Bank of America Chicago Marathon Expo Recap

One of the larger expos I’ve attended, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon Expo was, in short, a whopper. Such a whopper, in fact, that it’s taken me a long while to get all the info processed and sorted. but for you, readers dear, twas a worthwhile endeavor. The usual shoe and apparel companies were on hand, certainly, but there were plenty more we don’t see as often I wanted to cover. Check out some of the folks I met while there:

• Fargo Marathon: “How Far Will You Go?” is their slogan, and I have to tell you, they were super nice people. I have a goal to run a marathon in all fifty states, and North Dakota might be sooner rather than later on that checklist. Marathon, Half-Marathon, 2- and 4-person Marathon Relay, 5k and 1 mile races all available. Rumor has it, the course is one of the most encouraging, as I hear the entire course becomes lined with cheering crowds.

• Sport Hooks by HeavyMedalz: These folks have a great solution to what on earth to do with these medals we collect. Plus, they offer the cool Run The US Map and pins to make off all the races you’ve run.

• Lifespeed Sports race medal display stands: Filed under “why didn’t I think of that?” these custom-made wooden planks can be wither free-standing or wall-mounted and display race medals in an uncluttered, organized manner. And I’m all about organized and uncluttered.

• Go St. Louis Marathon & Family Fitness Weekend: April 18th & 19th, 2009. Through the course of the weekend, St. Louis hosts a 5k run/walk, a children’s fun run, the Mature Mile Walk, Marathon, Half-Marathon and Marathon Relay. All races benefit Backstoppers, an organization providing financial support to spouses and children of police officers, firefighters, EMTs and volunteer responders who have died in the line of duty. And, I do believe the registration fee is reduced if you register before December 31st.

• Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon : With a logo about as great as you’d imagine, and with Marathon, Half-Marathon, Relay, 10k, 5k, and kids’ run options available, register before January 31st for a pretty significant discount. Races benefit Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and a slew of other charities.

• Salute: I chatted with these folks for a while (and later won an iPod Shuffle from their raffle! Thanks, guys!) and learned all about their mission. Salute started in 2003 to help raise awareness and support of issue facing active military personnel, veterans and their families and to provide financial support as needed. I have to admit; I’d not previously considered the financial hardship military families might face. Good organization, nice people. Maybe a good team if you’re considering one of the military marathons, just a thought.

• US Air Force Marathon: September 19th, 2009 in Dayton, Ohio. I’ll admit it. I’ve always thought the badass-itude that would come along with running the series of military marathons would kind of rule. After chatting with the fine people from the USAF Marathon, I’m even more convinced. Cheering crowds are completely encouraging by most all accounts, but an aircraft flyover? Hello. That’s kind of awesome.

• Run To Remember: Race to benefit the National Hospice Foundation. Register for their running team for free and start fundraising. Helping this excellent organization is that easy.

• Maratona di Roma: Mach 22nd, 2009. People, if anyone wants to get a little travel team together, I’m your gal. Imagine! Running around Rome and how cool that would be. Registration is almost half off before November 20th. Marathon Tours has packages that take care of just about everything including entry paperwork, hotel, pre-race dinner, and even waived entry fees if certain conditions are met.

• BioFreeze: Freeze therapy for topical pain relief. I’ll give it a whirl and report back. Anyone every tried?

• Team Asha: I’d not heard of this group before, but can appreciate the work they are doing. Team Asha runner raise awareness and funds to help educate underprivileged children throughout India with grassroots education projects. Similar in structure to Team In Training, Team Asha participants received the benefit of group training support throughout the Chicagoland area.

• Recharge: So this is like most sports drinks, only with no added sugar, no artificial colors, no preservatives, 50% juice and essential electrolytes. I tried the orange flavor and liked the lack of a sugarey aftertaste, and that it’s made by Knudsen’s, whom I like.

• Little Rock Marathon: March 15th, 2009. Clearly having a very fun time at the expo, the ladies representing the Little Rock Marathon were decked out in circle attire, one with in a red jacket with tails and carrying a whip, another covered in “Kiss Me I’m A Runner” temp tattoos. Their medal is pretty serious, too.

• Dublin Marathon: October 26th, 2009. My friend Couch Pat (not a typo; I really call him Couch) ran this race and said it was fantastic. Even without his trusted testimonial, I think it’s a great race, if for no other reason than the sheer level of enthusiasm from the folks at the expo.

