In the last few days, Obstacle Racing Media has been doing extensive research on the operations of Lozilu Mud Run. It started when we heard the New England race, scheduled for last Saturday, was suddenly re-scheduled for the following weekend. The post made reference to insurance reasons. When we called Bolton Farms, the venue this event was to take place upon, we learned that the venue was never secured for either date.
There were countless posts to the Lozilu Facebook page demanding answers and clarity for that event. The only response from Lozilu was a canned response that they used on every comment. “Please send in your register info for a refund to [email protected] thank you LOZILU”. Brad, is Brad Peters, the current head of Lozilu. He purchased the company at the end of last year, after Lozilu had some success with 5-7 OCR locations a year from 2012-2014.
A former staff member who worked this year, let us know his real name is Frederick Bradley Kellogg, and is currently on probation for $300,000 worth of felony theft.
We then began to investigate the entire 2015 calendar for Lozilu. Here is what we learned. The events scheduled for Des Moines (5/2), Chicago (5/9), Indianapolis (5/16), Milwaukee(6/27), and New York (7/11) all had a fate similar like the New England date. The timeline is much the same if you have the patience to scroll down all the posts to Lozilu’s Facebook.
A couple of weeks before the event, registrants who have yet to receive any word from Lozilu begin to ask if the location has moved or if the event is happening, typically no response occurs. As the impending dates get closer and closer, Brad begins to respond with the standard “refund” email. A day or two before the event, Brad announces the event isn’t happening at all or that it is “postponed”.
We began to reach out to all of the upcoming dates scheduled for Lozilu to see if Brad/Frederick had booked them.
Aug 1-Philadelphia, PA. Varner Farms.
We spoke with Colette Varner, who runs the property with her husband David. She told us, “We have been trying to get them to stop advertising our location since January.”
August 8. Nashville, TN. Cheatham Wildlife Management Area.
We spoke with Eric who told us, “As far as we know the race is not happening. We have not talked to those guys in months”.
Aug 22. Kansas City, KS. Fountain Bluff Sports Complex.
We spoke with Chris Lucas who told us, “Right now we don’t have anything signed. We have had not heard from them for months”.
Aug 29. Denver, CO. Broomfield Commons.
We spoke with Lugene Wileon who told us, “They chose not to come back in 2015.” and “They are not scheduled here this year.”
Additionally, there are dates listed on the website for in San Diego, CA and Fargo, ND (9/12), and Las Vegas, NV and Austin, TX (9/19). Those cities were all initially scheduled for the spring but were postponed to due poor ticket sales. While Lozilu currently do not have venues listed for these new dates, they are still collecting registration funds.
As always, the standard recommendation if you have any doubts about an event is to contact your bank/credit card company for a refund.
Read about the new Lozilu owner’s criminal past.
Matt B. Davis
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I’m not seeing reference to St. Louis luzilu run to be held at Six Flags of St.louis on August 15th. Does anyone have any information about that event? I haven’t received anything email and just heard rumor about Luxilu events in general. I’ll contact Six Glags, but am looking for more secure information.
I emailed Six Flags to confirm but have not received a reply back. The event on facebook Lozilu St. Louis was cancelled.
I’d say scam all the way. They just did the SAME thing for the Philadelphia event. Varner Farms says the venue was never set. The run was scheduled for today, but no emails went out to any participants. Apparently a facebook post (on LoziLu’s page) indicated the cancellation yesterday, LESS THAN 24 hours before the event, and no direct contact to the participants!!! Many of us showed up at the cited address today – no signs, no activity and obviously there was no intent to have an event there at any time. Many of us traveled well over an hour (heard of some from 4 hours away) to find NOTHING.
I say SCAM>
I was registered to run this event with friends in Phila today, 8/1/15. We did not learn any of this information until we showed up at Varner Farm – along with many other participants. This time, no one was emailed regarding cancellation. Upon checking the LoziLu site and registration ability for upcoming events, I see that Active.com has them listed as unavailable. If this has been happening for previous runs, and Active is obviously now aware – why were participants not notified? Also – why has the site not come down? Is there any way for participants to get refunds?
I was registered for the Nashville race scheduled for 8/8/2015. After reading this article, I posted a query on Lozilu’s Facebook page. They responded that the Nashville race was canceled and we would receive refunds, but there has been no official announcement or emails sent. This place is a scam all the way. Thanks for posting this article. At least I’m not stuck standing in an empty field on race day! Now just hoping we do get a refund.
They just canceled the St. Louis event on August 15th a few hours ago.
I scheduled this for myself & daughter to make a memory together. The Las Vegas race was initially scheduled for March but then postponed until September. Where is the info for refunds? The lozilu website doesn’t even come up anymore. 🙁
This guy scammed me out of about $160,000 by renting some space in my building for a restaurant and leaving, virtually in the middle of the night, without paying. I had to auction everything off, lost a building as result of the financial hardship and know a lot about this guy now including about the rice swindle. . .how is this guy not still in jail?