FAIRMONT, W.Va. — One Dirty Girl isn’t taking the cancellation of this weekend’s 5K event sitting down. Robyn Danford, an attorney from Fairmont, said she’s already taken action against the company.
The Dirty Girl Mud Run posted on Facebook Wednesday, the Charleston 5K had been canceled due to “circumstances out of our control.” Those circumstances involved the company refusing to pay for buses to transport participants to the site, port-a-potties and site remediation after the run.
Danford and a group of her friends took part in a Dirty Girl Mud Run in Pennsylvania last year. She said they signed up for this year’s event almost immediately after.
“We had a really good time and enjoyed it and wanted to do it again,” explained Danford.
Her group was set to hit the course at 8 a.m. Saturday, so she booked a hotel room Friday night in Charleston and was looking forward to the event. That was until she got word Monday that the run might not take place.
“It didn’t even occur to me that if they canceled it, that they would also try to keep our money!”
But that’s what happened Wednesday when the company took to Facebook to say there would be no refunds.
“When that came to light, I was furious,” said Danford. “I did read their policy. I don’t sign things without reading it. Their language is very clear that they reserve the right to cancel if there’s a natural disaster, dangerous conditions, things outside their control. Nothing about that statement in any way indicated they would cancel it because they chose not to secure their venue and then keep everybody’s money. As far as I’m concerned that’s fraud! I was very, very angry.”
Danford tried to contact the Dirty Girl Mud Run offices but never got any response. That’s when she took action.
“I went to my bank (Wednesday), disputed the charges. They are planning to issue a credit to my account in the next few days and my bank is going to take it up with them,” said Danford. “I also filed complaints with the (state) Attorney General’s office and the Better Business Bureau.”
Danford said she wants to participate in another mud run but it will never be one sponsored by Dirty Girl.