5 Reasons Why You’ll Love 2018 Austin Marathon Expo

in

The Austin Marathon isn’t the only thing to look forward to race weekend. The 2018 Marathon Health & Fitness Expo will be loaded with exciting and runner-friendly vendors. Whether you need last-minute racing gear or want to learn more about the pacing team, the Austin Marathon expo has what you need. Now, if you want to be able to have your very own exhibition at one of our expos, then having a look at somewhere like John Gibson Display stands might be a good start for you to be able to get trade show ready, and this time next year, you could have a stand of our own at our expo. For now though, keep an eye out for can’t-miss items below when you visit the Austin Marathon expo on Feb. 16th (1:00 – 7:00 p.m.) or 17th (10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.).

Official Austin Marathon Merch

Austin Marathon Gear

  • Make sure the Austin Marathon doesn’t pass you by without purchasing some additional official Austin Marathon gear to commemorate your accomplishment. Leave the Austin Marathon expo with sweet gear and show up on race day decked out! Austin Marathon merch will be sold at the Health & Fitness Expo until it sells out.

Austin Marathon Photo Booth

  • Be on the lookout when you’re at the Austin Marathon expo for the #RunAustin18 photo booth! Walk away with a memorable photo or GIF you can share on social media. Pics or GIFs or it didn’t happen. Need more? We’re giving away VIP experiences at this booth all weekend!

Sun Radio Live Broadcast

  • When you’re in your car driving home from work and you hit traffic, who’s there to make the commute more enjoyable? Sun Radio! Come and meet the station that plays “The Best Music Under the Sun.”

Pacer Panels

  • At this year’s Austin Marathon, get the chance to interact with the pacers. Don’t miss your chance ask your pacer any questions you may have. There will be two pacers panels at the pacer lounge (by the Cigna Health: Friday, Feb. 16th (4:00 p.m.) and Saturday, Feb. 17th (12:30 p.m.).

Clif Bar is our Official Nutrition.

All the Vendors

  • Get a chance to interact with some of your favorite brands. Clif Bar will be there to provide samples of everything from CLIF BLOKS to CLIF BARS. nuun will be there as well, supplying an array of electrolyte drink flavors. Try them all! Make sure you visit our good friends at Cap10K, Austin Massage Company, fitppl, Jack & Adam’s Fredericksburg, Motigo, Rookie Triathlon, SPIbelt, and all the other fantastic folks at the 2018 Austin Marathon Health & Wellness Expo!

Austin Marathon Finish Line Festival Food Trucks

in

Make sure your running shoes are ready and cheer signs are hilarious because the Austin Marathon is on Sunday, Feb. 18th! Thousands of people are looking forward to that unbeatable feeling of crossing the Austin Marathon or Half Marathon finish line. Tens of thousands more will cheer on their favorite runners. Whether you’re racing or watching, it’s safe to say that everyone will be hungry at some point. As if you needed more reasons to come to the Austin Marathon, here are some food trucks to visit! Which I’m sure many are equipt with great POS systems which you can learn more about at this resource. The food trucks will be on 5th St. in between Congress Ave. and Brazos St. Look for the WELCOME arch!

food trucks

Four Brothers

Burro Cheese Kitchen

Take things that make Austin great, personify it in artisan grilled cheese form, and you get Burro Cheese Kitchen. If you’ve been there you know what we mean, and if you haven’t, you soon will. Look for it on February 18th. You can’t miss it; it’s big, it’s yellow, and it’s cheesy!

Four Brothers

Mis hermanos y hermanas, no matter what you’re craving, the Austin Marathon will have your hunger fix! Oh, you want arepas? Four Brothers has it. You’re in the mood for an authentic cachupa? Go to the big yellow and red food truck. If you’ve never been to Four Brothers, make your Austin Marathon experience that much more unforgettable by eating there!

Juice Austin

We’re going to have something for everyone! If you just want to cool off and rehydrate with a tasty and refreshing drink, Juice Austin has you covered! So come down, have a good time, and get your juice on!

food trucks

Southside Flying Pizza

Southside Flying Pizza

You just ran a marathon, you deserve pizza. Bottom line. You just cheered at the Austin Marathon for a few hours, you deserve pizza. No questions asked. Scratch that, you never need to justify eating pizza. Swing by the Southside Flying Pizza Truck while you’re at the Austin Marathon!

Lucky Lab Coffee Co.

What type of coffee is best? Lucky Lab Coffee Co.! The Austin Marathon starts at 7:00 a.m. and you’re up to cheer on your friends. Of course, you’re going to need some coffee. Fortunately, Lucky Lab Coffee Co. will be there to supply you with some freshly-brewed liquid energy!

Slab BBQ

You really didn’t think we were going to leave out BBQ did you? If there is anything Austin knows how to do right (other than marathons) it’s BBQ. After the race, let your nose control where your legs take you next. We promise you will not be disappointed.

food trucks

Slab BBQ.

Ladies and gentleman, runners and spectators, we just gave you six more reasons to get pumped about the Austin Marathon. Look for (or smell for) the food trucks that will be located on 5th St. in between Congress Ave. and Brazos St.! If you want to learn more about how you can get your own food truck, you may want to learn about guarantor loans here for extra information and hopefully you’ll be approved! Maybe we’ll see you next year?

Why You Need Motigo During the Austin Marathon

in

The Austin Marathon and the social app Motigo have joined forces to bring more energy to race day! As you run, the Motigo app uses your location to send you personalized audio messages once you hit a certain point along the course. With the Austin Marathon less than one month away, act fast to get your favorite supporters to pre-record words of encouragement. Here are just a few reasons as to why you need Motigo on race day.

