I flew in to Baltimore on Friday and took the shuttle to the Westin hotel in DC where the Tennessee Team in Training runners were staying. (While my college friends were also running this race, I wanted to stay with TNT to really get the entire TNT experience.) The race was on Sunday, so flying in on Friday was great because it gave me an extra day to see my parents, who recently moved back into their house after the fire last June. I checked in to the hotel, dropped off my bags the room, and immediately headed out to my parent's house in Northern Virginia. It was awesome to see my parents back in their home and it looks fantastic.
First thing Saturday morning, I went back to DC to meet up with the Knoxville chapter of TNT (I was the only Nashville TNTer, and the Knoxville chapter really adopted me as their own. Thanks, ladies!) to head down to the Nike "expotique." Yes, that's right - an "expotique." Not an expo, which is what most races have, but an "expotique." Now - I have to have a little sidebar here. Most women-only races make me want to gag a little. They're all pink, have glitter on the bibs and have hearts and flowers on the race shirts - very girly-girl. Now don't get me wrong, I like mani-pedis, flowers and other "girly" things, AND I've actually worn a feather boa at a race before, but I don't necessarily want all of that stuff shoved down my throat at a race. But, while the Nike race definitely caters to women - they've changed things enough to not be offensive to people who don't want things too frilly. Example - their primary color scheme was green, not pink. I can get into green.
So anyway, we head down to the expotique to pick up our bibs and race packets. Rather than being in a convention center, Nike set up giant tents along the Georgetown waterfront. It was really something. Nike really had their stuff together. I don't know where they got all of their volunteers, but they were EVERYWHERE. And they were all decked out in Nike from head to toe. It was pretty impressive.
The packet pickup tent.
As you walked through the tent, you saw really long row of tables with volunteers checking people in. Rather than checking in by bib number like most races, everyone stood in a single-file line. When a volunteer was available, they held up a sign.
This nice lady checked me in. I didn't even ask her to pose.
Check-in went very smoothly. You got your bib, your gear bag and a wristband with your assigned corral on it. The volunteer made it very clear that I was to wear my wristband on race day or else I wouldn't be allowed in my corral. Remember that.
After we were all checked in, we headed over to the next tent - the actual expotique.
Hello Nike!
Team in Training is taking over DC, y'all!
So far - my mind was being blown. I know Nike it a crazy, huge company, but they really out did themselves. This was unlike any expo I'd ever been to. First off, they had a wall of flat screen TVs at the entrance. They also had a map of the race course illuminated on different wall. And, of course, a lot of shoes.
This is not your ordinary expo.
The race route.
Shoes under lock and key.
Ever seen a Tiffany blue Nike? These are made especially for this race series.
The expotique is also unique in that they only have race sponsors as vendors. Well, "vendor" isn't exactly the correct word. The only "vendor" that could actually sell anything was Nike. Everyone else (Luna Bar, Clif, Nuun, Bare Minerals and Paul Mitchell) could only give out samples. Which is kind of neat, because who doesn't like free stuff? But if you, like me, were planning on buying any last minute items for the race - you were out of luck.
I'd also never been to an expo where you could get a "make-under," courtesy of Bare Minerals, or a new hair style by Paul Mitchell. While normally, these two things could want to make me hurl at a race expo because they were too girly, I was OK with them here. Probably because I use Bare Minerals and I can use all of the free samples I can get.
Styling sessions I can live with - it's the "Be Fabulous" that makes me want to hurl.
One of my favorite parts of the expo was the signing wall. This trend has become pretty popular at races recently. This signing wall was HUGE. I guess for 15,000 people, it would have to be. (Sidebar - what do they do with these walls after the race? Do they recycle them? Must find out.)
One VERY small section of the wall.
GO TEAM!
A shout out to my sorority (no, I didn't write this).
After spending about an hour at the expotique, we headed over to Nike Georgetown, which is where all of the race swag was being sold. It was about a five block walk. Not bad in nice weather. The TNT ladies had hinted there was something cool at the store, and there was. Check this out.
That's right - a GIANT wall of names.
It's ME!
Once we got inside the store, it was CRAZY packed, but pretty organized. I spent way too much money on race swag, which is something I generally don't do. Nike is very crafty in that they don't give you a race shirt when you get your bib. You get it AFTER the race. So a lot of people think "oh - I need to buy a race shirt because I don't get one with registration." See - crafty. I, however, knew that we got finishers shirts. I just wanted more swag. I think it's genetic with runners. We LOVE our race swag.
Next post - the TNT dinner!!
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