Dublin Marathon 2013: Expo and Packet Pickup

Dublin Marathon 2013: Expo and Packet Pickup

I went to the Dublin Marathon 2013: Packet Pickup after the Guinness Factory tour. I took the bus from the Guinness Factory back to O’Connell Street and then took the #7 bus down to the Expo at RDS (Royal Dublin Society). The line for the bus was almost unreal. I managed to squeeze into the bus before the driver closed the doors on the last 20 people waiting for the bus. If you are talking the bus to the expo. find a stop further up from O’connell and the bridge.

It was a surprisingly long bus ride down to the Expo, even though there were only a few stops and traffic wasn’t that bad. I managed to meet up another marathoner who ran a 3:05:40 last year in Dublin and looking to qualify for Boston. I think he had a pretty good chance. He was still young. I managed to see him a few times at the Expo and then at the bus stop going back into town.

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The Expo was laid out nicely. The packet pickup was on an elevated walkway above the entire Expo.

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Then the race bags were given out on the other side of the Expo on the ground floor. Foot traffic was well managed.

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They said there were massages at the Expo, but unfortunately you had to pay for that. There was also a taping service. I saw a few other runners using the taping service.

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There was an area dedicated to showing off past medals and also winners of the marathon. Pretty cool display. There have been a few title sponsors for this marathon. Adidas sponsored this marathon for a few years a few years ago but it changed in 2012 and this year.

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There were a few stands there. The most interesting was the Mizuno Stand:

I saw this display and noticed that the shoe was being sold here! Yep the Wave Rider 17 was released at this show. I believe it was released to a store in the US and another marathon. I was thinking about getting it, but it was 115 EUR, which amounted to about $155 USD.

I was very interested in getting one and trying it out, but it was much more expensive than back at home. I may wait until I see it at Philly Marathon Expo. I will most likely buy it back at Marathon Sports on Boylston Street in Boston. Many people even months later rather buy their shoes from them than another store. I feel the same way.

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There was an introduction talk about the marathon. I stuck around to see what kind of hills were on the course, but he gave many informative tips about the course and also marathons in general. This talk was good for both amateurs and novices alike. I learned that they were giving out bottles of everything during all of the aid stations. All of it was covered in the information packet, but I rarely read them now unless I need to find directions and start/finish line layouts.

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The bus going back into the city wasn’t as crowded and I got a seat all the way back to Dublin.

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I didn’t know what to do after the Expo. I wandered into a tourist information store and found a pamplet for the Old Jameson Distillery Tour. I quickly found out it was still opened and headed straight for it before they closed about an hour later.

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