Did anyone pick up an extra race DVD at Tempe? I didn’t see anywhere to pick one up, but I didn’t look very hard b/c I was rushing to catch a flight. I will gladly pay shipping or any other reasonable costs associated with getting a copy to me.
Also, was anyone else disappointed with the Finisher’s stuff at the expo? I found very little stuff there vs. IMFL. I was told they would have more online, but the IMAZ website still says merchandise “coming soon.” Anyone have any idea when it will be up?
Since we’re bitching, the Pre-Race dinner sucked. The video was very weak–I kept waiting for the guy who had “persevered” through training to have some phenomenal story, but he didn’t. He wasn’t even at the dinner. And one or two of those Indian dances would have been enough–they all sounded alike.
And how fun was it to sit in the sun on Sunday for 3 hours while they got their s–t together for the awards ceremony? On an ordinary day it would have been fine, but the day after the IM, it was difficult. A tent would have been nice, but the open air was nice for the Pre-Race dinner.
Yeah–some guy who was going to do the IM, loosely about his training, having young children “and then throw in a wife”. You kept waiting for the punchline, like “…and Robert Beelzebub has no sense of smell in his left nostril”, or some other debilitating condition.
The DVD was given out after awards. I am sure a few people have extras as I saw athletes holding 4 to 6 in their hands. They ran out very quickly because of this.
You can write Janus (who sponsors this freebie) and order one, just pay shipping. The address was in your race info. It may be on the IMNA website.
If you couldn’t make the awards lunch, there was a card in the pre-race registration packet that you could fill out, send along with $3.00 (for shipping) to Janus, and they would send you a copy of the DVD.
Since we’re bitching, the Pre-Race dinner sucked.<<
And $30 for the awards banquet!!! Rip off! Plus, you had to PAY for the beer! IM NZ had probably 5 times the food (selection and amounts), and, the tables were loaded with FREE beer and wine.
The goods news is the evident swapping of race garb from Event Stores to Inside Out. IMO…a fantastic move. Perhaps also the reason why the merch sucked. Yes…the worst selection ever. I bought a backpack and some shorts.
I found it funny they had the finishers gear out before the race. Perhaps that was a sign that I would find the medical tent after the bike. Luke Bell and I have a few things in common now.
While $30 was definitely no bargain for the awards “banquet”, at least you could attend without paying anything.
I’m not usually one to make negative comments, but pretty much everything was cheapo compared to IMNZ (my only point of reference), despite the higher entry fee:
IMNZ: Giant beach towel. IMAZ: Little hanky
IMNZ: Nike Dri-fit finisher shirt, embroidered. IMAZ: Typical t-shirt, sort of ugly
IMNZ: Good selection of Nike apparel that I could actually use for training. IMAZ: Good selection of t-shirts.
IMNZ: That weird can of cream-of-rice stuff IMAZ: Thankfully, not. Powerbars.
On the positive, the medal was nice quality, and the awards (for those who received) seemed cool.
You think that sucked… Try Xterra on Maui. $50 for banquet tickets. No water at all, not even on the tables! $4 for a soda or $8 for a beer! Otherwise you went thirsty.