A Minneapolis-based race organizer is facing criticism from runners for its small contributions to the organizations it claims to support, in addition to problems at many of its races.

Team Ortho Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, organized 17 events this year in Minnesota, Illinois, and Texas, and has 13 events planned for 2016.

Team Ortho’s most recent available financial documents, for the calendar year 2013, show that it gave $72,700 to charities, or about 1.6 percent of the nearly $4.4 million it took in. In 2012 it gave no money at all to charity, and in 2011 it gave $41,000, or 1.7 percent of that year’s revenue, federal tax documents show.

“It’s just pennies on the dollar,” said Isaac Milkey, former event director for Team Ortho’s Polar Dash, Get Lucky Half Marathon, and Tiki Runs, and one of the five employees who quit at the end of July after raising concerns with the board of directors about the operation of the company. “That was the whole mission statement, that we would give to charity and benefit orthopedic research. People would be surprised to see what the actual number is.”

Team Ortho founder and executive director John Larson, reached on his cell phone in late October, said he was in a meeting but would return a call to answer questions about these issues. He didn't, and has not responded to additional voicemails and emails from Runner's World.

An archived version of the Team Ortho website from September stated its goal was to “improve and enhance the lives of orthopedic patients through our commitment to supporting research, education, and advancements in orthopedic technology,” and listed the Orthopaedic Trauma Association and the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation as two organizations it donated to “every year.” (All of that language has since been removed.) The Orthopaedic Trauma Association has not received any money from Team Ortho since 2011, Kathleen Caswell, executive director, said. Neither has the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation, tax documents show.

RUNNERS’ COMPLAINTS

Team Ortho Foundation has an “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota based on nine complaints in the past year (as of Tuesday). The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office said under Minnesota law it cannot disclose whether any complaints have been filed against the company until and unless legal action is taken. No complaints have been received by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, a spokeswoman said.

Critics have taken to social media and the blogosphere to complain about what they say is disorganization, and they contend that the company does not respond to emails or calls. They gripe about overcrowded courses, 24-hour or more waits for results, mixups in the color-coded flags marking routes of different distances, shortages of porta-potties, problems with event shirts and jackets, long lines at afterparties, and pacers who have led runners the wrong way.

Two days before this September’s Women Rock 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon in Chicago’s Jackson Park, runner April Ann Otto and her fellow competitors received an email from race parent Team Ortho telling them the starting times had been changed and the course would be open one hour less than advertised, Otto said. Half marathoners were given a maximum of two and a half hours to finish, meaning that by Team Ortho’s estimate, some 20 percent of the field would have to switch to shorter races. It offered a $20 coupon good for a purchase at the runner expo. After many women expressed anger at this, Larson told a Chicago television news station that he would give refunds to unhappy participants. (Three of the nine complaints received by the Better Business Bureau are from Women Rock runners who say they have not received refunds.)

The company blamed the changes on a conflict with other events on the same route. The Chicago Park District told the same news station it had not received the race route from Team Ortho until the week before.

“They didn’t even submit the paperwork on time,” Otto said. “How do you do that? You had this entire year to have this worked out. So who’s at fault here? I’ve been a runner since I was a freshman in high school and I never ran into issues with a race that were as frustrating and disappointing as this.”

Team Ortho postponed its Minneapolis Duathlon in August, with two weeks notice, because of road construction, which one angry blogger noted Team Ortho had known about for months. At a 2013 Team Ortho race, the timing mats malfunctioned. Organizers canceled Team Ortho's Minneapolis Marathon last year, after runners had already lined up in the start corral, due to a threat of lightning.

For Minneapolis Marathon entrant Scott Dobbins, that cancellation was understandable; even though the predicted lightning didn’t materialize, he said, that’s not the organizers’ fault. Dobbins was surprised, however, when he called Team Ortho to see what percentage of his registration fee he could deduct as a charitable donation.

“The advertising and the website say they’re a charity, so I make the assumption that at least half, if not more, of the proceeds are going to go to charity,” Dobbins said. “I contacted them and it was really hard to get the information out of them, but I came out with, none of the money is going to charity. And I was, like, what the heck? That was the thing that really bothered me. That’s really bad.”

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