NEWS

Scam race events take your money, then run

Zlati Meyer
Detroit Free Press

They may be the hottest thing in running since ancient Greece, but color runs — shorter-distance races, during which participants are showered with various colors as they progress along the route — are also the latest scam.

But one race host is getting running enthusiasts to sign up for events that will never happen. Those who have registered can’t get their money back, as that’s often a condition outlined in the fine print.

The Better Business Bureau has identified Color 5 Mile as the promoter of this fantasy-run fraud.

According to Color 5 Mile’s website, they were to hold a color run in Lansing on May 9 and in Ypsilanti on May 17. Another was planned for Grand Rapids on Aug. 1.

However, municipal officials in Lansing and Ypsilanti told the Free Press that no such event was held in either city on those dates, plus the Grand Rapids Office of Special Events said Color 5 Mile hasn’t applied for the necessary permits to hold the color run allegedly set for this summer.

“They have vibrant marketing and branding ... and everyone looks like they’re having fun and happy. Folks will sign up without realizing this is a scam. They’re not reading the fine print. There are no refunds,” said Danae Hanes, spokeswoman for the Eastern Michigan BBB. “Themed races have grown in appeal nationwide. Of course, anytime something is popular, you have your scammers and fake business that want to piggyback on that to take advantage of people’s excitement.”

The estimated number of finishers in U.S. nontraditional running events has jumped from the low six-figures to 4 million between 2009 and 2013, according to the running industry group Running USA’s most recent data.

Numerous attempts to contact Color 5 Mile by e-mail got no replies.

As the weather gets better, now is the time to be on the lookout for these fake fun runs.

The Color 5 Mile’s website describes the event as a 5K event that attracts thousands of runners with “3 color stations during the race with thousands of pounds of color to shower runners, high energy music along the course to keep participants pumped up.” It boasts of a “massive post-run celebration” along with “plenty of vendors, food and live entertainment.”

Part of the scam is the name. “Color 5 Mile” sounds a lot like “The Color Run,” a legitimate event. That BBB-accredited promoter with an A+ rating is holding its race in Grand Rapids on — you guessed it — Aug. 1, which upset Todd Tofferi, the city’s special events coordinator

“It looks like they’re trying to capitalize on (it). A friend tells a friend they’re signing up for a color run and they Google it and sign up for the wrong one. It smells too much like a coincidence for me,” he said. “As a municipality, we’re not responsible if you bought the wrong tickets, but we won’t want people in the city or who come to city for these events to be thrown a curve ball.”

The Color Run also has events scheduled for Ypsilanti on June 27 and Lansing on July 11 advertised on its website.

“Companies see the success of the Color Run and they want to make money off of the consumer confusion in the event space,” Color Run’s spokeswoman Jamie Miller said in an e-mail. “The Color Run has made a long-term investment in our people and our participants, and I hate to think that our runners are being scammed by people who don’t have the same standards and values that we do.”

She declined to say what, if any, legal or other action, the company is taking against Color 5 Mile.

Longtime runner Jef Mallett called this kind of running racket “awful.”

“I’m not surprised it’s happening. It sounds like an easy scam to do. These things get advertised online,” said the 53-year-old syndicated cartoonist from Huntington Woods. “By attracting the novice runner, they don’t attract a runner who can spot something fake. It’s all bad, but particularly bad to target someone who’s new to running to make life better for themselves.”

Contact Zlati Meyer: 313-223-4439 or zmeyer@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @ZlatiMeyer

Make sure you don’t register

for a fake color run

■ Find out whom you’re dealing with: Look up the name of the company organizing the event to make sure it’s legit, using BBB.org or even a quick Web search, or check with the city or park where the color run is supposed to be held to make sure it really is on the schedule. Be sure you have the exact name of the promoter, because some scammers use names that are similar to authentic events.

Examine the event ad carefully: Spelling or grammar errors should be a flag, along with inconsistencies in dates, times and locations.

Read the fine print: Understand what the refund policy is. Many events don’t give your money back.

Use a credit card: It’s easier to dispute a charge, if the event turns out to be fake, than if you’d paid with a debit card, cash or wire transfer.

Save your confirmation: Print out a copy of whatever receipt you get from the promoter.

Source: Better Business Bureau