick up. I followed directions on the site and provided her with the signed agreement that she would be picking up my pack. She called me to send her a picture of my photo ID. That was not listed on the site. So, just a small hiccup but that should be noted on the site.
There were a few things to do once you arrived for the race but not much. It was hyped to arrive early to hang out but we just kinda stood around. Also, when lining up for the race, there were two starting points. The first line was to run a 100 yards to the actual starting line 20 minutes before the race started. Also, when we arrived at the official starting line, there was a false start so I felt bad for the first few hundred people who took off at 7:45 and didn’t get to kick off the run with Kaskade. There just wasn’t much of a clear direction. The coolest part of the entire thing is that Kaskade kicked off and ran the entire course. So very cool.
The weather could not have been more perfect. However, leading up to the race, it rained for 24 days straight so the course and grass were extremely muddy and not the most enjoyable course to run. Nonetheless it was a fun course. Tons of music, lights, cool Kaskade décor all throughout, it was awesome.
The after party was where it was at. Pizza, beer, wine, photo ops with black lights. The finish line was the party. There was a DJ prior to Kaskade to welcomed us after the run. We then waited and Kaskade took the stage soon after and played for 90 minutes and it was a blast. He puts on a fabulous show always! DANCE PARTY!
The only thing that really could have been better was the direction online before the event and the direction for the starting of the race. Also, the course not being muddy but you can’t control that!

Very fun, colorful, well organized event. Details were clearly given prior to the race which made race day stress free.
Lights along the course was super and fun.
Sound system and lighting was amazing. So enjoyable, awesome rave.
Now, there were some natural challenges built into the the run. No ones fault; could not be helped.
The mud — rain boots would have been nice, and the cow Manure smell – I kept looking for cows and never saw any.. .
The pot.
It’s rank.
Who smokes pot at a 5k anyway?
And then there were the ant bites.. . Well, it kept us running.. .
It seems like I got more of a tough mudder race for a 5k along with a super show. Such awesomeness !!

I was joking before the Spark Run that the race sounded like a 5k and a rave, but really… that’s kind of what it was (it was totally fun, and running and dancing go great together, so why not?). I did the run with my husband and our 9 year old daughter. So this event will live on in family history as her first rave.
We picked up our packets on Friday at a Sports Authority. The packet pick-​up was very fast, we just gave our names, they checked us off on an ipad, and gave us each a bag with our shirt, a race bib, and flashing bracelet. The shirts are great, very good quality and soft. I will be wearing that one a lot. There was some merchandise to buy at packet pick-​up, but I decided to be cheap and hit up my local dollar store for lots of glow in the dark stuff.
The night of the race we were running really late. With the race starting at 8:00 I was worried when we were only just parking 5 minutes before the start. Luckily we were able to park quickly and since we already had our numbers we were able to go straight into the starting chute. I would guess we were in the third or fourth wave of people to start. While we waited there were people throwing glow sticks to pump up the crowd.
Before our wave started one of the volunteers pointed out to us that since the ground was really wet we should stay on the plywood that had been laid on the ground. There was plywood in some areas (I guess where the water was deepest), but there was mud and puddles all along the route, it was pretty unavoidable. My daughter is a very good runner (has done loads of 5k’s for a little kid), but we had one scare where she slipped in the mud and fell. A runner near her had really quick reflexes and caught her mid-​fall and got her back on her feet, so that was lucky.
We had a great time doing the 5k, checking out all of the lights, but there were a couple issues. One was that we made a wrong turn, and missed at least a mile of the course. We didn’t realized this had happened until we were finished (realizing that we had finished way too fast). When we were walking back to the car we saw the point where we should have turned right to loop around a big portion of the fairgrounds exhibit halls, but instead we had gone left towards the finish. We had been running in a good sized pack when we had made that wrong turn, so a lot of other people made the same mistake with us.
But oh well, it was late, we were muddy, I don’t really mind that we accidentally cut the 5k short.
A side note to parents, while it is advertised as good for all ages (and registration for kids was only $ 7, which totally supports that idea), I’m not sure all parents would be OK with the event. There were people there more to party than to run. I had never before imagined people would try to smoke pot during a 5k, but now I’ve seen it. And there was some questionable behavior I had to explain to my kid. But overall she had a blast. She liked the music more than I did and was really disappointed when we told her it was way past her bedtime and we had to go home.
I really enjoyed this race and would love to do it again. My only teensy issue was that maybe they could have used more security (ahem, pot smoking runner) and people directing the runners along the course. I personally don’t care about the smoking, but if you want to call it a family-​friendly event, then that has to go.

So. Much. Fun. I hadn’t run a 5k at night, and hadn’t ever been to the fairgrounds before this event, so I really had no idea what to expect with this event. And I’d never been to a Kaskade performance before. All I can say is: mind blown!
As far as 5k’s go, this one was easy in terms of checking in to get my race bib. There were no lines, and the check in area was spaced out so even if there had been any lines they would’ve moved pretty quickly. Along with our race bibs we were given a cool Spark Run shirt (which I will be wearing today when I work out– it’s super soft and lightweight!) and a light up bracelet. Pretty cool swag!
The start line was lit up with neon lights and a d.j. pumped up the crowd and gave out glow sticks. Once the race started, we ran through the mud (thanks to Florida’s wonderful 20 something days of rain that lead up to the race) and ran through tunnels of light. Again, so much fun! This was not a timed race, or even a serious race, as there were lots of opportunities to stop and dance or take pictures.
The finish line lead you to the concert, along with areas to take photos with the Spark Run neon background. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, Kaskade started doing his thing!
I had done an hour power workout earlier that morning, and ran some of the 5k, and thought for sure I would be too tired to stay for Kaskade. Or maybe I would just stay for a few songs and then head out. Nope. We danced for over two hours and didn’t want the night to end. The weather was perfect, the crowd was fun, and the music was awesome. I never considered myself much of an electronic music fan, but I definitely get it now. I’ve seen the (neon) light and want more!

So I went into this not knowing what to expect at all. I was like oh it’s just a 5k and maybe I’ll stay late to hear music. So pleasantly surprised! The 5k part was really muddy (thanks to typical soggy Central Florida weather) but the run course was punctuated with color changing psychedelic lights, glowing inflatables, light projections, pounding electronic music, and lots of fun glow gear. I enjoyed the run, despite the mud.
When we arrived at the finish line we took some cool blacklight photos set up by The Spark Run then headed over to the DJ area to grab some food and drink. Then it happened-​we could not resist Kaskade. The music and the dancing atmosphere was just infectious. We danced for two hours after doing the 5K. The setting, the weather, the music… it was all perfect. I am a huge Kaskade fan now. What a great event!

This was a really fun 5k with an awesome performance by Kaskade! Make sure to bring your glow sticks and stunner shades as it’s more of a party with a 5k on the side.
Only drawback was the location. Due to Orlando’s record rain, the ground was SO muddy! It quickly turned into a tough mudder event as your shoes sank into the soft ground. Hopefully the next time they come this way, they will find a venue with a little more pavement… that or I’ll wear my rain boots!
This event is semi-​family friendly. The music at the end did consist of many f bombs and the occasional smell of pot blowing through the wind So I would refrain from bringing the little ones or skip the after party. Certainly worth checking out if it comes to your town!