The first area that you are funneled into is the bib pickup area. The area was very well organized with areas for marathon, half marathon, 10K, and 5K packet pickup all sorted by bib number (which was in your final instruction email). Rock n Roll runs a paperless system where all you needed was your bib number to get your bib - no printing of waivers. So much paper and time was saved! If you are running multiple events, you needed to remember to get your bib for each event.
After receiving your race bib(s), your next stop was a section to pick up your race shirt. This was also super organized in my opinion and moved pretty quickly. If you needed to exchange your shirt for a different size, there was an area set up for a quick and easy swap there.
While you were able to sign up for runner tracking online before the expo, this is a great opportunity to get your loved ones and cheer squad signed up to track your progress on race day. I had already signed up for runner tracking, so we were able to skip this and move on.
Your next stop was entering into the shopping/vendor portion of the expo. The first part was dedicated to official race merchandise. With Brooks being a sponsor, there was some pretty awesome gear to choose from! Whether you were wanting a tank, short sleeve, long sleeve, jacket, hat, pint glass, they had you covered! A lot of expos' race merchandise areas end up looking like a bargain basement sale, with stuff just thrown everywhere. The official merchandise area was very spacious and organized (by style, gender, race distance, etc) - I am sure this changed later on in the expo though. From shirts, to jackets, to hats, and even magnets and pint glasses, there was something for everyone running this weekend. There was gear for all of the race distances from 5K to the marathon which is always nice to see.
We made our way around the expo checking out what was all there. Expos are an awesome way to pick up items that you already use at great expo prices, sign up for future races, and even check out new products. Just remember - no new gear/fuel on race day, so please don't go buy a new pair of shoes and rock them for your 13.1 miles or get some new fuel to try at mile 8 tomorrow.
I felt like this year's expo had less vendors than the past few years, but it was a lot more spacious walking around and browsing which was nice. The blend of vendors was also a good mix and I didn't feel like I was seeing the same product over and over.
It was definitely another successful expo! There were some cool vendors, checked out some fun products, bought a few things, and even learned some things. It is time to get ready to ROCK the 5K on Saturday and half marathon on Sunday night!
When shorter distances are offered the day before, I always like to run them as a nice shakeout/fun run for the weekend. Oh yea, you also get extra bling for running the 5K in conjunction with any of the races on Sunday (which is called the Remix Challenge).
I co-hosted this year's 5K #WeRunSocial meetup with Briana for a third year in a row. We had a great showing at the #WeRunSocial meetup with friends old and new. We all had a blast meeting up with each other again, meeting IRL for the first time after knowing each other via interwebs, and even met some new folks tagged along with their friends. Hey, the more the merrier!
First, it is indoor restrooms (yay, no porto-potty), but there are seriously BATHROOMS FOR DAYS! Yes, there were so many stalls that waiting to use the restroom was little to no wait this evening! It was quite entertaining to listen to all of the reactions as ladies entered the restrooms.
As the sun had just gone down just before the race start, it was a little dark on the course. Some parts of the course are darker than others, but street lights and temporary lights helped light the way. I was thankful for the extra lighting because there were some parts of the road that had potholes or unevenness to them.
The entertainment was good along the way with a few bands and DJs playing. I didn't run with music today, so I am glad that the music was plentiful.