When I first saw 5K Foam Fest was coming to Salt Lake City, it seemed like a change in pace and a chance to try something a little different from the competitive OCR racing scene. I quickly found out that Irene Call and her kids were planning on doing the event and soon made plans to run the race with the kids.

After reading the website the night before the race, I learned bring your signed waiver or else there is a $1.00 fee to get one on race day. Also read we would have to pay for parking. I hit the ATM in the morning to make sure I had some cash on hand. I arrived to find out, parking was free! Such a nice change to not have to pay for parking, and on top of that it was easy and I was able to get a great parking spot! After a walk up the hill to the festival area, I was able to quickly check in. It didn’t seem that $1.00 fee was being enforced and they changed my heat time to be at the same time as Irene and kids. All good in my book! I milled around or a while checking out the scene, the festival was small but had things for the kids to play on, as well as a few vendors.

I watched the registration lines and they never seemed to get too big or too long. It was fun watching the heats head off as well as those finish the race course. There were a lot of smiles all around. As we lined up for our heat, the MC got everyone excited and kept them excited giving away swag as we were in the starting gate. It was a little weird at first but then I soon realized this was not a competitive race, but a fun race. So all the little contests made for a very festive atmosphere. The kids rolled around in the big pile of foam at the starting line and were quick to give huge hugs and get Irene and I soaked with foam. This set the tone for the race.

As we headed off and our heat began we jogged along at the pace of the kids. One of the first obstacles we encountered was not one of foam but that of a muddy electrified crawl. It was low but you could duck under the wires. Only one in our party got shocked but heard others around get shocked. Coming out we were muddy but all the foam the rest of the race cleaned us off pretty well! The rest of the course was a variety of inflatable obstacles filled with foam, whether it be a bouncy bounce or a inflated slide, they were fun and the kids were even more excited. We ran across floating foam mats, through a spider web, and high knees over bungee rope as well as up and over an 8-foot wall and 4-foot wall. None of the obstacles were extremely challenging, but helping the kids made it really fun. The high cargo net one of the kids stemmed her fears and made it over.

Overall the day was fun, we finished all together costumes were abound, and families were enjoying the day. No entry fees for spectators, no fees for parking, bars, water, creamie, and nice gender specific shirts at the finish. Overall, a fun event, even more fun to do with kids or a group of friends. If you are looking for a hard-core race, you might want to skip this one, but it you are looking for an entry level event, or one to do with family members, this one might be a great choice. Moral of the day, sometimes it’s just about the fun of it all, not a time on the clock.