I was invited to attend The Running Event as part of being a BibRave Pro. (Ambassador) check out BibRave.com to find and write race reviews.
I was gifted some awesome swag and some of my travel expenses were reimbursed. As always, all opinions are my own!
I am still in shock about the whole experience, and I'm hoping I don't skip around or leave anything out. Be patient with me, y'all. It was such an honor to even be invited, and the whole adventure seems a little surreal!
Let me start at the beginning. The Running Event is an expo for companies that make running gear to show off their amazing products to folks in the Running Biz. They hosted presentations by amazing athletes like Mirna Valerio as well. Mere mortals such as I are not usually invited to this event, but this year they decided to have 20 BibRave Pros attend the expo on its last day.
Eleven of the companies at the expo contributed to an amazingly generous swag bag for each of us!
Wait!
I'm getting ahead of myself.
Patience, y'all.
My adventure began with 2 flights. One took me from Charlotte to Chicago. The next brought me from Chicago to Austin. I know. That's a lot. It was the cheapest way to get to Austin for a whirlwind, 2 day trip.
My friend Meridith, who blogs at Scootadoot, arrived shortly before me and may have sent me a creeper text from the gate. I was so happy to see her, and she had Chris with her, and Mark had flown in on my second flight. Little did we know that we would be instant besties and have so much fun together!
We shared an Uber to the hotel that Meridith and I would be staying at, dropped off our stuff, and Chris stowed his bags there as well, and we headed over to the host hotel where Mark was staying. We explored a bit and then headed out for lunch. Soon, we were joined by most of the other BibRave Pros!
After lunch, we decided to explore Austin a little. We didn't have to be at the hotel until around 5:30ish, so we headed out to find some fun photo opps....
Photo cred goes to Casey's wife, Lisa!
And some yummy donuts from Voodoo Donuts.....
Soon, though, it was time to get dressed for the first event of the adventure... with Zwift!
Our first event was a Zwift running extravaganza. Four Pros were picked to be the chosen ones (please tell me that you also pictured Harry Potter). They had similar paces and could compete in pairs against each other, using the Zwift app. Zwift set up treadmills and the rest of us got to be the cheering squad.
There were other BibRave Pros all around the country, also running along with us. It was seriously fun, and we may have been encouraging the chosen ones to beat the pros running at home.
We also got some serious swag that night. I will be writing about all of the products in future blogs, including the foot pod for the Zwift App. For now, I will leave you with some pics...
After we all met up for dinner, we were invited to a party with Brooks Running. Holy heck, y'all, what a crazy night! We were getting teasers that Des Linden might be there, so of course we were all fangirling. Meridith and I were saying goodbye to our Pro Family when they started pointing and smiling, and there was Des.
She was such a good sport!
We headed back to our room after that, because Friday was going to be as crazy as Thursday was!
Friday began with a Fun Run that I dubbed the BibRave Austin Takeover. There was so much glorious orange.
The run was just under 3 miles, and took us past the Capital Building.
We met back at the host hotel for a quick brekky before changing for the Running Event.
Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it all again. I did say whirlwind, didn't I? Quick wash and change and off to the Convention Center for the expo. Some wiser Pros used public transportation...
We met up and split into two groups to conquer the Running Event Expo. We had 15 minutes with each of the companies that gave us their products to test out.
I think this was one of my favorite parts, because we got to hear about the companies, and everyone was so passionate!
We started with Arcanum, and their amazing Activated Hemp products. Again, I will be writing about all of the products in depth in future posts.
Next up was Handful Bras. They were so passionate about their company and what they do for Breast Cancer patients, I could have listened to them all day! And that sweet camo hat she is wearing in the pic? We all got one!
Next stop, Vuori clothing. This guy made an amazing activewear line that transitions easily from the gym to the mall. Everything was so cute, and so comfy!
Addaday has an amazing line of massage products for every conceivable ache and pain, and now they are coming out with a delicious tea from Taiwan. We got to try some and they gave us samples, so look for that in my review!
We met with 11 companies total, but I took some videos for Instagram at many of them, and that doesn't translate well on the blog! Let me shout out to some of them now!
Incrediwear!
Altra!
Brooks!
CEP, who introduced me to some amazing sleeves for plantar fasciitis. I bought them online while I waited for a flight and I ran in them today. What a game changer!
Vooray hooked us up with a backpack and a fanny pack, and their new line is ah-mazing! So cute and they thought of all the pockets you might need!
Zwift, of course!
And Nuun!
After we met with everyone, we had free time to check out the expo. I started by hunting down Mirna, who was finishing up her talk about trail running at the same time I was finishing up with the expo.
We visited a few companies that interested us, and one that scared me...
My hubs swears by this stuff but pickles are my enemy!
We stopped by Boco Gear, because I worship their hats....
And then we had to go. We all had flights to catch back home. We did score some additional swag...
I miss all of my BibRave Family already, especially this girl...
I already have next year marked off on my calendar. Power of positive thinking, y'all.
Be on the lookout for some seriously awesome product reviews this month!
I was gifted some awesome swag and some of my travel expenses were reimbursed. As always, all opinions are my own!
I am still in shock about the whole experience, and I'm hoping I don't skip around or leave anything out. Be patient with me, y'all. It was such an honor to even be invited, and the whole adventure seems a little surreal!
