While you are reading this I have already ran the Victoria Half Marathon. Stay tuned for my race recap tomorrow, but here is a little look inside the race expo held at the Victoria Conference Centre.
The race has four events, and for the last almost four years I believe I have ran this race. I enjoy the course (except for the end, but I'll get to that tomorrow) as it is so scenic and pretty, and the crowds are always great. The expo is a great way to get energized and motivated for the race.
The expo is always on the smaller side - they changed the layout this year so the expo was more navigation friendly rather than being one big loop of vendors. There were all kinds of local sports companies, as well as stores such as Frontrunners, New Balance, and The Running Room there representing. Additionally, there were a few fresh juice and supplement companies there as well, so you could load up on post-race fuel and energy gels.
Unfortunately, I don't usually see anything that catches my eye at this expo. Compared to some other races out there I feel like you are paying a higher registration fee just because it's the Victoria Marathon, and not really getting a lot of bang for your buck. Example: the Lululemon SeaWheeze had SO MUCH to offer and was the same price as this run. Nevertheless, there were at least some free samples at the expo and also discounted prices on shirts from the previous years, if you were in the market for some new running tops. But I digress.
With that said, it didn't take us too much time to mosey through the expo. We stopped at a few booths, but like I said before, there was nothing really that caught my eye or made me want to spend more time there. Perhaps if I wanted to buy some new shoes or new running gear than I would've spent more time looking at the gear offerings, but I mostly wanted to get in and out and carry on with the day. Plus, the weather was absolutely miserable on the drive into Victoria so I didn't want to get stuck in the pouring rain on the Malahat when it got dark - nooo thank you!
Also, funny story: I thought I had registered for this race MONTHS ago. So, one day in September I randomly thought I better confirm my registration online. It turns out I didn't register, and there were only four spots in the the half marathon left. Oh, well then. So, I got myself registered and of course there were only men's XL shirts left. Just my luck! That'll teach me to get on it early - and thank goodness there were at least a few spots left when I finally did check. Oopsies.
See you again tomorrow for the race recap! Wishing all my fellow Canadians a Happy Thanksgiving weekend - I'm off to have an extra serving of stuffing.
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