Worst Marathon/Running Event Goodie Bag? Foaming at the Mouth

uvox

Any takers for the worst event goodie bag content? I still have to find an in-law to dump those foot wart pads on as a present next Christmas (can't remember which event included that in the goodie bag - Dublin or Amsterdam - two boxes in each bag no less).

And then there's the obsession with washing detergents... Sorry, but I let the ma do it...

However, this example from China takes some beating.

Marathon goes terribly wrong as runners mistake free soap for energy bars

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/285572/runners-accidentally-eat-soap/

All said and done though, eating the soap is probably better for you than some of the rubbish food usually found in Irish goodie bags. Ever counted the dead calories of some of the junk food that's given away?

EXCEPTION: Run in the dark did give away Jaffa Cakes... #nom

Of course, you may be able to top all that...

kjbsrah1

I did the moonwalk in London a few years ago and in our goodie bags at the end was one thing only - a bottle of washing up liquid!!!! It was a marathon length walk for women raising money for breast cancer research but still ..... I remember being incensed at it at the time!!

ultrapercy

I don't care about goody bags but I won a vise grips as a prize in a local race 2 years running. Another year I got a reflective traffic triangle and some truck strapping. Practacal stuff better than the usual plastic man on a wood platform I suppose.

snailsong

ultrapercy wrote: »

I don't care about goody bags but I won a vise grips as a prize in a local race 2 years running. Another year I got a reflective traffic triangle and some truck strapping. Practacal stuff better than the usual plastic man on a wood platform I suppose.

And you have that vice grips proudly displayed on the mantlepiece ;-).

Irish_rat

The GLR had end warts inside it last year. Was a terrible goodie bag and I wouldn't be fussed about any of that stuff

average_runner

Whats worst is when a race advertises a goodie bag and then doesn't have one:D

Or putting out of date Irish Runner in goodie bags, come on like!

PaulieC

The only race I ever won (I think in both my juvenile and adult running stints) didn't have medals

livedadream

darkness into light in UCC last year, didnt have goodie bags but had muffins, biscuits, tea coffee ice cream cones and hot waffles at the finish line,

not a race but still unreal finish.

demfad

PaulieC wrote: »

The only race I ever won (I think in both my juvenile and adult running stints) didn't have medals

But did you have to give the egg back?

Grassey

I do vaguely remember getting a light bulb and a roll of masking tape in the goodie bag at the Kildare marathon years ago. Maybe not too surprising as Woodies was a primary sponsor..

HelenAnne

average_runner wrote: »

Whats worst is when a race advertises a goodie bag and then doesn't have one:D

Or putting out of date Irish Runner in goodie bags, come on like!

I don't mind that! At least it's something to read. I don't mind getting no good bag, and while I think I like t-shirts I never really wear them afterwards, so could do without them too. What I don't like is getting a goody bag, delving excitedly into it and finding it is literally ALL (no exaggeration) advertising flyers (and one rehydration sachet) Roscommon 10k, I'm looking at you!

I really love the hat and backpack we got at the Irish runner series last year or the year before, I love my Ballycotton mugs, and I won a really lovely mug at one of the Urban Trails races last year. Also I and my extended family are all using keyrings shaped like runners that I got a few of in a goody bag a few years ago. Oh, and one of the Raheny 5 goody bags got me addicted to those raisin Breakfast Bake bars - I'd never tasted them before and now I find them hard to pass by in a shop!

HelenAnne

Grassey wrote: »

I do vaguely remember getting a light bulb and a roll of masking tape in the goodie bag at the Kildare marathon years ago. Maybe not too surprising as Woodies was a primary sponsor..

Oh yes! I liked them! And there was delicious Lidl chocolate in that too.

livedadream

the most insulting was, incontinence pads at a Womens event last year.

