On Saturday I attended what I consider to be my first race expo, at least for a race that I was running in. The Biggest Loser expo back in July was nothing to brag about. The only other expo I’ve been to was the Disney World Marathon Weekend Expo back in January, but Preston and I were so eager to get to the parks that once we’d picked up his marathon packet and my Cheer Squad packet, we spent minimal time at the expo. We decided to take our time and truly experience the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Expo this past weekend, and I’m so glad that we did.

Since we arrived in Virginia Beach late Friday evening after sitting in some DC area traffic and stopping in Williamsburg for dinner and a visit to Yankee Candle Village (I absolutely love that place!), we headed to the expo first thing Saturday morning. The expo was held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, which was also the starting location for Sunday’s races.

The start line for Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach

I applaud Rock ‘n’ Roll for their organization and staffing at the expo. Both Preston and I immediately walked up to our corral lines to get our bibs, and there weren’t any lines for our shirts or race packets either.

My race swag (and yes I wore both bibs – one was on my back)

Before exiting the Rock ‘n’ Roll area of the expo we had some fun with the props and background that were sit up in the merchandise area.

Ready to have a rockin’ good time during the race!

Preston ready to rock his first half marathon!

Since we had rushed through the Disney World Marathon Expo, we decided before we arrived at the expo that we were going to take our time and enjoy the various booths and merchandisers. We spent nearly two hours exploring all that was available, which included several fitness food and drink samples, the chance to try out Magic Massage, and of course shopping! We were able to pick up some heavily discounted Experia socks. (Experia is currently the go to running sock for both of us, and unless you find them on sale they run $14.99/pair at most stores. Only select colors are discounted on Amazon.) We also purchased a heavily discounted Timex Ironman watch for myself (a running accessory I’m sure I’ll heavily rely on now that my half marathon training is underway), as well as the first piece of my Disney World 10K outfit – a Minnie Mouse themed Sweaty Bands headband.

After leaving the expo we headed towards the beach. After having lunch at Big Sam’s, a local favorite that we discovered during a trip last summer, we headed to the sand to relax for a couple of hours. While out at the beach, I had the opportunity to walk down the oceanfront path and see some of the set up that was taking place for the next morning.

The finish line, which had an amazing oceanfront view of the Atlantic Ocean

Family reunion, which was on the beach. We loved that we could put our feet in the sand right after finishing the race!

Later that evening after a pre-race Sushi dinner (we carbo loaded on rice instead of eating a traditional pre-race pasta meal), we prepared our race day clothes and gear check bags.

Its always better to do the prep work the night before an early race

Two runners worth of race gear

After double checking that we had everything ready to go, we headed to bed with the alarm set for 4am.

QOTD: Do you make it a point to spend time at race expos? Is there something in particular that you always make sure to pick up at race expos?