Let me start at the beginning. The Running Event is an expo for companies that make running gear to show off their amazing products to folks in the Running Biz. They hosted presentations by amazing athletes like Mirna Valerio as well. Mere mortals such as I are not usually invited to this event, but this year they decided to have 20 BibRave Pros attend the expo on its last day.
Eleven of the companies at the expo contributed to an amazingly generous swag bag for each of us!
Wait!
I'm getting ahead of myself.
Patience, y'all.
My adventure began with 2 flights. One took me from Charlotte to Chicago. The next brought me from Chicago to Austin. I know. That's a lot. It was the cheapest way to get to Austin for a whirlwind, 2 day trip.
My friend Meridith, who blogs at Scootadoot, arrived shortly before me and may have sent me a creeper text from the gate. I was so happy to see her, and she had Chris with her, and Mark had flown in on my second flight. Little did we know that we would be instant besties and have so much fun together!
We shared an Uber to the hotel that Meridith and I would be staying at, dropped off our stuff, and Chris stowed his bags there as well, and we headed over to the host hotel where Mark was staying. We explored a bit and then headed out for lunch. Soon, we were joined by most of the other BibRave Pros!
After lunch, we decided to explore Austin a little. We didn't have to be at the hotel until around 5:30ish, so we headed out to find some fun photo opps....
Photo cred goes to Casey's wife, Lisa!
And some yummy donuts from Voodoo Donuts.....
Soon, though, it was time to get dressed for the first event of the adventure... with Zwift!
Our first event was a Zwift running extravaganza. Four Pros were picked to be the chosen ones (please tell me that you also pictured Harry Potter). They had similar paces and could compete in pairs against each other, using the Zwift app. Zwift set up treadmills and the rest of us got to be the cheering squad.
There were other BibRave Pros all around the country, also running along with us. It was seriously fun, and we may have been encouraging the chosen ones to beat the pros running at home.
We also got some serious swag that night. I will be writing about all of the products in future blogs, including the foot pod for the Zwift App. For now, I will leave you with some pics...
After we all met up for dinner, we were invited to a party with Brooks Running. Holy heck, y'all, what a crazy night! We were getting teasers that Des Linden might be there, so of course we were all fangirling. Meridith and I were saying goodbye to our Pro Family when they started pointing and smiling, and there was Des.
She was such a good sport!
We headed back to our room after that, because Friday was going to be as crazy as Thursday was!
Friday began with a Fun Run that I dubbed the BibRave Austin Takeover. There was so much glorious orange.
 |
| photo cred: Larry |
The run was just under 3 miles, and took us past the Capital Building.
 |
| photo cred: Larry |
We met back at the host hotel for a quick brekky before changing for the Running Event.
 |
| photo cred: Larry |
 |
| photo cred: Larry |
Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it all again. I did say whirlwind, didn't I? Quick wash and change and off to the Convention Center for the expo. Some wiser Pros used public transportation...
We met up and split into two groups to conquer the Running Event Expo. We had 15 minutes with each of the companies that gave us their products to test out.
I think this was one of my favorite parts, because we got to hear about the companies, and everyone was so passionate!
We started with Arcanum, and their amazing Activated Hemp products. Again, I will be writing about all of the products in depth in future posts.
Next up was Handful Bras. They were so passionate about their company and what they do for Breast Cancer patients, I could have listened to them all day! And that sweet camo hat she is wearing in the pic? We all got one!
Next stop, Vuori clothing. This guy made an amazing activewear line that transitions easily from the gym to the mall. Everything was so cute, and so comfy!
Addaday has an amazing line of massage products for every conceivable ache and pain, and now they are coming out with a delicious tea from Taiwan. We got to try some and they gave us samples, so look for that in my review!
We met with 11 companies total, but I took some videos for Instagram at many of them, and that doesn't translate well on the blog! Let me shout out to some of them now!
Incrediwear!
Altra!
Brooks!
CEP, who introduced me to some amazing sleeves for plantar fasciitis. I bought them online while I waited for a flight and I ran in them today. What a game changer!
Vooray hooked us up with a backpack and a fanny pack, and their new line is ah-mazing! So cute and they thought of all the pockets you might need!
Zwift, of course!
And Nuun!
After we met with everyone, we had free time to check out the expo. I started by hunting down Mirna, who was finishing up her talk about trail running at the same time I was finishing up with the expo.
We visited a few companies that interested us, and one that scared me...
My hubs swears by this stuff but pickles are my enemy!
We stopped by Boco Gear, because I worship their hats....
And then we had to go. We all had flights to catch back home. We did score some additional swag...
I miss all of my BibRave Family already, especially this girl...
I already have next year marked off on my calendar. Power of positive thinking, y'all.
Be on the lookout for some seriously awesome product reviews this month!
Oh man, I miss you so much too! I'm so, so glad that we got to experience this together. I still keep laughing when I think about Chris' reaction to dropping his doughnut. So much fun in such a short amount of time. WE SHOULD DO THIS AGAIN!
ReplyDeleteI was just telling that story about Chris' donut tragedy today lol we MUST do this again!
DeleteIt was so nice to meet you in person!! Even if TRE doesn't happen again next year for us (which it will), you all should come back down to Austin anyway! We'll make our own TRE!
ReplyDeleteIt was so great meeting you! I definitely wanna come back, I didn't see nearly enough of Austin this time!
Delete