• Marathon Hamburg: April 26th, 2009. Again, I’m all about the travel, so I wouldn’t be opposed to making a little travel team for this one. Most of the hills are out of the way early, and I have to admit it would be cool to run in a city founded in 832 of the common era, no?

• Dallas White Rock Lake Marathon: December 14th, 2008. I’ve run around this lake and it’s absolutely gorgeous. The race benefits Scottish Rite Hospital For Children, which makes it even better.

• OneAmerica Mini-500 Festival Marathon: Indianapolis promises a fairly flat course, but the real seller on this event is that opportunity to finish inside the Indy 500 Speedway. Which, I have to admit, would be pretty cool, plus the claim of having run the largest half-marathon in the country.

• AIDS Marathon Training Program: Also similar to Team In Training in structure and training program with the added bonus of guaranteed entry into several awesome races including Amsterdam, Chicago and Honolulu.

• Sport Beans: I haven’t tried them on a run yet, but I can attest to their hangover relief qualities. More soon after a road test.

• Gas Cap: Genius! Has anyone used one? I’d love to hear from you, if so. I tried one out, and I feel confident the cap would carry gels without them flopping around. Great idea. I’m keen to get one and try it out.

• Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathons: I’ve run with this race series before, and it’s pretty cool, I have to say. I learned at the expo that there are special medals for runners who do more than one of their events in a year. Really cool special medals, specifically. So, check out:
  • • P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Arizona: January 18th, 2009. Use onine code “RACEAZ” before January 9th and save $10 on entry.
    • Rock ‘N’ Roll San Diego: May 31st, 2009. This is a great course and a fun time, speaking from experience. Team In Training is all over this race, so they’e a great group with whom to partner if you’re leaning that direction.
    • Rock ‘N’ Roll Seattle: June 27th, 2009. I’m gung-ho to run this one.
    • Nashville Country Music: April 25th, 2009. Talk about a fun race. Sheesh!
    • Rock ‘N’ Roll San Antonio: November 16th, 2008! Yikes, that’s really soon. Well, there’s alwasy next year if we can’t get our butts to San Antone soon enough.
    • Rock ‘N’ Roll Half-Marathon San Jose: October 4th, 2009. Fast and flat and 20-band course. Cool by me!
    • Rock ‘N’ Roll Half-Marathon Virginia Beach: September 6th, 2009. Check out their cool GET FIT Challenge. I’m in if anyone wants to form a team.

• Marato Barcelona: March 1st, 2009. This would just kick ass all over the place. The course covers just about all the major sights to see in the city, so this seems like it would be a really great race.

• PAWS Chicago: I had no idea they even offered a running team option for fundraising. I’m all over this, being the animal-lover that I am; PAWS is a great organization.

• Chevron Houston Marathon: January 17th, 2010. 2009 is sold out already.  Ultimate Guide To Marathons called it the “fastest winter marathon”, “second fastest marathon overall” and the “fourth most crowd-supported marathon”. So, that probably explains why it’s already sold out for ‘09.

• Elations for joint health: A weird raisiny aftertaste, and I’m not wild about a product that requires an askterisk in the product name, but there it is. Wasn’t for me, but might be the Best Thing Ever for you, so I thought I’d give it a mention.

• Cleveland Marathon: May 17th, 2009 and May 16th, 2010. They’re planning ahead nicely. Marathon, Half-Marathon, 10k, Corporate Team 10k, kids’ run and MetroHealth Wheelchair Challenge.

• 26.2 With Donna: You’ve probably read Jeff Galloway make mention of this race. One hundred percent of money raised by the event goes to breast cancer research and care. That’s awesome!

• American Cancer Society Charity Runner Program: Hey, if you’re going to run a particular race anyway, might as well run it for a good cause, right? Right. Hit the website to see if ACS is at an event on your radar, or contact them to see if you can do it anyway.

• Polar: Dear Polar, make your very, very kick-ass watches useable for Mac users. PC users, go nuts.

• Peak Performance: Multi-specialty approach to pain relief, corrective care and wellness care, and some of the nicest people around. The stride and gait analysis alone is worth a visit, if not the fun, upbeat atmosphere of the place.

• Fred’s Team: a marathon program to benefit cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

• Diabetes Action Team: another great training program to benefit diabetes research.

