Redheads race through Oakland for ‘Ginger Run’ at SempleFest

The brisk, breezy air in Oakland simmered in the seconds before a horde of redheads bolted down Semple Street. Varying shades of red hair, from natural redheads to bright orange wigs, flapped through the wind as the runners sprinted down the street, flanked by a cheering audience bathed in green. 

On Saturday afternoon, the Ginger Run kicked off the annual SempleFest, an informal spring holiday in Oakland dating back to the 2000s. This year’s festival doubled as a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, since many Pitt students were returning to campus after spring break the weekend of March 17. 

By 1:30 p.m., partygoers crawling the streets of Oakland began to congregate in the 300 block of Semple, where members of the Pitt Irish Dance Club held posters about 100 meters apart indicating the start and finish line.

The president of the Irish Dance Club, Shauna Meehan, stood at the corner of Semple and Bates streets holding a megaphone. The club, which danced at Oakland bars Bootlegger’s and Phat’s the night before, organized the race and offered a $50 prize to the winner. Word of the event spread through social media — though they pushed the starting time back a half hour when Pitt Barstool publicized an incorrect time on Instagram, Meehan was enthusiastic to get the race under way.

“We’ve seen other universities do it, and I’m from Boston, and I have two Irish parents. Very Irish town, lots of Irish heritage and whatnot. We wanted to bring it to Pitt because Pitt’s a very Irish university and city as well,” Meehan, a junior psychology and sports studies major, said. “As the Irish Dance Club, we want to promote Irish culture, especially in the month of March.”

Jonathan Roth, a first-year rehabilitation science major, stretched against a wall near the starting point. Wearing a T-shirt adorned in Irish flags complementing his orange hair, Roth had his sights set on first prize.

“I actually was more ginger, and my hair has slowly gotten darker over the course of my life, but I’m still a ginger to this date,” Roth said. “I’m really relying on my high school track days … I hope muscle memory kicks in and I can run again.”

Brooke Bowen stood with her running coach at the starting line. Bowen, a senior public service major, has been a redhead for 22 years. She managed her expectations about winning the race but ultimately relished the chance to celebrate her fellow redheads. 

“Don’t get last. But also not second, because Abby Lee Miller said second is the first to lose,” Bowen said. “I want to be a ginger for as long as I can, but if I turn white, that’s fine. Aging is great. Low-key, I hate getting sunburnt indoors.”

With a few minutes left until the race began, Meehan said she welcomed all redhead and redhead-adjacent runners, regardless of their natural hair color.

“Anyone who wants to race can, as long as they somehow have ginger in their hair. A wig even counts. We just want people to have a good time,” Meehan said. “I don’t know what the bounds are of ginger. As long as it looks reddish orange, that works for me.”

Dozens of redheads lined up at Semple and Bates awaiting their cue. Upon the signal, they launched into a feverish sprint, tearing and tumbling down the street toward the finish line. Onlookers cheered as Flynn Dymkowski, a senior industrial engineering major and natural redhead, emerged victorious wearing green face paint and a GoPro. Competitors collided with the green mass of partiers as the crowd filled into the street, interspersing with the redheaded runners.

SempleFest had begun. Rowdy attendees danced in the street, blasting festive songs like “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” and “There’s No One as Irish as Barack Obama” on Bluetooth speakers. In the frigid 35-degree weather, Pitt students bundled up in green sipped from borgs, plastic jugs awash with alcohol and mixers. A few unlucky cars attempted to drive down Semple, meeting the mob and inching down the block. Partygoers climbed on fire escapes and roofs, with one mooning the crowd and pouring a kelly green borg from a chimney three stories high. 

Local law enforcement has been wary of SempleFest since 2008, when the unpermitted event devolved into rioting and arson, resulting in dozens of citations and warnings from police to Semple residents. The controversial festival led to the Pittsburgh City Council voting to quadruple open container fines and ban outdoor couches to discourage fires.

Within 10 minutes of the Ginger Run, the police arrived. Four squad cars rolled down Semple, parting the sea of green only for the crowd to fill in behind them. After a few passes, police cars settled at the end of the block as the revelry persisted. Half an hour later, a fleet of 12 police cars snaked down Semple, sirens aroar — this time parking in the crowd, choking out the street festivities and driving partygoers into the alleyways and backyards of houses. 

Meehan said she’s looking forward to sending the redheads down Semple Street again next year.

“Next year, I’d love to coordinate with [Barstool] and really make it a bigger event, and maybe sell T-shirts, fun stuff like that,” Meehan said. “As for this year, I think there was a little lack of coordination, but that’s OK, because you know what? It’s getting done, and there’s tons of people here.”

After the crowd died down, the speedy Dymkowski reflected on his triumph. 

“Winning the ginger race was like finally finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow — except the rainbow was Semple Street and the gold was a $50 Amazon gift card,” Dymkowski said. “It was a fiery victory amidst a sea of drunks, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be crowned the dominant ginger at Pitt.”