If You Bring Swag, Runners Will Come: Global Running Day 2018

When Rock 'N' Roll Marathon Series coordinator Stephanie Hoppe contacted Marcia and me to organize an event for Global Running Day, we reluctantly agreed. We had no idea how to do such a thing, but as ambassadors for the race series, we receive a lot of perks, including free race entries, so how could we not give back? I contacted the president of the Busse Woods Running Club to see if we could connect with them and he directed me to the Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA). As it turns out, CARA was organizing a bunch of local fun runs to celebrate Global Running Day. I asked if we could help out and represent RnR at the location near our homes.

Marcia and I could not have been more pleased with how the event turned out!

Both CARA and RnR kept in close contact with Marcia and me in the weeks leading up to the event. RnR provided some really nice swag, which arrived the day before the event--that made us a little nervous! But between the swag and the one-day-only race entry fee sale, RnR was a hit at our GRD event!

We arrived about 30 minutes before the event to set up our swag table.

RnR sent us hats, buffs, cooling towels, lip balm, and SIS Isotonic Energy Supplements. SIS is a sponsor of RnR and Ironman. I had never heard of this product, but I'm intrigued. SIS is an energy gel that is taken without water. I will have a product review in a few weeks.

We talked with a lot of runners prior to the event and many of them picked up the RnR literature. The running club is planning to do RnR Nashville in Spring 2019 and many of the runners were excited to hear about the one day discount! A couple of runners told us how excited they were for the freebies we were handing out! "I love swag!", one runner exclaimed.

At 6:35, the CARA representative, Nick, got everyone together to discuss logistics. He introduced the president of the Busse Woods Running Club and then introduced Marcia and me.

There was a headcount--over 50 runners were there! Everyone posed for a group photo.

And then they were off!

While we waited for the runners to return, we talked with Nick a bit--he's a running coach. It wasn't long before the first runners came back for ice cream and to retrieve more swag. We had so much stuff that we weren't able to give everything away. Fortunately, we have been able to recruit some of our blogging friends to join us for RnR Chicago and we'll be sharing our bounty with them!

For my part, I didn't mind not running in the event. Knowing I was representing RnR at this event, I ran earlier in the day. It was especially fun to see one of the nurses I used to work with at my former clinic. She's a new runner and is training for the Chicago Marathon! You can follow her progress on IG @runningstepz.

Global Running Day started about 5 years ago as National Running Day to celebrate running and get people moving. It's really exciting to see how quickly the event has grown. CARA reports that they had about 400 runners participating at all of the sites. This was a great experience for both Marcia and me. I really enjoyed meeting and talking with the runners. I feel so fortunate to be a part of such an amazing community.

"There are no strangers here,  just friends you haven't met yet." ~William Butler Yeats

Did you run for Global Running Day? Did you participate in a group event for Global Running Day? Did you take advantage of any deals-race entry or otherwise? Are you planning to run RnR Chicago?

If you missed out on Rock'N'Roll Marathon Series Global Running Day deals, you can still get $15 off on any race using the code below. Don't miss out!

Special thanks to the Chicago Area Runners Association for allowing us to participate in this event, and to Rock 'N' Roll Marathon Series for providing us with incredible goodies to hand out to the runners!

I'm linking this post with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for the Friday 5!

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