Hi everyone! It’s been a loooong week, so I’m pretty excited that it’s almost over! And I’m really excited about the Her Tern Half on Sunday and the expotique tomorrow! Make sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter to see how things go this weekend! Anyways, since it’s the Friday before a race weekend I was super excited to see that this Friday’s Friday Five prompt from Cynthia, Mar, and Courtney is “Favorite Race Swag”. I’m a huge fan of good race swag, and I can’t wait to share my favorites with you!
1. Zion Half Marathon: Not only was the race shirt the cutest one I’ve ever gotten, the medal was HUGE! And after the race we got an entire box of food to take with us. I will run another Vacation Races race again for some more awesome swag!
2. Disney Princess Half Marathon: Honestly, the swag that came with this race wasn’t that great, although the medal was pretty awesome. But the stuff they had for sale at the expo was legit! I spent way too much money in the official merchandise tent, but I use this stuff all the time so it was worth it!
3. Beat The Blerch Half Marathon: I’m in love with the medal. We also got a sweet zip up shirt. But I honestly think the best part of this race was getting The Oatmeal to autograph my race bib and his book!
4. The Love Run Half Marathon: We got a nice tech shirt and a sweet medal, but the coolest part was the finisher’s mug! I love drinking coffee out of it after a long run.
5. The Kris Kringle 5 Miler: This is a pretty cheap, low key race in Reading, PA. There’s not even a medal for finishers. But runners get a really cool hoodie, and the design changes each year! Plus the post race food spread is pretty insane.
Wearing my hoodie from my first KK5M!
I’m hoping I can run this race WHEN I GO HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!! That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I’m coming back to Philly for a week and a half at the end of December! Just writing those words gives me goosebumps. I’m so excited! If anyone wants to run with me while I’m chillin on the east coast let me know! You know I’m always on the lookout for fun races 🙂
There’s one more race with awesome swag that needs to be mentioned, but the swag is so awesome that it seriously needs its own blog post. Which it will actually have on Monday, because I’m talking about the Her Tern Half right here in Anchorage! This race is advertised as Alaska’s most plush women’s only event, and they’re pretty serious about that. Here’s some pictures from last year’s expotique:
Taken from the Her Tern Half Facebook page
Race entry comes with a shirt, as well as some gift certificates to Brooks, Her Tern Boutique, and Nathan. There are so many cute Brooks HTH shirts for sale, HTH Nathan water bottles, and lots of cute running accessories! The best part is after the race though – we’ll be getting a seriously awesome bracelet with the finish line coordinates on it instead of a medal, plus a HTH champagne glass for our free mimosas. I love having the option to purchase lots of cute race branded swag, so I plan on going nuts on Saturday!
We were trying to control ourselves at the Her Tern Bracelet Reveal party!
I love finding races with awesome swag, and since I’m looking for races to run in all 50 states I’d love your suggestions! What’s your favorite race swag?
Mom in the Mtns 
Ooooh, I’m trying to run races in all 50 states too & Tern wasn’t even on my radar . . . until now! Thanks for sharing!
No problem! I’d say look into Her Tern, Mayor’s Midnight Sun (June on the summer solstice!) or Big Wild Life Runs in August. They’re our biggest race weekends!
That is some serious swag! I hope all goes well this weekend!
Thanks!
THAT ZION MEDAL!!!! It almost makes me want to travel for that race. I love me some pretty bling. 🙂
Look into the company! It’s called Vacation Races and they have races outside of national parks all over the country. They all have awesome swag and giant medals!
Ahh, how cool was that half marathon with The Oatmeal?! So incredibly jealous. Sounds like you’ve run some great races with some serious swag! I like the ones that give out something a little different from the traditional t shirt and tiny medal. The ones that are a little different are the ones that stick with you, mentally. 🙂 Good luck at your race!
I agree! I’ll run a race if they have something different than the usual race stuff!
A mug is a great idea!
I’ve seen more races giving a hat or gloves as swag. Socks are always good, too!
