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Laser Tagging My Way To 5K

This weekend laser tag returned at the Fun Warehouse in Syracuse! And I was right back there to support my home site on opening day with a new goal in front of me. I planned to laser tag my way to 5K…and of course I mean distance, not score, lol.


With so many run/walk events going virtual I thought it would be interesting to track how many games it would take me to laser tag that same distance inside an arena. So I got involved with an online runners group (even though the first rule in every laser tag arena is “I will not run”) and received tremendous support for this idea!

I purchased a fitness tracker with an app to keep a log of my steps and distance covered in each game. What I found was that on average I was moving about .2 miles in every game, although that varied a bit with each game and I noticed a particular spike in my steps/distance when playing Supercharge, so I’m sure my results will vary based on which system or format I’m playing. I imagine arena size will be a factor too. All the games I played this weekend were at FWH, but in future I may execute similar challenges by going between multiple arenas.

It was great to be back playing here again with some familiar faces. OK, you can’t see the faces under the masks, but trust me, they are familiar!


And it’s also nice to play here feeling very confident that everything is being kept clean, safe and sanitized. I only wore one pack the entire time I was there (and they also have the capability of changing vesting rack colors to identify the packs that are “in-use” versus those that are being sanitized) and I witnessed some of the cleaning procedures first-hand so I can vouch for what they are doing to keep their customers safe. Here is Jackal (aka Ryan) who was cleaning the vests immediately after one of the games.


After tagging the equivalent of 1.5 miles during seven games on the first night, I returned to Syracuse for a few more games the next day.


I arrived early in the day intending to play as many games as necessary to achieve 5K (or 3.107 miles) before I left. With a few Supercharge games tossed into the mix I was able to reach my goal in only six more games, meaning I did indeed laser tag over 5K of distance over the course of two days and 13 games total. Although there have certainly been times in the past when I could have easily knocked out 13 games in a single day, right now FWH is operating with limited hours, so to accomplish my goals I will have to work around the game availability at the individual sites I go to. This means I may have to complete my future 5Ks over more than one day also and, regardless, I would have to add up my game times as individual segments, accumulating them to reach the total goal.


It was great to tag once again with both public players and members who I had not seen in quite awhile during the final game that put me over the top.


What a fun way to celebrate the return of laser tag in Syracuse!

Playing a lot of laser tag games consecutively is nothing new for me and I’m sure I’ve done this many times before without realizing it, but from now on I am going to measure and track my miles and join more of the virtual 5K events going on to benefit good causes at the same time. In fact, this first 5K is the completion of one such online distance-based online challenges through Medal Chasers, appropriately called “Ready, Aim, Run” and a portion of my registration for this event went to benefit Kidz Outdoors.

Although most people who participate in these virtual events complete the challenge by running or walking the distance, I was delighted to find a great deal of support when I shared that I was going to complete my 5K by laser tagging. The general opinion seems to be that as long as you keep moving, any activity is great for going the distance and I actually got some response from people who seemed genuinely interested in hearing more about laser tag. Now that I have a starting point to know approximately how many games it takes, I am looking forward to taking on plenty of future challenges that I can complete inside laser tag arenas and start to use my favorite game for fitness just as much as for fun!

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