This past weekend I got to complete my first “Running Universal” themed race at Universal Studios Hollywood!
Since the end of “RunDisney” races at the Disneyland Resort, Universal Studios Hollywood has brilliantly decided to fill the void of highly themed race events in the SoCal area. “Running Universal” is Universal Studios brand new themed running event that plans to take place multiple times a year. The inaugural race weekend was held back in May 2019, centering around the adorable “Minions” from Illumination Studios. Now, this past weekend was Universal Hollywood’s second “Running Universal” event, themed to the ever popular Jurassic World franchise! Consisting of a 10K, 5K, and kids 1K race respectively, there seems to be something for every level runner.
I myself participated in the 5K run on Saturday morning which began around 6:30am. Corrals were stationed at the front entrance of Universal Studios Hollywood, as 50-75 people began their race every 5 minutes or so. Of course, as mentioned this was no ordinary race, this was a Jurassic World themed race, so obviously I had to dress the part!
Yeah… I decided it might be easier to the run the 5K, if my dino friend here ran it for me. Turns out, it’s a lot harder to maintain your pet dino on the track, than just running it yourself. While I somehow managed to make the race a tad more difficult for myself, I was here for the experience, more so than a good run time. And a good experience I had! As the first leg of the race began, we were lead around the upper lot passing through both the minions area and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, before heading down to the lower lot via the tram tour pathway. Here, I came across one of the best encounters of the entire race, Jurassic Park face characters!
Yes! Ian Malcom, Dr. Henry Wu, and even Dennis Nedry came out to cheer us on as we made our way ever so closer to the finish line! Of course once we made it down to the lower lot, we were also greeted by Blue and her handler at the Raptor Encounter location next to Universal’s newest attraction, Jurassic World – The Ride. From there, we made our way into the backlot past the entrance to King Kong 360, thru the Universal Picture Car exhibit, and into the Jurassic Park section of the tram tour. It was truly a neat experience having the opportunity walk through this section of the backlot, which you normally only experience on the tram tour itself. Here, we were able to get up close in personally with some of the props, and even some of the dinosaurs that were lurking in the bushes!
Afterwards, we made my way past Amity, escaped the Bates Motel, and skimmed by Fast and the Furious Supercharged, before ending up back at CityWalk to complete the race! Ending just in front of CityWalk’s 5 Towers stage, my 3.1 mile Jurassic World adventure had come to a close! ..and if you don’t believe me, I have a shiny new medal to prove it!
As an avid “RunDisney” participant, I was truly devastated when Disneyland announced no future races would be happening in the foreseeable future. However, looks like “Running Universal” has finally filled that void for me, and I can’t wait to experience it again! Not only has Universal Hollywood announced their third “Running Universal” event in April 2020, themed to DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls, but Universal Orlando Resort will also celebrate their inaugural “Running Universal” Epic Character event weekend in February 2020!
Watch my FULL race experience:
For more information about both “Running Universal” events both in Hollywood and Orlando, visit runninguniversal.com
