3 things to make a real ‘fun run’ successful
“Fun” according to Merriam-Webster simply means that something “provides amusement or enjoyment”. And the people behind Hyvesports, organizers of the Colorfest Electric Night Run clearly understood this when they held the latest iteration at SM Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City last August.
Dubbed as “RECHARGED”, the third installment of the affair gathered over 6,000 participants. On a night filled with vibrant colors and high-energy beats, participants strutted in the 10-km, 5-km, 3-km and 1-km distances.
“Not a lot of people want to wake up early in the morning and we wanted a run that is not competitive,” said Justine Cordero-Em, one of the lead organizers of the event, during an exclusive interview with Inquirer Mobility.
“Plus, it has to be at night,” she added, in which the event had runners assembled around 9pm at the activity area, while kicking off with a gunstart at 10:30pm for the 10-km participants.
Make people want to stay
Normally, in running events, according to Cordero-Em, people just go there, run and leave right away.
“Here, in the Colorfest Electric Night Run, we make sure people stay,” she shared.
“For example, people were already here as early as 7pm and they would probably stay until the wee hours of the morning later.”
3 X factors
The Colorfest-themed runs have been running for more than a decade now and Justine, together with her business partner, Jay, has been behind the success of these events ever since.
“Now, we’re just patterning it from what we have usually been doing,” she divulged. “And it’s always been a blast.”
The first Electric Run held at Bridgtowne Complex in Pasig City late last year had about 2,000 runners, while the second installment in Alabang produced around 8,000 participants.
With this number of turnout from these events, for her, there has to be three factors that make a real “fun run”.
“First, the visuals!” she stated. “That’s why there are lots of colors, the lights, we have vibrant presentations everywhere.”
Next, according to her, is what the participants listen to.
“It’s what they hear–the music. Here, we have DJs and high-energy beats,” she continued.
Lastly, and probably the most important factor of all, is how the event makes the participant feel.
“It’s a festival out here,” she chimed in.
These factors combined together, she further explained, add to the feeling of being part of a group–or in this case a big fun fitness community.
This makes it such a bliss.
“Iba ang sense of fulfillment.”
In a nutshell, the Electric Night Run is far from the usual run we usually come to know of where people normally compete for their personal best times and tooth and nail come jousting for podium spots.
“Here, instead of a podium on the stage, we have performers,” Cordero-Em even quipped.
“This is the event that could bring everyone, the family–from the dads all the way to the kids, the barkada, officemates, and they could just really enjoy themselves.”
