I went down to the Surf City Expo. It was a typical expo; nothing special. For such a big race, they had plenty of volunteers, so the waiting wasn't bad. I was a little disappointed for a few different reasons.
- Not much free stuff:* They didn't put anything in the bags. On one hand, I don't have to worry about going through a ton of advertising when I get home (often weeks later). On the other hand, there are no samples of Gu Chomps, Larabars or anything else. You had to go from booth to booth and hardly anyone was giving anything for free. Even the official drink, Vitalyte, was selling samples. I actually drink Vitalyte and enjoy it. They are serving the fruit punch flavor during the race, which I haven't tried. I'll be carrying my citrus flavored Vitalyte tomorrow.
- No super interesting booths: Either I have seen it all or there wasn't much there. I have only been going to these things for a couple of years, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't that extensive. They made it easy not to look at the merchandise. At the RNR, you had to walk through logo'd stuff, which was pretty smart (if not a pain). I didn't see anything I had to have.
- Not the best information: The bag they gave us was kind of like a grocery bag. It is exactly the same size and shape as the Trader Joe's bag I use for grocery shopping. It's cool, but it definitely wouldn't work for a drop bag. I went to ask about drop bags and nobody could tell me anything. I am still a bit of a marathon newbie. I have only run the San Diego Rock-n-Roll marathon and they provided a drop bag with a tag that you zip-tie on. The lady at the booth said I had to use my own bag and label it. I asked her how. She didn't know. I asked someone else if they would have tags there or if I have to come up with something on my own. That person didn't know either.
- I asked about the wave starts for the marathon. She referred to the back of the map, which shows waves for the half marathon. I asked about the marathon. She said that there would be an arbitrary time and everyone faster than that time would be in wave one and slower than that time in wave two. Really? I know I'll be able to figure it out in the morning, but they can't figure it out ahead of time? I had to put my estimated time when I registered. There are much fewer runners in the marathon, so I know more effort needs to be put into organizing the half marathoners, but I feel uninformed.
Despite a lackluster expo, I am really excited. I got plenty of sleep last night, so I am good to go. I am sure I will wake up constantly tonight checking to make sure I don't sleep through my alarm. Par for the course.
7 comments:
GOOD LUCK!! This race is on my to-do list because those surfboard medals are just too cool! I hope you have a fantastic race!
Greetings from my HB motel!!
We got drenched heading out to the expo. We were there at about 4 or so, and it was pretty much like you explained it. I had to walk back to our motel to get our truck because we got so wet on the way there and didn't want to do it all over again. I looked for you before I realized that I don't really know what you look like :)
I'm meeting up with a group of runners tomorrow morning so I'm not as concerned about the logistics as I would be otherwise, but I do hope some of them bothered to figure that stuff out because otherwise we're all done for. We are going in the second wave, as far as I know.
Good luck tomorrow!!! I can't believe it's almost here!!! 12 hours!!
The RNR marathons are organized so nicely. It seems like every other race falls short after you get used to running RNR's! Have fun!!!!!
yep, noting in the bags! And not many exhibitors! But i'm doing it to complete my California Dreaming Series!!
I can't wait to meet you! Hopefully i'll see you at the beer garden!!
Good Luck!! have a great race and if you come across some slow chick in a blue tutu rockin out to her shuffle-that's me! Smack me!
The RnR's definitely have the expo thing down to a science. They're always fun, I noticed a huge difference in the Las Vegas one after it became an RnR. But that is very weird that nobody could tell you anything about drop bags. At a race this size it should be a little more coordinated.
I've never heard of Vitalyte before... off to read about it now!
Ok, that is weird, no one knowing about the drop bags? How long has this race been run? I think it's a sign of the times about the "no free stuff" at the expo. We can only hope good times will come again, for a lot of reasons, right?
Danica (chicrunner) and I wre having that exact conversation on Twitter when I was at the expo. Me: "Great bling bag." Her: "But no bling!"
I trust you figured out the gear drop thing. I *always* just use my own bag, and I put some duct tape with my bib number on the outside. Sur City was pretty organized with drop off/retrieval. That's not always the case - so the better marked your bag is the better come pick up time.
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