Cloudy with a chance of energy bars!

Quick - dodge that bar!

I was just sitting on my computer, doing some prep work for this weekend's Lake Union 10K and here comes my friendly Fedex guy who delivers a huge case of granola bars. I did not order them, I do not know who sent them. They just appear, out of nowhere. This is not the first time this has happened. In fact KIND Bars is officially on our access list to our storage unit and make frequent deliveries.

I think its awesome that food in massive quantity just gets delivered here at race headquarters. I feel like I am in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Only in my case its mostly energy bars, electrolyte drinks and other random samples. I just wish that it was more like ice cream or mac and cheese. But, hey, I guess I will take it and our participants sure appreciate all the free goodies too.

Plus, Lake Union 10K is catered by Portage Bay Cafe with french toast and a big bowl of whipped cream and berries. Now, that is something I can get behind and after all the work that goes into producing this race I feel as if I earn a swim inside that bowl of whipped cream! If it would only rain down some syrup.

See you on Sunday!
www.lakeunion10k.com

What I learned from my trip to Costco

For someone who doesn't like bananas, not even a little bit, I sure do buy a ton of them! In my humble opinion the banana is a slimy, nasty, smelly, sweet mushy mess in a peel. No thank you. Be that as it may it is still a popular item to eat after finishing a race. It is a cheap source of nutrition and easily distributed. So, I found myself at Costco yesterday buying bananas for the upcoming Move Mmore 5K on Sunday. I might as well buy the water bottles too, right? One thing I have learned from dealing in large quantities of bananas from Costco, they are almost always way too green when you get them in the store and you must purchase them days in advance or else you will be serving rock hard slimy, nasty, sweet piles of bananas. 

I have learned at Costco that folks are friendly and think they are really funny. It is always a game for me, how many comments can I get on my loaded down cart of bananas, water, huge quantities of pretzels and maybe some muffins for volunteers? Yesterday, three comments. Amongst the usual: 

"I guess you are thirsty!"

"Preparing for the zombie apocalypse?" 

"That's a lot of smoothies!"

"Throwing a party?" 

I usually respond with an overly sarcastic remark. Usual replies: 

"Nope, just watering the garden today"

"They are coming, don't you know?"

"Just feeding my pet gorilla!"

"Nope, just house fire protection." 

However, as I was using every bit of strength to get my very heavy cart up the slight hill towards my vehicle a couple approached and asked, "Which race are you putting on this weekend?" I almost hugged them! That was the first time someone had actually asked me the appropriate question. Turns out they were race directors too and had done this same slog at this very location before and answered the same inane questions above. 

Another thing I learned from my trip to Costco is that exactly 16 cases of Costco water will fit into a Kia. Anything heavier will rub against the tires. Please note for future zombie outbreaks! 

Perks of the job

I am both a mug girl and a loyal customer and for both of these reasons I was rewarded by the universe with my new favorite mug from one of my favorite race day vendors! Of course I am friends with Honey Bucket on Facebook and of course I enter in their monthly contest to win this awesome mug and of course I never win it. The odds are slightly better than winning the lottery but I am still always up against hundreds of entries. As I was confirming our last event order I told my contact there that I have never won and then this arrived yesterday! It was wrapped in layers and layers of bubble wrap, nestled in a box, like a precious jewel. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if it was painted the iconic blue on the inside, mimicking the solution inside the real toilets. 

I cannot wait to casually bring this out for my next family gathering! 

Thank you Honey Bucket for my new favorite mug and most of all thank you for being a great vendor, always having our back and always having a sense of humor. I know our runners appreciate your services and our events would be a lot crappier without you (pun intended)!

I guess there are a few perks of being a race director. This mug and jars and jars of leftover peanut butter in my cupboard are amongst the top. 

Meanwhile, if you are interested in learning more about portable toilets, and who doesn't, here is a fantastic article about portable toilets as they relate to the race industry.