The Motigo app is free to use!

That’s right, the Motigo app is free to use and available for download from the iTunes Store and Google Play. Ensure you’re friends and family hear a familiar voice when they need it most without worrying about additional charges. You can overwhelm your runners with support and love!

It’s not just for runners

Motigo is not just for the runners! If for one reason or another you can’t come to the Austin Marathon, you can still cheer for your friends and family. Whether it’s work or prior engagements, make sure your athlete hears you on Feb. 18th. Record your message and choose what mile it’s played at to guarantee that your support is heard.

Gets you pumped!

Every runner at one point or another has experienced the moment where they feel like they’re bonking and they’ve got nothing left to give. Then they find the fuel in their reserves, sparked by some form of motivation. A pre-recorded message by friends and family can be that motivation that makes the home stretch more memorable!

Doesn’t interfere with other apps

The last thing anyone wants is for their running playlist to be rudely interrupted by some other app. Motigo works quietly in the background of your other music and training apps so there is no need to worry about whether or not it’ll ruin the flow of your tunes.

Runners already love it!

If you’re still on the fence about Motigo don’t just take our word for it, visit the Motigo website and read testimonials of runners, like yourself, on how it’s changed their runs and races. Read short excerpts about how the app has motivated them to run better and even get a PR!

An Athlete’s Perspective – Issue 11

in ,

An Athlete’s Perspective is a blog series of event and/or training experiences written firsthand by the athletes themselves. An Athlete’s Perspective is a completely unscripted and raw look into the mind and daily life of an athlete as they prepare for their next race. Readers will discover training regimens, eating tips, gear recommendations, and an uncut perspective into the lives of people like you and me.

From Australia to Austin

By: Mike Marshall

The Marshall family.

I live in Brisbane, Queensland Australia. I’m married to Kylie and am the father of 2 boys, Zach 9 and Jake 6. We are now four weeks away from racing in the Austin Marathon and 5K race. How we got to this point started about 12 months ago I decided that in 2017 I wanted to set a goal to run some marathons and see exactly what I could achieve with a targeted focus.

My background in sports had been “on pause” for the past 12 years while we started the family and may have extended a bit too long as I “enjoyed the life” of excess and “normality” (ie not getting up at 0400 and being constantly tired, sore and irritable like all hard training endurance athletes). I had never really specifically trained and “run” a marathon, I had completed a bunch as part of training but these were always part of a “bigger IRONMAN picture” so I was not fully focused, trained, or tapered during these races and I suppose that’s what lead to the goal.

This goal seemed to fit well with the family as they all showed interest in getting involved. We decided that the “main event” of the year would be the Honolulu Marathon in December followed by a Hawaiian Christmas vacation (sounded perfect end to a year of hard work).

I set about training utilizing the Under Armour Connected Fitness Apps, Map My Fitness, Record, and My Fitness Pal to monitor, review, and hold me accountable throughout the process After so much time away from training I was substantially “well-conditioned” (read: overweight).

Mike and his boys, who’ll run the Austin Marathon 5K.

As the year progressed I started to see some improvements in both running and the weight front, racing a half marathon in May and a marathon in July where I managed to record the same time I ran 12 years prior despite an epic “blow up” at about the 33K mark.

From July onwards the focus was solely on Honolulu. As the last 11 weeks approached I saw on the Map My Fitness App a challenge for the month of October: The Under Armour Australia “Reward your Run” Challenge. The concept was pretty simple, most KM in 28 days, two sessions per day, min 20 mins per session, max four hrs. The major prize for Australian residents was a trip for 2 to the Austin Marathon in 2018 and for those in places 2-100 a pair of shoes. I figured I would enter the challenge to help “keep me focused” on the training for the marathon and given the volume I was running figured I might end up winning a pair of shoes if I was lucky. I got off to a slow start in the challenge as I was away and missed the first day (as it was my rest day following my long run the day before) and I was planning on racing the approaching weekend. At the completion of the first week of the challenge I found myself in about 5th position and looking at what I had done and the gaps figured I might be able to do a bit better than what I thought. Pretty soon I found myself focusing on achieving the most KM per day so I could to “Get to Austin.” The KM increased and the fatigue set in. My family were a huge support to me throughout the challenge and we were trying not to “Dare to Dream of Austin Marathon.”

#IWill

At the conclusion of the challenge I had racked up 878 KM and was declared the winner. We now found ourselves Austin bound in 2018. This challenge helped me prepare well for a good performance in Honolulu in December 2017, but also gave me something further to focus on heading forward. With Honolulu ticked off, the work is truly underway with the goals set for the Austin Marathon.

Glad to say that thanks to the Under Armour Australia “Reward your Run” Challenge not only will I get the opportunity to race the Austin Marathon, but my wife and boys will also race in the Austin Marathon 5K. Needless to say, we are all super excited to get this opportunity to go halfway around the world to race and experience a city like Austin.

The reality of racing in Austin is what is motivating us all to prepare and train hard for which I expect is the whole point of the event being held. The Austin Marathon event seems to be comprehensive in bringing in a complete experience of the city and state which is super exciting for an Australian family. Would love to hear the suggestions for post-race meals, parties, and experiences so we can capitalize on this opportunity at the Austin Marathon thanks to Under Armour Australia.

If you see me out there say “Gday,” if I am not too out of breath you will probably get a “Hey Mate” back.