When: 9 a.m. Saturday
Where: Wake Zone Cable Park
Price: $25 until Oct. 25
Runners will soon have the opportunity to feel like they are in Spain participating in La Tomatina. Tomato Dodge is coming to Oklahoma City 9 a.m. Saturday.
The event consists of a 5K run while runners dodge tomatoes and at the end of the race throw tomatoes at each other. It is supposed to be reminiscent of the annual tomato fight in Buñol, Spain, La Tomatina.
Danny Copinga, race director for Tomato Dodge, said the fun will be never-ending.
“The race starts at Wake Zone Cable Park and just goes through a bunch of trails and around a lake by there,” Copinga said. “While running the fun run, there are four of what we call Dodge Zones, where there are people throwing tomatoes at you from everywhere and the runners must dodge them. It’s a lot of fun.”
The fun doesn’t just occur during the race, Copinga said. The real battle begins once you actually cross the finish line.
“Once you finish there’s what is called the Battle Zone where there are just tons of tomatoes lying around and the participants all have a free-for-all and throw tomatoes at each other,” Copinga said.
Copinga said the number of tomatoes varies by the amount of participants in the race, but usually ranges from about 25,000 to 50,000 tomatoes.
If you’re worried about the pain of being pelted by flying tomatoes, don’t be. Tomato Dodge’s tomatoes are soaked in water and smashed up as much as possible in order to prevent injury from the flying fruits. Participants can also wear goggles so that the flying tomato guts don’t penetrate and hurt their eyes.
“We try our best to contain injuries so that our participants’ experience is a great as it can be,” said Copinga.
It is $40 after October 25 to register for the race, and participants also get a free T-Shirt for the run.