HelenAnne

PaulieC wrote: »

The only race I ever won (I think in both my juvenile and adult running stints) didn't have medals

I came third in a race in Wexford (well, 3rd F) where they had prizes for 1st & 2nd! (I've often seen prizes for just 1st, or no prizes, or first 3, or first 6, but first two seemed like bad luck ).

davedanon

HelenAnne wrote: »

Also I and my extended family are all using keyrings shaped like runners that I got a few of in a goody bag a few years ago. [/SIZE]

I think I have that. Shaped like an Asics runner. I use it to open my car door from the inside, as the plastic handle has fallen off again.

NicoleW85

Last year's VHI women's mini marathon goody bag contained mouth wash & a box of colour catcher (among other random things). The orange ice pops at the finish line were a nice touch though

Coffee Fulled Runner

I got a sample of fake tan in a goodie bag at the weekend! Like others have said I haven't any interest in goodie bags/t shirts/medals. I always choose races based on the course, price, atmosphere, with a good spread afterwards If you have trained hard for a race nothing beats racing to beat your previous PB

livedadream

ive always wondered what the best goodie bag is, like what does a participant think makes a good one,

for me its something tasty, protein bar, chocolate bar or the like Jaffa cakes obvs being a personal favourite
bottle of cold water
a good voucher none of this spend 100 euro get 10% off nonsense
an up to date magazine
discounts to upcomming races is a good one
comped always vital
body glide (best thing ive ever got in a bag!)

ThisRegard

HelenAnne wrote: »

I came third in a race in Wexford (well, 3rd F) where they had prizes for 1st & 2nd! (I've often seen prizes for just 1st, or no prizes, or first 3, or first 6, but first two seemed like bad luck ).

I carpet bagged a race and came second, no prize though.

robinph

If you don't want to discuss a particular topic then don't. Posting off topic rubbish in thread to deliberately derail the thread may result in further mod action. There is an ignore button you can use if you want to ignore people.

ThisRegard

Fair enough you removed the bitchyness, but there were a few other posts that got the chop that weren't bitchy or made to try derail the thread.

Can no side bars related to the current topic be discussed, such as oh that reminds me of the time...... Things might become too sterile.

davedanon

Maybe there should be an auto-thread-lock feature for certain prolific thread-starters.

robinph

ThisRegard wrote: »

Fair enough you removed the bitchyness, but there were a few other posts that got the chop that weren't bitchy or made to try derail the thread.

Can no side bars related to the current topic be discussed, such as oh that reminds me of the time...... Things might become too sterile.

Far too much effort to have made any sense of the posts in a sensible way, so they went. There is no problem with the direction a thread goes in changing and that is perfectly normal for any thread. There are limits though.

sconhome

I was wondering what happened, though I was imagining things as started reading Page 1 earlier, looking forward to a 4 page catch up, clicked on 3 and magically landed back at 2

Makes sense now post-lock.

davedanon

I hope there isn't an automatic ban after so many yellows, like in the Premiership.

Ron Gomall

davedanon wrote: »

I hope there isn't an automatic ban after so many yellows, like in the Premiership.

Back to Goody bags, DCM & Berlin both had the same wart cream - what the hell - do they think we all have warts ? Also I throw away the free Monster/ Energy drinks - diet for months to get to race weight then get presented with crap that has 25 spoons of sugar... I'll have a pint instead :-)

KJ

Ron Gomall wrote: »

Back to Goody bags, DCM & Berlin both had the same wart cream - what the hell - do they think we all have warts ?

I did the Dublin Marathon, the Rock n'Roll Half Marathon and then the fun run. All 3 bags had the exact same stuff. My wife did the fun run too so we got 4 bags in total which means we have a lifetime supply of wart cream, colour catcher, mouthwash and John West tuna (we're both Vegan so that was useless).

livedadream

KJ wrote: »

I did the Dublin Marathon, the Rock n'Roll Half Marathon and then the fun run. All 3 bags had the exact same stuff. My wife did the fun run too so we got 4 bags in total which means we have a lifetime supply of wart cream, colour catcher, mouthwash and John West tuna (we're both Vegan so that was useless).

i vote for bigger medals and no goodie bags! im the same with the wart cream?? like are we all supposed to have warts would toenail glue not be better?

