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Sports Backers Blog

CarMax Tacky Light Run Brings Smiles

by Jon Lugbill

The CarMax Tacky Light Run is the craziest and wackiest of Sports Backers’ events. I wanted to share with you how this wonderful, new tradition started.

I have to admit. I love tacky lights. I know it’s a little weird, but it just puts a smile on my face to see houses with over the top tacky lights. I even put up lights on our own house, but we are not on the Tacky Lights Tour.

I’m sure 30 years ago Richmond’s holiday light scene was like most communities in America with a few houses going crazy with their lights. The wild thing in Richmond, however, is that in 1985 Winn Transportation put these houses together in a packaged bus tour. They even got the Richmond Times-Dispatch to come on board as a sponsor. Even crazier is that groups started paying real money to go on these tours. Homeowners had to start adding lights to their displays to stay on the tour. Before you knew it, the top homes displayed 1.5 million lights—yes Bobby Phifer’s house on Asbury Court has that many lights. Other bus companies joined in, and the limo companies were right behind them. These days, tacky light traffic jams are common at the best displays in town.

tacky-light-runA Tacky Light Run course should be a no-brainer to find right? Well, it actually took years of searching for the right neighborhood with over the top houses that adopted this obsessive holiday lighting phenomenon to establish an entire course that would be lit up. After going on a tacky light tour, Will Dixon, our sponsorship manager, had the thought that the Walton Park neighborhood had potential. After 6 long evening runs, we drafted a potential course.

We knew this run was going to be different than our other events because the homeowners along the route were the ones responsible for the unique tacky light attribute that we were building the event around. We set up a meeting with the homeowners association. I never imagined the reception we received. The Walton Park Homeowners Association knew how special their tacky lights were, and they were extremely proud of them. CarMax signed on as a sponsor, and Chesterfield County joined in as a partner. Thus, a crazy, tacky over the top Richmond tradition was born: the CarMax Tacky Light Run.

We learned a lot that first year. First of all, seeing thousands of runners with all of their lights on was a spectacle that we hadn’t planned on having as a part of the show. The neighborhood supported the event with not only decorations but also block parties, and the evening became their very own street festival.

You might think this is a little insane to run around a 6k course at night with thousands of other people in December, but the atmosphere is truly electric (even the pun is tacky). There are cookie stops and “elfie” stops (our take on the selfie) along the way, and this year Santa will be set up for pictures with the kids in Midlothian Mines Park. The finisher medal is even an ornament. Festive cheer abounds, and just as this new Richmond tradition started with a smile, we can’t wait to see thousands of smiling runners and walkers this Saturday, December 13th, as they celebrate the season in the tackiest, wackiest way possible!

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