What's the deal with day before the race packet pickup?

Dude that latex is getting to your head. Think of the options:

1. Arrive at site on race day, park, and line up to get race packet. Collect plastic bag filled with mostly useless and some potentially useful stuff, that you now have to return to car. Affix race bib and/or chip. Head back to race site. All of this with potentially ridiculous wait times--where is your packet? Why are there no pins? There's no free beer ticket in this bag etc etc etc.

2. Do all of that crap the night before. Show up in race with bib and chip on. Run race.

Which is easier?

Er... wrote:

Dude that latex is getting to your head. Think of the options:

1. Arrive at site on race day, park, and line up to get race packet. Collect plastic bag filled with mostly useless and some potentially useful stuff, that you now have to return to car. Affix race bib and/or chip. Head back to race site. All of this with potentially ridiculous wait times--where is your packet? Why are there no pins? There's no free beer ticket in this bag etc etc etc.

2. Do all of that crap the night before. Show up in race with bib and chip on. Run race.

Which is easier?

1 is easier. I'm already driving to race site and arriving an hour or so early anyway. Might as well pick up the bib/chip while I'm already there.

2 involves rearranging my schedule the day before and goung out of my way to make an

extra trip. A hundred times less convenient than race morning packet pickup.

Find me an event that doesn't allow pickup the morning of the race.

OP, you've never volunteered at a race. It's quite clear.

/thread

"Find me an event that doesn't allow pickup the morning of the race."

Um any major (and not so major) marathon.

How about this: just bandit the race then you don't have to worry about all that pre-race B.S.

Er... wrote:

Find me an event that doesn't allow pickup the morning of the race.

The majority of marathons, an increasing number of half marathons, and even some 5ks and 10ks.

In the case of the marathons, it's all about the expo. Expos are big business for race organizers. If they can force runners to go to the expo to get their bibs, they can sell vendors on the fact that X people will be exposed to their products.

For races that offer day-before bib pick up as an option but not a requirement, I have no idea why anyone would do it. From a participant's perspective, it is not advantageous at all. It's an inconvenience.

Er... wrote:

Find me an event that doesn't allow pickup the morning of the race.

Lots of big races don't allow pickup morning of the race. If too many people wait until race morning, there would still be lines at packet pickup past the race start time.

Once you get to about 1000 runners, there is a real need to have day before options.

Holeymoley wrote:

OP, you've never volunteered at a race. It's quite clear.

/thread

Incorrect. I volunteer at two races every single year. Have done so for over a decade. I've even done race morning bib distribution. It was no problem.

What I will never do is miss work to volunteer for before race day packet pickup. Makes no sense for volunteers OR runners.

Er... wrote:

Find me an event that doesn't allow pickup the morning of the race.

Almost any medium size half marathon and some shorter races . Sometimes it prevents me from doing these events as an extra 2 hours of driving is just too inconvenient .race organizers seem to think their February 10 miler is the running event of the year even though it offers no prize purse.

edward teach wrote:

Er... wrote:

Find me an event that doesn't allow pickup the morning of the race.

Almost any medium size half marathon and some shorter races . Sometimes it prevents me from doing these events as an extra 2 hours of driving is just too inconvenient .race organizers seem to think their February 10 miler is the running event of the year even though it offers no prize purse.

+ 1. I live on the outskirts of a metro area, so almost every race is a 45-60 minute drive for me. I AM NOT making that drive two days in a row. Let me pick up my bib race morning or I'm not running your race.

Art Vandelay wrote:

Just about every race now has day before packet pickup as an option, if not a requirement.

I don't get it. I can see it saving the race organizers time on race morning, but isn't that offset by having to commit more volunteer time before race day, usually during working hours?

As a runner, it makes no sense to go out of your way to make a special trip to pick up a packet versus getting it race morning when you're already on site anyway. It is NOT a convenience.

Help me understand.

I don't mind to pick up a packet if the location is not out of my way. It gets annoying when the packet pick up location/race is more than an hour away because I'll have to drive there the day before race day to pick up the packet and next day early in the morning for the race. But I understand race directors of big races to not offer it as an option.

I agree there is a certain size where races have to get the bib distribution done the day before. But there are also a lot of races which say you have to pick the packet up early, but will really let you get it the morning of the race. Not everyone can get there the day before. Whoever mentioned the expos is right, it's all about getting people to buy stuff.

Besides the convenience of making sure the electronic timing systems are ready to fly for the next morning, there are other reasons to have day-before packet pickup.

Racers under-estimate what a pain in the ass that race-timing is. There are ALWAYS changes and mistakes that need to be fixed, and it is MUCH easier to do it the night before.

Often, pickup is hosted at running stores or businesses. This is more opportunity to advertise to the runners.

This isn't a terrible thing. It is hard to make money on races, so this adds some economic benefit for the host/partners.

Er... wrote:

Dude that latex is getting to your head. Think of the options:

1. Arrive at site on race day, park, and line up to get race packet. Collect plastic bag filled with mostly useless and some potentially useful stuff, that you now have to return to car. Affix race bib and/or chip. Head back to race site. All of this with potentially ridiculous wait times--where is your packet? Why are there no pins? There's no free beer ticket in this bag etc etc etc.

2. Do all of that crap the night before. Show up in race with bib and chip on. Run race.

Which is easier?

Your first option is easier unless you live 2 mins away

Even better would be to get it sent in the post

As for no pins what sort of runner are you?!

I'd gladly pay an extra $5 gor them to just mail it to me.

I really wish races would go that.

half the story wrote:

I agree there is a certain size where races have to get the bib distribution done the day before. But there are also a lot of races which say you have to pick the packet up early, but will really let you get it the morning of the race. Not everyone can get there the day before. Whoever mentioned the expos is right, it's all about getting people to buy stuff.

I found that to be true for a 5k once. They required day before packet pick up, and I lived an hour away. I emailed the RD and said I couldn't take off work to make a 2 hour round trip the day before, and I was out if they insisted on it. They replied that I could pick up race morning.

Like so many things, it's a size thing.

For a big race I think it is completely reasonable to require everyone to show up the day(s) before to get their packet. The logistics of having 8-10,000 people showing up to get their t-shirt, complaining about the size, not getting the right number, or corral assignment... you don't need to mess with that when you are trying to get 20,000 people across the starting line before 8 am.

Now if it's some podunk 10k, then yeah.. you have a legit complaint. Usually they are trying to drive some foot traffic to the local running store or sponsor.

Postal Worker wrote:

I'd gladly pay an extra $5 gor them to just mail it to me.

I really wish races would go that.

Me too, but that wouldn't get us into the expo or running store to buy stuff.

it's a business wrote:

Postal Worker wrote:

I'd gladly pay an extra $5 gor them to just mail it to me.

I really wish races would go that.

Me too, but that wouldn't get us into the expo or running store to buy stuff.

Which isn't a bad thing.

Remember that often, your local running stores generate the races that you run.