HelenAnne

livedadream wrote: »

i vote for bigger medals and no goodie bags! im the same with the wart cream?? like are we all supposed to have warts would toenail glue not be better?

Eek, no way! I vote for no medals and bigger goody bags, full of all the things I like: hats, backpacks, mugs and things to eat .

In answer to what would be the best thing in a goody bag, what I'd REALLY love (& I know this is asking a lot, so it's just 'in a dream world scenario') would be a nice cotton t-shirt, in a woman's size, with a good design related to the race. I saw one in Competitor Running for the San Diego half that had a retro-style design with palm trees, and the name of the race. Something that looked good and fitted and that I'd actually wear would be brilliant. (And I realise that everyone's definition of 'nice' would be different, so this is impossible, but I'm just daring to dream .)

livedadream

HelenAnne wrote: »

Eek, no way! I vote for no medals and bigger goody bags, full of all the things I like: hats, backpacks, mugs and things to eat .

In answer to what would be the best thing in a goody bag, what I'd REALLY love (& I know this is asking a lot, so it's just 'in a dream world scenario') would be a nice cotton t-shirt, in a woman's size, with a good design related to the race. I saw one in Competitor Running for the San Diego half that had a retro-style design with palm trees, and the name of the race. Something that looked good and fitted and that I'd actually wear would be brilliant. (And I realise that everyone's definition of 'nice' would be different, so this is impossible, but I'm just daring to dream .)

changed my mind i want your goodie bags then!

if goodies bags were good id be happy with no medal

and the t-shirt thing seems unreal! the t-shirts never fit me right no matter what size i get!

i did see something really cool though where you can cut them up and make like a really cool blanket thing...

HelenAnne

livedadream wrote: »

changed my mind i want your goodie bags then!

if goodies bags were good id be happy with no medal

and the t-shirt thing seems unreal! the t-shirts never fit me right no matter what size i get!

i did see something really cool though where you can cut them up and make like a really cool blanket thing...

At risk of going OT (I'm talking about an imaginary goody-bag, so it's sort of on t?) I have this t-shirt (I bought it, it's not from a goody bag) -- I'd love if a race gave me something like this:

http://www.runnersedgeny.com/Oiselle_26_2_Crew_Tee_Women_s_p/wapp-oiselle-26.htm

ETA: of course I run for the course, the competition, the time - this would just be an added extra :-).

robinph

Would be hard pressed to beat the London marathon bag from a few years ago with a can of beer in it.

A marathon I did in Austria was giving away "beer" at the end, but it was alcohol free which took away a bit of the fun. Tasted awesome at the time though.

TFBubendorfer

robinph wrote: »

A marathon I did in Austria was giving away "beer" at the end, but it was alcohol free which took away a bit of the fun. Tasted awesome at the time though.

A race I did in Italy had alcohol-free beer as part of their aid-station during the race! A very popular choice it was too.

Just a shame the "goody bag" consisted of the worst t-shirt ever, very cheap looking and already torn stitching straight out of the wrapping.

Bahanaman

Beer (alcoholic and non alcoholic) and hot soup after Frankfurt last year. Most welcome post marathon goodies ever. Nice cup of soup followed by a few cans. Took me ages to leave the post race area!

chrislad

My DCM goodie bag had that portable phone charger, which was really handy! The finishing bag had this gorgeous food thingy - not sure what it was but it was devoured. That said, after the 26.2, I would have eaten anything!

The Limerick one was brutal last year. As was said already, wart cream? Really?

Again, I don't really care about the bag, as such, but it's nice to get something nice!

