The JetBlue Long Beach Marathon Expo on the Friday before the race is my annual tradition as this is my 13th year running an event at Long Beach. This year, I got to go with my good friend, Erica, who was running the 5k.
The Health & Fitness Expo was held at the Long Beach Convention Center.
It was very well organized. I got my bibs easily. I signed up Wayne for the bike tour. His work schedule was uncertain so it was last minute but there weren’t any problems!
I picked up shirts.
Beach Bum Club! I’m honored to be a Beach Bum! If you run the half or full, 3 years consecutively, you’re part of the Beach Bum Club. Beach Bums get a shirt or hoodie (6th year) and entrance into the Shock Top beer garden.
I got my shirt! I missed one year when I ran Chicago, otherwise I would’ve had 14 consecutive years running Long Beach. 13 is pretty good though, right? It means I love this event!
Erica and I checked out all of the booths at the expo. The expo isn’t too big nor too small. We checked our races and running goodies.
I got BICBands and Honey Stinger chews. I needed to stock up on the chews because I go through them fast on the trails. Erica loved the Honey Stinger waffle which she had never tried!
I hope to fly to the finish on Sunday at the half!
After the expo, I changed and cleaned up and headed to the Hyatt Regency for the VIP Reception. I was so lucky to be invited to attend as an ambassador for this race! The reception was held outdoors this year and it was lovely outside. I had wine, cheese and crackers and sushi.
I got to hang out with my fellow ambassadors and the Run Racing crew, Daryl and Scot, who take such good care of us as ambassadors. We learned that the ambassadors brought in just under 2,000 registrations and more than half were runners who had never run Long Beach before. Awesome!
The best part was chatting with Legacy runners. 32 years! Wow. Steve Harvey (the kisser) is a trail race director. I just ran his Saddleback Mountain Goat Half and was excited to see him and his wife, Annie.
I loved representing the JetBlue Long Beach Marathon again. I ran my first marathon here and I love all of the festivities all weekend long. After the VIP Reception, I went to my running club’s annual Membership Appreciation Party. I didn’t get to enjoy the award ceremony but helped clean up and was able to chat with some of the ARECers. It was a busy, busy, busy day but it’s the start of one of my favorite weekends in the year! Good luck to all of the runners this weekend!
Your path, your pace, Tam