Recently we were discussing on Facebook our favourite and least favourite goodies from races, such as medals, tee-shirts and goody bags - aka race swag. Some races go all out and seems like half your entry fee is for the filling of the goody bag, whilst others you might be lucky to get a cup of water. Of course, it's directly related to how much the race cost - an £8 club race won't get you many frills but I've done a mass-participant half marathon that cost £50 and didn't even get anything to eat afterwards!
I'll upload some pics later especially for those of you who like to see what the medals and tee's look like.
So, here we go, in most important to least important:
1. The Medal. Or as I call it, the Shiny. Always good to have a medal - whilst some people stuff theirs in a drawer gathering dust, my serves as the prime memento for every race that gives them out, whether they are big and blingy or small on the end of a short ribbon. They are all lined up on special medal hangars on my wall - PBs, triathlons, cycling and walking events on one hangar and all the other running races on the other hangar. The best medals have the following features: specific to that race, solid feeling, well crafted and detailed, name of the race (and if there are several events being held that day, there should be different medals for each distance), date of race, somewhere to engrave time/name or slot for an iTab and a good quality printed lanyard. My favourite medals are from all of the marathons and She Runs Windsor 10k which is very blingy (it's good to have one or two glittery, colourful ones, although overall I prefer more traditional, classy medals). Saying that, I also love the Stevenage Half medal even though it does not have many of the above features because it's an excellent value club race and the medal feels almost vintage, like a classic 90's medal. My dad has some old 90's medals from the 1992-96 St Albans Half Marathons which are lovely, small but with engraved with little Roman soldiers in excellent detail. I have roughly 40 medals and admit that I occasionally enter a race purely for the quality of the medal.
2. Food and Drink. Usually the second thing I reach for after the shiny. Bottled water is always good, followed by snacks that are good to eat after running such as a banana, energy gels and sachets of recovery shake. Many big races give out packs of pistachio nuts - my favorite! You do get some odd things though, such as tee-bags, rice (after VLM 13), single prunes (also VLM) and bolognese mix. After the Loch Ness Marathon I was given 2 cans of Baxters soup (they sponsor the race) and some beer (shame I'm not a fan of it - would rather a miniature of Scotch!), plus a voucher for a meal in the post-race marquee. After the Blenheim Palace and London Triathlons they gave out sports bottles filled with Maxifuel recovery shake which I loved.
3. Other vital post-race stuff. After Run To The Beat at the very end of October 2012, I was freezing cold and there was a 30 minute queue for baggage. No foil blankets were given out. This is a must for any race between September and May! (and a good idea for summer races too as you never know what the weather will be like!). Other post-race stuff that may be needed might be lip balm, deodorant, baby wipes, blister plasters or socks. A draw string bag for wet/sweaty stuff can be useful! The Marlow Triathlon offered a choice of tee-shirt, top bar pouch, water bottle or race belt (I went with the bottle).
4. Tee-Shirt. Decent, well fitting tee-shirts are a bit hit and miss so I'm not particularly bothered about them. I'd rather pay an optional extra for a good one I really liked the look of than have a one-size-fits-all tent. Lady fit shirts of good quality are the best, either technical or stretchy cotton. The Jenson Button Tri, Run To The Beat and She Runs Windsor gave out some nice female-fit shirts. The best was the Reading Half, although you had to pay extra. I especially do not like being made to run in the tee-shirt as they may not fit and I prefer a vest for most of the year. Run To The Beat gave out shirts with your number printed on them, so you had no choice but to wear them (or cut it up and pin it to the front of your own vest) but at least it fitted and was technical material - it makes a good training top now. They also made you wear them at the walking marathons - SHINE and Pink Ribbon Walk as it had the distance you had signed up for printed on them. At the Herts 10K you were encouraged to wear the tee-shirt, but I did not, as it was cotton and too big - went for my Team GB replica instead. I tend not to buy the shirts nowadays unless it's a marathon as I have far, far too many!! Cotton ones tend to get used as PJs, although I am fond of my VLM shirt as it is very soft (would never wear it out though - it's HUGE). Oh - and tee-shirts fall into 2 categories - the "participant" shirt that you can buy or is just branded with the race name, and the "finisher" shirt which is more special as it shows you have actually completed the race.
Best post-race goodies? Loch Ness Marathon - it has the best medal, lots of food and drink and a reasonable tee-shirt.
Worst? Still annoyed at paying £50 to enter the RTTB Half Marathon - got a decent medal, shirt and energy drink but that was it - no food, water or foil blanket and then a 30 minute wait for my bag which had my extra water and warm clothing in it. Still, at least it wasn't a carrier bag full of non-running-related adverts.
PS. I find it really odd when races give you the goody bag BEFORE the race (even if you get one afterwards too. No'one wants goodies for something they haven't done yet!
Photos coming!!
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