When the Gasparilla folks say “Are You Ready To Run For The Booty?”, they are not kidding! Look at the swag I took away from the expo today! And that is sans all the brochures and pamphlets, since they did a virtual race bag this year!
Since I am running all four races, I got 3 different race shirts (the 5k and 15k share a shirt), and a jacket for finishing the challenge – You can bet I will not be wearing that until Sunday though 
The expo was pretty packed, and I felt like I was running into people every few steps I took! A big shout out to one of my first readers, Melissa, who is running the Gasparilla 5k for the first time! Good Luck!!
As usual, packet pick up was a breeze. They separated the space where you pick up your number from where you actually get your shirt, which makes the line go by much quicker.
And if you are looking to pick up someone else’s race number, you can do that too! No problem! Just look up their number online, print out this sheet, and present it at the packet pick-up. Easy enough to me! Meghann and I both had to pick up numbers for people, and it was a breeze! She is running the half marathon with her sister Kelly, and this time, she is going to be the pacer! Their goal is to run a 1:50 half, and I know Meghann can help Kelly reach that goal time!
Gasparilla always does a great job with having a large amount of vendors at the expo. The Sports Authority/Nike Booth was stocked up with all of the latest and greatest GRW gear, but with a semi steap price tag, we stayed away from those goodies!
I think the booth that Meghann and I were most excited about was all of the free samples! We stood in a pretty long line that was continuously moving, and went from table to table with all kinds of yummy food!
The last table was gelato samples, so the wait was completely worth the wait – at least Meghann and I thought so!! Publix was giving out some cute magnet/picture combos too. If this is your first Gasparilla, or you are looking for a fun fridge magnet, pick one of these up and flaunt your accomplishment! The 13.1 oval pops out, so you have 2 magnets – one that doubles as a picture frame 
There were also so many other running vendors that came out to the Tampa area to flaunt their goodies! The One More Mile peeps had some really fun arm warmers for sale – too bad it is going to be 80 degrees tomorrow, or I may have bought them
And the ladies from Raw Threads have some truly adorable workout shirts! Check out this one Knight Fans!!
I can’t wait to start off the Michelob Ultra Challenge tomorrow, with the 15k at 7am, and the 5k at 9am! Wish me luck!
Gasparilla 2012 here I come!
You’re really making me wish I had signed up for the 15k after all!
Good luck tomorrow!! I’m running my first race on Sunday (the 8K) and I’m so excited to check out the Expo tomorrow morning. Thanks for the tips!
Definitely! I have never run an 8k before, so I am excited to run a new distance!
Good luck this weekend! I’m doing the Beck’s Light Challenge and hope I will survive this weekend!
Oh, and is your finisher’s jacket grey? The Beck’s Light one is BRIGHT NEON yellow…a bit obnoxious but I’ll still wear it nevertheless!
Nice Katy! Yea, ours is grey. Not the most fun of colors, but hey – its a great jacket!
Haha “liquid awesome” – looks like some booty worth running for! Good luck in your races this weekend
Thanks Meredith! I just loved those arm warmers – cracked me up!
Gasparilla is one of the races on my bucket list! Have fun!
It is definitely worth coming down for
Those race goodies are incredible! I think race expos are a much bigger deal in the US than they are in Aus, we normally have just a couple stands selling the same old stuff.
I’m hopefully doing the Bolder Boulder in May and I’m really excited about being able to visit the expo!
I keep thinking of the races you’re talking about as Sarsaparilla (aka root beer)…
Ya, they definitely do a great job with the race stuff!! I want to do the Bolder Boulder one year for sure! It looks like a really good race!