Who Am I?

I am an avid runner and have been running since I was 15 years old. I began running low to medium distances while on my high school track team, running the 800 meter and 1600 meter races (I was a sub 5 miler and a 2 minute 800 runner). In addition to the track team, I also joined the cross country team. After high school I still wanted to run and decided to start doing road races. I have probably ran a couple hundred 5k races (16.29 PR)along with many 10k's as well. In 2009 I decided to step up my game and try to tackle my first marathon. I will be honest; the only reason I did this was because my father ran a few and I wanted to show him that I could do what he did. I trained poorly for my first one and regret it. If you are going to run a race, train like you want to win. I still continue to run marathons and other distances as well, and every race is a chance for me to better myself.
I started this blog to hopefully communicate with other runners and to shed any knowledge I may have about the sport that can help other runners. I believe running is the best sport and can be a great stress reliever. I encourage all runners to spread the word of our sport and show people why running is so good and why the community of runners has such great people. You can follow me on twitter @byrne1324 or find me on facebook- Shaun Byrne

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Swag or No Swag

DOES THE SWAG REALLY MATTER?

    You go to a race and you are given a goodie bag or sometimes it is just a shirt and your bib number.  My question is should the swag you get a race affect your decision on whether or not you will run the race?
     Like most runners I love getting a goodie bag filled with protein bars, coupons, and my shirt, but it does not affect my choice on if I will run the race or not.  I have ran many races where you are given just a basic cotton t-shirt and your bib and sent on your way to race.  I have been reading a lot of blogs lately and I have already found so many races I want to run next year that are low key races.  Most bloggers give you a great description of not only the race, but what you receive for running it as well.  There have been a few that have the best of both worlds, cheap and have a great goodie bag.  Price is one thing I really look into when deciding a race.  I want to know how much is this going to cost me and what exactly is the money going for.   Let me throw a little scenario at you.  You have one race that cost 30 dollars, gives you a nice tech shirt and a bag full of your basic goodies. (protein bars, energy drink mix, coupons, and your basic nick knacks that you will never use) All proceeds go to the city or borough running the race.  Race 2 is also 30 dollars, but only gives you a cotton shirt and your bib number. All proceeds go to the make a wish foundation.  For me this is a no brainer. I am running in race 2.  I like to know that my money is going to a charity or foundation that will help a person.  I have the ability to run and everyday I am thankful for that. So if I can run a race that will help people who are less fortunate than me, I will gladly take less swag.
    I was at a race about 3 years ago and a lady was bitching to me because she had to pay for coffee.  She even made the comment a good race is decided by the course, the shirt and what you get after for free.  I agree a race is decided by all of that, but the race was for a charity.  So what if you had to pay for some coffee. Go take the free water and grab some coffee at your house.  I wanted to turn to the lady and say a few choice words but instead I just walked away shaking my head.
    It kills me that we live in a world where people always want for themselves.  What can I get? What is in it for me?  What ever happened to what can I do for that person? How can I help out?  Next time you have to decide between 2 races, don't look at the swag look at where is your money going and is someone going to benefit.

Does swag matter to you when choosing a race?  or better yet how do you choose your races?

7 comments:

  1. The swag is a bonus, nothing else. After that, the most important is: the course (where you go), the community (sounds friendly, funny) and where the benefits go. Other than that, I do not care: I have more than enough tech shirts, I can get protein bars for about $1 at any store around and I even prefer to buy stuff by myself, at least, I decided what I really want. On the other hand, the best races I had were really cheap, did not even have a shirt and were really friendly ... Just my $0.02 ...

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    1. I agree swag is a bonus, and you can buy most stuff cheap anyway

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  2. In recent years I have chosen races based on what the $ goes to. Tech shirts are nice & I would just as soon not get a cotton shirt. Although I will sometimes pick a spur of the moment race if it is close & lower $. I got a good deal on Living Social for a half mara to support scouting for $27.00. & about a 40 minute drive. Personally, they could just ditch all the swag. I'm all about the medal!

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    1. I will say on bigger races I do look and see what the medal looks like, lol.. But I try not to let it be my deciding factor on if I will run that race or not. But who doesn't love a kick ass looking medal for all the work you have put in.

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    2. Agree also on that one: the medal is a nice and unique bonus. Fact is: you can buy your protein bar/t-shirt wherever you want but you cannot have the finisher medal anywhere ... But this is not really a matter of $$ (a medal costs nothing to produce - less than $5 for most) but rather to have something that remember your accomplishment or good time you had here!

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  3. I agree. Swag doesn't matter much to me. I'm running races to test my ability and see how much I've improved, not for free cheapie things. In the first half marathon I did, the Montour Trail last Sept., I didn't even get a medal and didn't realize until later that most half marathons give you some medal so I wasn't upset about it. I was just reading about a half marathon in Blacksburg VA where you can choose to pay more for swag or less for just a medal and t-shirt. I think I'd choose just the medal and t-shirt.

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    1. That is what I would choose as well. I could care less what I get I want to see my times improve

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