Where Did the Good Expo's Go?

Each year the Expo's and goodie bags get more disappointing.  I remember when a goodie bag was full of new products, things to try and you were excited to dump out and see what you received.  Post race there was food, product and more free stuff.  Now in a goodie bag you get…nada.  Expo…disappointing.

I went to the Phoenix PF Changs RnR marathon expo and was terribly disappointed.  When the race first showed up in Phoenix the expo had car vendors like Saturn and Nissan.  Southwest was there one year and I got a cool free pull backpack bag (which I still use today).  PF Changs had an awesome booth.  So many shoe companies with show discounts and of course all the muscle gels, sport drinks and muscle massagers.  There were so many vendors and lots of free stuff, back then.

Compare this to Europe's races and they get all kinds of free stuff including bottles of wine.  I know where my next race needs to be.

I believe the decrease of goodies is due to higher booth rentals for the vendors (so the race can make more money), and the increase of races.  There are so many races the vendors can't possibly participate in all of the races.  However, with PF Changs, it is the largest Arizona race with people flying in from out of town.

Not to be a complete negative naysayer, there were two things I really enjoyed at the expo.  PF Changs had samples of their sangria and Ryan Hall was speaking when I was there.  Hearing any elite marathoner is motivational and Ryan Hall was no exception.

p.s. I signed up for the race but with recent injuries and not trained I decided not to run the race but I had to get my t-shirt and check out the expo anyways.

Happy Running!