Warning: Don't run the Safe Harbor Half!

After the Safe Harbor Half Marathon (aka, the race from hell!) I decided I needed to alert the proper authorities about the harrowing experience the runners had. I wanted to contact...

1. The organization the put on the race.
2. Local runners so they know not to run it.
3. The police.

I found the race on the New Holland Bicycle page. I didn't know what sort of organization that is or who is in charge, so I clicked on "contact us" and wrote a message to let them know what went on at a race they promoted on their website.

Unfortunately, the person who emailed me back was the RD. 
It looks like the whole thing is his operation. He IS the authority. This is the email I received from him:

"Thanks for emailing us. We talked to the neighbors in the area afterward and have found that they have had great trouble with this person in the past.  He is mentally ill. Compounding the problem, the neighbors have told us he thinks he owns property he does not.  We are rerouting the course for next year.

We are offering a credit (free) to our next run, a 5k/10k in Wernersville, Pa (Reading Area) on May 5th to runners

who were inconvenienced. Please email if you can attend. The run is up and down steep roads only.   You can win a pair of running shoes at this event."

Okay, first of all, they are rerouting the course for next year? NEXT YEAR? Second, thanks but no thanks on the free entry to another one of your races! Third, "to the runners who were inconvenienced"????? INCONVENIENCED!!!!???

I emailed the RD back to ask if he called the police. This is the response I got:

"I was told the neighbor called it in.  Also, one of the neighbors kept an eye out for the runners that tried to complete more than the 13 mile loop re-routed."

This information is just NOT lining up. When I finished my first 4.2 mile loop, the RD told us there was a "grumpy neighbor". How did he know that? There is no cell phone reception. I was with the first group of runners who didn't encounter the grumpy neighbor, so we were the first ones to complete a loop. Yet the RD knew about the angry man before we got back.

I am seriously wondering if the RD sent us past this dude's house on purpose? I mean, his house was actually depicted on the map he gave us!

I bet I know why the RD didn't call the police. I bet he didn't have any permits for his dumb race.

As far as letting other runners in the area know to BEWARE of races put on by this guy, I posted my story in several local running Facebook groups. So far, my blog post about the race has had over 2000 views. I think I was successful in getting the word out to warn people!

The last thing I decided to do was call the police. I heard the neighbors had called the police and the woman who was shot at  told me she called the police. I decided to call as well. The state police has jurisdiction over the area and the officer I talked to claimed they didn't get any other calls about this incident and seemed skeptical of my story. He asked me why I didn't report it on Saturday. He made me feel pretty stupid. I thought it's better to report something than not!?

So that's the story. The last thing I want to say is that from now on I really need to research a race before I run it. If it's the first year for the race (as this was) I need to contact the race director and find out more information.

Lesson learned!