Aurora's Blog

Before you even got to the actual expo itself, there was a huge room set up for some of the bib pick-ups.

They had a whole ‘nother room for 5k and Goofy pick-ups.

There was also a place in there where you could listen to speakers and panels.

The nutritionist for the Orlando Magic was talking as I came in. I listened for a bit, ’cause she was pretty funny and interesting.

After I picked up my t-shirts, I walked to the table beside them to check out the merchandise. I asked if it’s possible to buy extra participant shirts. (These participant shirts are pretty cute and everything I look for in one – long sleeve, tech material, a color other than white.)

I decided I think it’d be pretty cool to have a quilt of all the shirts from races throughout the year, so I’ve been trying to get duplicates of my favorite ones so I still can wear them around.

The man at the merch table said in the years he’d worked there I was the first one to ask if extra participant shirts, and they didn’t sell them. I said it was too bad. When he asked why I wanted one, I said 52 half marathons quilt, blah blah blah.

He asked me to hold on a moment, and sure enough he came back with an extra set of shirts (all 3 – half, marathon, Goofy), and just let me have them. That is Disney magic, right there!

From there, I ran into the runDisney booth, which was very crowded every time I passed it. It looks like a lot of people are getting in on registration for the Dumbo Double Down before it opens to the general public later this month.

When I stopped by the Clif booth, I told the guy behind the Shot Bloks that I loved them and I was looking forward to my 52nd half marathon of 52 half marathons in 52 weeks on Saturday. He said he thought that was really impressive, so he handed me a handful of Shot Bloks. Then he said, “Clif likes to do a little something special when we hear inspirational stories. Hold on.

He then went to some back table, came back, and handed me a $100 gift card to Road Runner Sports! It says “Run more, smile more.” And it comes in a little sleeve that says, “Endorphins, PR, friendship, solace, adventure – whatever your motivation for running, and wherever you go, we support you. running requires gear. Here’s $100 toward your effort. Run with it! Your fans at Clif Bar.

Love it! Amazing.

Basically, I’m feeling kind of like a princess here. It’s already starting out to be an amazing weekend.

I also passed by Team Serious Fun‘s booth.

I had met Brian – the really fun booth guy who looks like he stepped out of a Disney Channel show (which I 100% mean as a compliment) – in Las Vegas. He totally remembered me before I even said a word! I couldn’t believe it, but it keeps well with the theme of “I’m feeling very special this weekend.” 🙂

Brian is wonderful at his job. Some people seem to be naturally good at getting people excited about things, and he is one of them. I guess he’s kind of like a natural salesperson. (I don’t know why I keep saying things about him that I totally mean as compliments but that I think can be construed as compliments or non-compliments…) the point is, I’m jealous and wish I was as good at getting people excited about an idea as he is.

I also happened to see Darris Blackford (race director of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Half Marathon). He was lovely as always. He asked what my strategy was for Goofy. I said very, very slow the first day (pretty much at the time limit) to save myself for Sunday.

He added that most importantly, I can’t forget to eat. He said sometimes people don’t remember to eat enough on Saturday and run out of energy on Sunday halfway through the run.

I also listened to a talk about the course and spectator viewing. The Disney race director and team seemed very cool. The course seems great. Let’s do this thing!