What happens when you have a bunch of runners armed with the power of social media all in one place at one time? An epic meet up and tweet up of course. This past weekend was the Phoenix Marathon and with so many of us being connected through our blogs or via Instagram or Twitter, it made perfect sense to arrange a time for all of us to meet… wait for it… IN REAL LIFE.
The plan was simple: pick a location, choose a time frame, and just show up. Some of us are really close friends who race together often, but a lot of us were meeting and introducing ourselves to one another for the very first time. There were hugs, fist bumps, and a couple “I know you… you look familiar… what’s your handle?” interactions. We always talk about name tags, but it never happens. Meh.
And of course, tons of photos and selfies:
With @carleemcdot. I love that I’m not the ONLY one that brings a REAL camera to these things. Photo by @ruggedwoodsman
L-to-R (top): @dasilentassassin, @suzanneellard, @gofastmommy, L-to-R (bottom): @the_suzlyfe, @dreamitrunit and @mojjones, @teporterun4fun
L-to-R (top): @andreabarber, @pointonemiles, @hellyontherun, L-to-R (bottom) @maxfitgirl29, @hellyontheurn, @zmami4, @maxfitgirl29, @thefirstladyphotography, @SeeDaneRun
After everyone met at the Pro Compression booth, many of us continued on through the expo and finally into Sports Authority for our t-shirt pick up where we stopped and had another impromptu meet up there as well.
After having to WAIT FOREVER to finally get a picture with @RUNEMZ, gah!
THIS picture tho.
Later in the evening we also organized a casual pre-race dinner for more socializing and shenanigans, as runners like to do. The food was good and the company was better.
(Left) The FOOD selfie (Right) with @michrun4 and @sarademuch
With our customized Starbuck’s cups from @vk_davies
We got a chance to meet with some of the other runners that weren’t able to make it to the expo, talk about race plans/strategy, and wish each other luck as we all had an early wake up call to catch the last shuttle at 5 a.m. to the start line.
And just like that, it was one more sleep until race day.
Coming on Thursday
Phoenix Marathon: It Was Over Before It Started
AWE SO MUCH FUN!!! And such a jealous little Krysten over here!! What a great group!!
SO MANY PEOPLE glad I was one of them :D
Yaaaay! So much fun!!! <3
He He He He! YOU DO WHAT I DO IN PICTURES! Open you mouth!! ;) It’s because we’re ENTHUSIASTIC and LOVEEEEEEEEE life – DUH!
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS.
it always makes me think I can run :-)
Looks like so much fun. I wish I would have ran the PHX marathon just to hang out with a bunch of runners!
Have you thought of making RUN ALL NIGHT shirts? I am training for an overnight 54k and thought it would be fun to have a shirt like that. just an idea. :)
Love all the pics. We used to live in Phoenix…I moved too soon:) The social aspect of big races is so fun! I usually run little local races…think it’s time to sign up for a big one.
Love these meet ups!
I got major race envy from all the Instagram pictures of PHX. You all looked like you were having a ton of fun.