Friday, March 19, 2010

Gearing Up for the Gun

Today I went on my last run before the half-marathon on Sunday – just a short one as I'm officially tapering and therefore have an excuse to be lazy. I bought a new pair of shorts, and I went out at 7:30 wearing the shorts and tank top I'll wear in the race to assess whether my planned clothes were appropriate for the temperature and whether the shorts were comfortable – chafing for 13 miles is not my idea of a good time. A bit chilly, but otherwise, all systems are go.

I had to go downtown to pick up my race stuff; they wanted to check photo I.D. and so couldn't just put things in the mail. Below is all of the free* stuff I got at the expo:

Contents of checkable bag:

Newman's Own microwave popcorn

Sample of men's shower gel

Sample of skin lotion

Insulated lunch bag w/ NYRR logo on it

Guide to downtown NYC

Order form for completion plaque ($89 to $160)

Number bib (my number is lucky 8358) w/ shoe tag, detachable tickets for free t-shirt and for raffle entry, sticker for my checked bag, four safety pins

Other free* stuff:

T-shirt

Muscle Milk (samples – I sweet-talked the guy at the booth and he let me have three bottles instead of just one)

Wearable waterproof container for documents, ID, etc. w/ UV-detecting beads

The checkable bag is a clear plastic drawstring bag. I'll throw a dry t-shirt, a hoodie, some pants, and my keys in it, check it before 7:00 A.M. (the race begins at 7:30), and pick it up near the finish line after the race is over. I'm not sure about the shoe tag. It's supposed to go around my shoelaces, and often they have microchips in them so that people can track their friends'/families' progress online. I'm not sure if this one works that way; I didn't get any information about it although it does appear to have a chip on the back.

The t-shirt isn't just a standard cotton one; it's made of light, breathable mesh and has a pretty cool design on it. It's a great souvenir.


An email from the New York Road Runners has this to say about race coverage: "Beginning at 7:30 a.m. EDT, your friends and family can watch live race coverage on Universal Sports TV or stream the race on UniversalSports.com. You can set your DVR to watch it later, catch the archived on demand footage at UniversalSports.com, or check our website for familiar faces on Flotrack's feeds from the course." I do not expect anyone I know to look for me onscreen. The race is early, there will be a lot of people on the course, and I'm not even sure what Universal Sports TV is. But it's kind of cool anyway.

This website has information about TV coverage, the course, and ways to follow runners you know. I haven't looked into any of it yet, but I plan to today.

I can hardly wait for Sunday morning!

*I say "free," but what I should really say is "prepaid," since I wouldn't have gotten any of this stuff without paying the rather hefty registration fee for the race. Nonetheless, I choose to be an optimist and pretend that I got a bunch of freebies.

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