I show up at Disney’s Coronado Springs resort to a line of about 80 people waiting to check in. Not terribly promising, I thought. Turns out, there are tons of Team in Training people at this resort (by “tons” I mean “literally everywhere you look”) so I had some nice people from South Carolina to chat with and pass the time. Once checked in – with no room assignment, because it was not ready yet – I boarded a bus to the expo.
The bib pick up was easy-peasy with no wait at all. After picking up the bib, with the timing chip attached, I walked through the test pad to make sure the chip is working. It is. You can track me online. Next I headed to the Josten Center for the actual expo and goody bag pickup. I’ll start with the goody bag: in a word, pathetic. There is a
long sleeve shirt, some Clif chews and some flyers. That’s it. No disposable camera, as in past years, no glide sticks, nothing.
The rest of the expo was filled with vendors selling everything from “I survived 13.1” T-shirts (which I will undoubtedly purchase afterI actually survive the race) to running shoes, lights for running at night and more. The only samples to be had were of clearly-leftover-from-the-holidays pumpkin flavor Cascadian Farm granola bars and help-even-the-most-constipated Lara Bars (a cashew and date mashed into a bar? Gross.) I was disappointed in the lack of freebies. I guess times are tough all around.
The expo did have a number of booths with people from other marathons offering deals ($10 off! Free gift with registration!) if you sign up for their marathons now. I did not sign up for anything else just yet. I am holding out for ING NYC 2011.
Coming up this evening: Team in Training pasta dinner (conveniently located at my hotel), 2:30 AM wake up for the 3:45 AM bus to start the half marathon at approximately 6:00 AM – I am in Corral E, that is a lot of waiting around in 40 degree weather with throwaway gloves. Saturday night I hope to have a lovely meal at Jiko in the Animal Kingdom Lodge with FKGuy, whose arms will undoubtedly be exhausted from hoisting the Lululemon “Go Stephanie!” sign. Sunday will be spent at the World of Wizarding at Universal Studios pretending I am Harry Potter. Monday I will be touring the brand new, just arrived Disney ship, the Dream. So, next week I will have a lot to recap, but look for it all starting on Wednesday.
Wish me luck – not so much in finishing the race, as I am trained for that, but in staying awake after the 2:30 AM wake up.
