FMM - Houston Marathon Expo

 

After the first year we ran Houston, we learned our lesson about getting to the expo early before everything sells out, so Jeff and I, along with Cary and Diane, drove in on Friday morning and made such good time that as we were walking toward the expo we suddenly had to stop - there was a line, as the doors weren't open yet!  I can't believe we managed to arrive that early, but having two extra navigators to get through the maze of Houston freeways helped immensely:

Long line, but it moved fast once the doors opened, as the expo is huge.

We headed right over to the Sketchers booth, to check out the official race merchandise.  They still don't have nearly as much half marathon stuff as they do for the full, but I managed to find a couple things that needed to come home with me:

Houston skyline shirt, plus some freebie buttons and a dogtag that I'm not sure what I'll do with.  Glad I bought the shirt on Friday, because when Andi came to the expo on Saturday afternoon, they had a grand total of four of this design remaining.  They sell out so fast!

I also bought the blue hat at that booth, and the Run Happy visor at another booth.

I saw this shirt at the Fleet Feet booth from across the floor and made it my mission to get around a bunch of people to see if it said what I thought it said.  It did, I quickly tried it on over what I was wearing to make sure it fit, Jeff snapped a picture, and boom - got in that long line behind me to make my purchase!  This shirt describes me and my running perfectly.

Fun with 13.1 part 1

I feel like an official runner whenever my name is on a sign like this!

 

I came across the BFF Buffer booth, where I met the owner, Josh, in person - I've been emailing with him for nearly two years now.  I had fun talking with him, and ended up helping out a woman who'd come to the booth; pretty sure she ended up purchasing two of them (one for her, one for her daughter).  I swear, these things pretty much sell themselves once you try them.  Anyway, it was entertaining.

In the spirit of the city of Houston embracing their graffiti art downtown, there was a huge "wall" set up just for runners to leave their mark - so naturally, we had to tag it:

 

Cary was our official artist

RRC, represent!

Later on, Karen texted me this picture - Jimmymeow left his signature near our spot, LOL!

Fun with 13.1, part 2

Diane was lucky enough to be at the expo on Saturday when Meb was there...as she was wearing two layers, she managed to do a strip job while in line so she could have him sign her Renegade t-shirt!  

Fun with 13.1, part 3

Because we were staying at the Hilton, it was an easy walk across the skybridge from the hotel to the expo, so we ended up going there several times.  It was entertaining to wander around and people watch, as well as check out the merchandise, although we didn't end up buying very much.  I feel like there might not have been as many vendors as last year, but it was still a good expo, and as always with Houston, packet pickup was a breeze.  This was a good experience, from start to finish.

Have a great weekend!