When I ran my first Boston Marathon, I bought one of the over-proced but “must have” Image Impact jackets at the expo.
I’m now training for my first IM (this year’s IMFL) and was wondering if there is a similar “must have” IM item that I need to buy at the expo.
Thanks
IMFL was my first last year and I bought a few photos from the race, including my finisher’s photos. They sell packages where they’ll frame the photos or mount them, but it’s not cheap. If you just buy the prints, it’s alot cheaper.
Must have item: beer
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kfc for me…
it is a IM nothing is cheap!!! they get you coming and going…got to love it. Just bought my race photos from IMAZ $120 for the download version.
post race massage would be #1 on my list
do NOT buy a hat - you will get a nice one by headsweats (with new dual colors this year as I was told by the owner of headsweats who I just learned lives right down the street from me!) in your finishers bag.
But, the “finishers” shirt is usually a pretty cheasy looking cotton shirt. Perhaps an IM logo swim duffle? I 'dunno - I avoid those tents now at this point 
The hats we got for the Calif. 70.3 were the dual color ones. The tees I’ve received at all the IM-brand races for the past two years were a tee shirt, but a good quality technical material that you could run in pretty comfortably.
a massage
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A pint glass: inexpensive, functional and decorative.
I have one from each of my marathons and IMs. Don’t have to go crazy in the Inside out “gift shop”, they don’t take up much space, they are not ostentatious, and they make a nice little collection.
Definitely a BJ.
Followed by a dip in the lake, then a quick massage, then another BJ, then a beer. Better yet have the beer while getting the BJ, that’s even better!
K
I always get one of the bike jerseys, if they’re nice. Also a long sleeved finisher’s t-shirt. Not much else then that. Stuff’s not cheap. Plus after 18 IMs I have enough finisher’s stuff to last me for a while 
The IM Christmas Ornament;-)
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I think it is the subtle, understated hat. I have one from IM NZ that just has a Nike Swoosh on the front and the race distance in kilometers on the side then the name of the event on the back in small writing. Cool.
When I read the title of this post I thought “cheeseburger.”
I dunno as far as expo tent stuff; a hat perhaps? Whatever you will wear and not feel silly in I guess. I do know that the finsiher stuff sells out very quickly the morning after the race.
Nachos… the day after my first IM my buddy and I wondered/limped around C’dA lookoing for someplace that served decent nachos! We ended up someplace with Nachos on the menu, but they ran out of cheese! It was more depressing then looking up the hill before the turnaround on the second lap of the run.
Whatever it is, I didn’t get it.
I saw a nice running shirt at Kona and I liked it a lot (pronounced “loiked it a loht”, as per Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber), but didn’t wanna jinx myself by purchasing one before the race.
By the time I got there the next day, the only things left were all sized XXL.
Funny that, not much call for XXL amongst Kona finishers - wonder why?