WHAT THE HECK??? We arrived at the expo just after it opened, entered the room where packet pickup was, and came to a dead stop.
We were in this line - hadn't even made it to the mass of people shown in the first picture. Karen and Jimmy were in that mass of people, and were texting us saying they hadn't moved since they arrived.
Meanwhile, we could see the stations where you get the race bibs, and it was a strange sight because they were not busy at all.
Nobody was getting their bibs.
Fake smiles, wondering how long we were going to be there.
Apparently the marathon committee decided to go with a new system this year. Previously, we would walk up to the booth that corresponded with our bib numbers (which we had received in an email earlier in the week), show our proof of registration and ID, and get our packets. This year, they decided to make this a two-step process, which was dumb because the old way worked fine. But guess what? The new computer program wasn't working. People were getting agitated, and some were having to leave because they'd come on their lunch hour and burned it up standing in a non-moving line. Eventually a committee person announced that they were rebooting the computers...and that did nothing. Finally they announced that they would use the old system for scanning proof of registration. The line started moving, we made it out to the floor where we could choose our line for scanning, and Diane found one that was short and moving along nicely.
But then, our line stopped. There was a man, let's call him Mr. Irate, who was yelling at the poor worker because he'd brought a stack of signed releases and wanted to pick up packets for a lot of people, which wasn't allowed this year and seriously, you could not have missed that notice, it was everywhere. She wasn't budging and he was yelling and calling for a supervisor and wouldn't leave, even when she directed him over to the help booth. The worker processed his two registrations and then reached around to take the paper from the person behind Mr. Irate, who then cut back in line in front of Diane. He told her that she was going to have to wait because he wasn't going anywhere, and I'll be damned if Diane didn't tell him NO SIR WE ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING OUR TURN AND YOU AREN'T FOLLOWING THE RULES, and wedged herself in front of him, which meant he was in front of me. She paused for a second and then pulled me over to her saying AND SHE'S WITH ME. You guys, Diane is the most polite person you will ever meet - I have never seen her do something like this, but I was so impressed! And proud. She stood up to that jerk, even though she was shaking on the inside - but she didn't let that show and Mr. Irate didn't say another word to her.
So we got through that area, giving sympathy to the poor worker who was taking the brunt of Mr. Irate, got our bibs (I was picking up Jeff's), and left that room to go to the expo. Our first stop was at the Sketchers booth, where the official marathon/half marathon merchandise was available for purchase. I had just started looking at the marathon shirts for Jeff when I realized that Mr. Irate was right next to me, trying to grab every shirt that I was looking at. I didn't give him the satisfaction of acknowledging that he was there; instead, I chatted with other shoppers as we were looking at the shirts. I had to laugh, though, because with him being there so soon meant that he had not been allowed to pick up any other bibs and was evicted from packet pickup; it felt like justice had been served. And now, on to the actual expo...
One of the items I bought was the official race poster - I really loved the artwork - and we found the artist near the Sketcher's booth, so I asked her to sign the poster. The original painting is behind her; she said that it would be auctioned off at some point and the proceeds would go to one of the marathon's charities, which was cool. I also bought a shirt with the design on it for Jeff but then I ended up taking it because I decided too late that I'd like one and they sold out on Friday:
Shirt - it's so pretty!
Artist Janavi Folmsbee.
Karen, Diane, and I left our Renegade stamp on the half marathon wall...
Diane got to spend some time with her runner boyfriend, Meb Keflezighi. He signed a shirt and a picture for her and we watched as she swooned. I think Meb is to her what Will Ferrell is to me, although she's actually gotten to meet her man!
This was on day two of the expo - the bone spur on the top of my foot was hurting from wearing shoes for so long the previous day, and I wanted to try this pain relief cream. They didn't give out samples so I wasn't going to bother, but the woman at the booth said she'd apply it so basically I got a free foot rub out of the deal. I'm laughing because Jeff and Diane and Karen were standing there laughing at me. The lotion did help with the pain, at least temporarily, but it was expensive and had an ingredient that I was unsure of using (hemp oil), so I didn't buy it.
I did, however, buy new socks! Expo deal - buy three, get one free - and the price was actually better than what these sell for at our local running store.
I also indulged in new Sweaty Bands. They had some great deals and markdowns and I love having some fresh headbands to choose from when I run and workout. Between the shirt, socks, and Sweaty Bands, I spent my Christmas money, which made buying everything even more fun!
The woman at the 2Toms booth was very generous with samples - both Jeff and I use this to prevent chafing on long runs.
The expo seems to be getting smaller each year, which is a shame - yes, you can buy most of this stuff online, but it's nice to get to see it in person. Still, despite a strange start, we had a lot of fun there.
Have a great weekend!
from My Journey to Fit http://bit.ly/2MuofEv
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