Oooh I would love a hat or gloves! Such a good idea.
That’s some pretty sweet swag! There’s a half marathon in North Andover, MA each spring (http://greenstrideraces.com/event/earth-rock-run-half-marathon/) that has a medal, tshirt, and hoodie (and a pint glass? or maybe a towel?) that I *really* wanted to run this year, but the timing didn’t work out. Green Stride races usually have decent swag. The other swagarific race I’ve run was Beat the Blerch, but you’ve already crossed that one off your list! 😉
Those sound awesome! I’ll have to keep my eye out for that one because I haven’t run MA yet!
Awesome swag! My favorite swag I’ve gotten so far is the Laney’s Legacy T-shirt. It’s bright green (my favorite) and the race also came with really cool cupons to go kayaking and get your hair streaked with pink! Really unique stuff for a small local race. On another note…December!!! Super exciting!!! I would LOVE to do a race with you while you’re in town! Maybe the Kris Kringle 5 miler???
That race sounds awesome! And yes, we should totally race together when I get back! I’m so excited!
All your swag is awesome! I’m running Beat the Blerch in September, and hoping the oatmeal is still signing bibs by then 🙂
You’re going to have a blast! I’m sure he will. He was so awesome and cared so much about meeting his fans.
Lots of awesome swag! So far I haven’t done any races with super exciting swag, but I’m headed to WDW for the Wine and Dine half in November, so I’m sure I’ll get my fill 😀
Yes you will! Get to the expo early before they sell out of everything!
My only “race swag” but the great race swag there will ever be, is my printed out winter solstice bib you made 😉 XOXO I will cherish that forever! I need to get it laminated!
Haha awww that’s awesome! I’m so glad that I got to hook you up with some swag from Alaska! 🙂
Good luck this weekend!! i know you will do great. If I had one more slot, I would have added Love Run Philly!
I heard the Love Run gave out Phillies tickets this year. I was so jealous!
Now that is some serious swag!! Awesome!
I love me some good running swag 🙂
Love all your swag but the Zion is just totally awesome! 🙂
It really was! And the view was incredible too! I would definitely run it again in the future.
Good choices!! LOVE that mug. I have a collection of race mugs and glasses – drinking my coffee out of my Austin Half mug right now!
I love race stuff that I’ll actually use in my normal life. Race shirts are great, but I like water bottles and mugs and stuff too.
Disney merchandise definitely doesn’t disappoint, though its always such a madhouse trying to shop and get what you want!
It was so crazy! I was really happy that I was able to get everything I wanted and didn’t have to murder anyone for it 🙂
i love that mug. so so cute!!
Thanks! You should look into that race next spring!
That is all very cool. I’d have to say the signed bib and drawing is pretty dang sweet. I always love some runDisney merch as well.
That is so cool that you’ll be going home to PA for christmas. Very exciting. My son’s first birthday party is this weekend and having an uncle bringing down some good Lebanon bologna with him. Need to import the PA food, haha
Haha yes I do! I miss lebanon bologna, birch beer, and of course Wawa!
I am huge fan of that mug!! I love mugs and may have to do that race JUST to get that mug!
You should! It’s a really awesome race and a great way to run all over Philadelphia!
I had an opportunity to run Zion half and the timing wasn’t right, but listening to you talk about it gives me so much regret! It’s definitely on my bucket list. You have run some great races!!
You should definitely think about it in the future – or at least a Vacation Races race. They really host awesome runs in some beautiful places!
The Rock n Roll races have amazing “bling” with all of their races. You should check you the RnR Vancouver for 2015 the medal is pretty darn cool, branch down just but above the 49 parallel and enjoy an amazing half marathon course. Very scenic and mostly flat with a few little inclines.
All of that sounds awesome! I’m hoping to run in Vancouver sometime soon!
That would be so awesome, you will have no regrets that is for sure (unless it is raining). I live in the Vancouver area, so when you come let me know.