• AT Cure Tour: Do you know anything about ataxia-telangiectasia? I didn’t either, I’d never even heard of it, until I met a parent at the marathon expo who is so passionate about raising awareness about the cause. Read all about the very serious fatal genetic  disease which afflicts children, and learn how to incorporate the cause into your fitness fundraising, by hitting the website.

• 13th Annual Chicago Half-Marathon & 5K: September 13th, 2009. Called one of the top ten half-marathons by Runner’s World, kickass finisher’s medal, great course, 9th largest half-marathon in the US… hello?

• Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis: December 7th, 2008 in Chicago. So what it’ll be super cold? This race is a great course and it benefits one of the largest causes of disability in the US.

• Nuun: Electrolyte replacement, sugar-free, and comes in a small tablet form that you simply drop into water. Hmm… eco-friendly and very delicious. I suggest the kona cola flavor.

• Bermuda Triangle Challenge: January 16-18, 2009. Three races in three days– Invitational Mile on Friday, 10k Run/Walk on Saturday and Bermuda Marathon or Half-Marathon in Sunday. The “survivor” medal is super-cool, and the challenge is limited to 400 entrants. I’m keen to try, for sure. Plus, Bermuda in Janaury..? Um, yes. Marathon Tours takes care of just about everything. Check ‘em out. There are other kick-ass races in their future, too.

• Sistas Shirts: No website yet, but the shirts rule. Home of the “In my mind, I am a Kenyan” t-shirt. Watch for ‘em.

• Jack’s Fund: Both a small race in Chicagoland and a marathon team all over, this great organization rases money and awareness to benefit the Jack H. Marston II Melanoma Fund.

• Semi-Marathon De Paris: March 8, 2009. Paris, people. That’s reason enough.

• Marathon de Paris: April 5, 2009. See above, then add that this race starts on the Champs-Elysees.

• Austin Marathon: February 15th, 2009. Ah, memories. If you’ve never been, check it out. Pretty, semi-hilly course, gorgeous, natural city that is live-music crazy.

• Team World Vision: This is a great organization, truly. TWV raises funds for bicycles that provide access to health care, education and economic opportunities for children, adults and entire communities in Africa through partnership with World Bicycle Relief. Next event: Solvang Century and Half-Century, March 14th, 2009.

• Reykjavik Marathon, Half-Marathon & 10K: August 22, 2009. So what if we can hardly pronounce the name of the city three times fast? How often do you get to say you ran a race in Iceland? That’s what I thought.

• Great Wall Marathon: May 16th, 2009. This is my dream race. Who wants to run it with me?

• Kenya Safaricom: June 27th, 2009. Marathon + safari animals = badass.

• Children’s Memorial Marathon Team: As wonderful as it sounds.

• Imerman Angels/Imerman Active: Imerman Angels is an organization which connects a person undergoing cancer treatment with a person who has survived the same type of cancer, or past and present caregivers, for unique personal support that is always free. Imerman Active is an event team to raise funds for the organization.

• Cabo Half-Marathon: January 25th, 2009 in Cabo San Lucas. I think the event name speaks for itself.

• Team Care: Running team to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Association. Contact Kim Oakley for more info at kim (dot) oakley (at) alz (dot) org.

• Sao Paulo International Half Marathon Corpore: April 5th, 2009. If you can’t make it to the Parisian Marathon in the same day, perhaps this one instead. The day prior, Sao Paulo hosts the major Latin American sports and running expo fair. So there’s that, too.

• Larabar: Gluten-free, kosher vegan, soy-free, dairy-free, no added sugar, raw, non-GMO. People, this might be the bar to please just about everyone. Being the fan of all things spicy that I am, I’m partial to the Cocoa Mole, personally.

• Livestrong/Lance Armstrong Foundation: We’ve all seen the little yellow bracelets. But have you read the manifesto?

• Team In Training was at the expo, of course. I have nothing but love TnT and strongly encourage everyone to consider running, cycling or walking just one event for this organization. I went to my first informational meeting injured and out of practice and firmly believe I ran my first marathon, about five months later, due only to Team in Traning and willpower. (Ok, and maybe stubborness.)

Aaaand, there you have it. I hit the tables (not all by any means, but most) and chatted up vendors and jotted notes all afternoon, all so I could bring it here to you, readers dear. Got a race expo coming soon to your area? Drop me a note and we’ll talk about guest post expo coverage. Until then, fight the bonk, bonkfighters!