Sunny Dayz

I'd much prefer not to have a goodie bag but to have supplies provided at the end of the race. Some local races have water, juice and bananas at the end. One race had little scones with butter and jam, another had an array of tables with fruit, squeezey yoghurt tubes, chocolate milk, nutrigrain bars and fun sized chocolate bars. Someone else had mentioned Darkness in Light, my local one last year had tea and coffee, different cereal bars, muffins, sandwiches. It keeps people milling around after the run to chat.

One of my first ever races had a condom in the goody bag :eek:

ThebitterLemon

[Deleted User] wrote: »

One of my first ever races had a condom in the goody bag :eek:

Did you finish or did you pull out early

TbL

davedanon

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Did you finish or did you pull out early

TbL

Give DNF a whole new connotation.

Ron Gomall

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

A race I did in Italy had alcohol-free beer as part of their aid-station during the race! A very popular choice it was too.

Just a shame the "goody bag" consisted of the worst t-shirt ever, very cheap looking and already torn stitching straight out of the wrapping.

Berlin and other German marathons give out that alcohol free beer - Erdinger at the expo and at the finish line - It's great stuff , need a micro brewery to sponsor some races in Ireland :-)

Ruu

Spud in the Bohermeen half bag this year, but it was explained.

CR 7

HelenAnne wrote: »

I came third in a race in Wexford (well, 3rd F) where they had prizes for 1st & 2nd! (I've often seen prizes for just 1st, or no prizes, or first 3, or first 6, but first two seemed like bad luck ).

I finished 3rd in a race while I was on holiday once. It was a themed costume race, and the 1st and 2nd placed finishers didn't run in costume, and there was no 3rd place prize either.:(

The goody bag had a sweatband with a huge mustache embroidered on it, which kind of made up for it though.

HelenAnne

Ron Gomall wrote: »

Berlin and other German marathons give out that alcohol free beer - Erdinger at the expo and at the finish line - It's great stuff , need a micro brewery to sponsor some races in Ireland :-)

There was local microbrewery beer at the end of this last year:

http://www.26extreme.com/productdetails/1452/mourne-way-marathon.aspx

Hannibelle Smeeeth

robinph wrote: »

Would be hard pressed to beat the London marathon bag from a few years ago with a can of beer in it.

A marathon I did in Austria was giving away "beer" at the end, but it was alcohol free which took away a bit of the fun. Tasted awesome at the time though.

Exactly wrote: »

One of my first ever races had a condom in the goody bag :eek:

Beer and a shag...thats my kind of goodie bag!

rainbow kirby

Expired mustard in the goody bag for one of the race series races 6-7 years ago.

I was always fond of the Raheny 5 one - cut the crap and just give me loads of chocolate!

discus

Tear 24 Hour adventure race a year or two ago... Didn't get anything, even a t-shirt. Wasn't impressed.

discus

Bahanaman wrote: »

Beer (alcoholic and non alcoholic) and hot soup after Frankfurt last year. Most welcome post marathon goodies ever. Nice cup of soup followed by a few cans. Took me ages to leave the post race area!

Tavy 7 in Dartmoor last year, everyone got at least 1 free bottle of Doom Bar. Great atmosphere at the finish line

Enduro

discus wrote: »

Tear 24 Hour adventure race a year or two ago... Didn't get anything, even a t-shirt. Wasn't impressed.

Seriously? You've got an issue with that? Seriously?

livedadream

Enduro wrote: »

Seriously? You've got an issue with that? Seriously?

id be pretty peeved to be fair...

ThebitterLemon

Enduro wrote: »

Seriously? You've got an issue with that? Seriously?

I'd have thought the sense of achievement would last longer than a t shirt!

I don't need a medal or tee shirt to validate my modest achievements but that's just me.

TbL

sconhome

livedadream wrote: »

id be pretty peeved to be fair...

The beauty of adventure races is not in the goody bag, its the memories you get.

First big one I did there was no medal, no shirt, no bag but by Christ the sense of accomplishment was immense and I didn't even finish the course!