San Diego Tri Expo

Ahi and I drove to meet Tri Buddha at the Inagural San Diego Tri Expo. We got there over two hours before the tents were slated to open.  Both Tri Buddha and myself took the day off from work.  Why, you may ask did we go to all this trouble?  The promise of free stuff, of course!  There was purportedly $100 worth of schwag in a bag for the first 100 in line.  There were probably about 30 people in front of us.  When we got there, we happened to get right behind two of our fellow Tri Club members. One of them, who will remain nameless, made the mistake, I mean, was kind enough, to let another nameless Tri Club member cut in line behind us and then the number kept increasing, until we had an angry mob behind us.  Below is a video of an interview with the additions to our "little" tribe in line.  You will notice that I conspicuously chose to keep my back to the camera.  I didn't want any documented association...I'm sure that many of the angry mob saw this video and I'm sure that we will meet them again at a local triathlon...It got progressively uglier when a couple of other women came up to greet the group behind me. It escalated further when some unknown women cut behind me because they felt indignant at our cutting friends.  After all of this hostility...the schwag was not even worth it!!  We got a free drawstring sack that had tons of sponsor logos on it, a tech shirt with Kaiser Permanente (ick) across the front and back, socks (didn't fit me), a Mission Products spray sunscreen or anti-friction lotion, an Inside Triathlon Calendar (put a hole in my sack & I already have one), and an old Triathlete Magazine (I have a subscription). 

The expo was medium sized compared to the race expos I've been to.  Larger than the La Jolla Half Marathon expo, but smaller than the Long Beach Marathon expo, etc. It was really dark in the tent, which didn't help when vendors had small canopies over their merchandise. Many of the vendors did have free samples. Right away, Ahi got a really nice hat for free and it wasn't even a promo item!  He can charm the...well you know.  Other free items we got were: Inside Triathlon magazines, TriSwim samples, Foggle samples (love these!), HooHa Ride Glide samples, tons of brand decals, water bottle, full size sunscreen, lip balm, FRS chews & drinks, and assorted energy bars.  I bought CEP Compression Socks for Ahi, pink ones for myself.  I also bought a green plaid Running Skirts athletic skirt for Shamrock Marathon. I don't know which twin it was, but she was super nice. (I bought a pink plaid skirt the next weekend at the Surf City Marathon Expo from the other twin.) They had a great sale on TYR gear, but I didn't see a dressing tent and a good deal doesn't matter if it doesn't fit.

I think that the three of us were disappointed with the expo.  We thought that it would be bigger. The deals did not make "wants" affordable enough to justify them as "needs."  I wish that the professional athletes would have had their seminars in an open area at the end of the product tent, much like a "course talk" or a marathon expo, somewhere more visible than in a conference room away from the main tent.

I still had a fun day despite an inhospitable start. You know I love free stuff and there was enough to keep me busy filling my bag within a bag (inside joke).  I really appreciate Competitor hosting this event (and all they do for San Diego and triathlon in general), all the professional athletes that offered their time for clinics, and all the exhibitors that contributed free stuff. :D