[RACE REPORT] Kansas City (Half-) Marathon, Pt.II: Expo & Packet Pick-Up

Home > Race Schedules & Reports > 2014 > Kansas City (Half-) Marathon, Pt.II: Expo & Packet Pick-Up

This post is part two in a three-part series on the 2014 Kansas City Half Marathon. Part two covers the event expo, including packet pick-up. Other posts in this series include...

• Part I (Course Preview w. Virtual Run): HERE
• Part III (Race Day): [to be posted week of 10/20]

The event's official site can be found HERE.

Expo & Packet Pick-Up (to be updated afternoon of 10/16)

Packet pick-up is required pre-race (aka NO race-day packet pick-up). Packet pick-up, same as last year, is located at the event expo, at the Sheraton Kansas City at Crown Center, 2323 McGee Street (Exhibit Hall A). The following are the available pick-up times...

• Thursday, October 16th, 3-8pm
• Friday, October 17th, 11am-8pm

From the garage's ground level, these
little green arrows light the way.

For those that have been to the expo for Hospital Hill, this is the same location and Exhibit Hall (but bigger expo!). You can park at the Crown Center lots, but you'll incur the garage's $5 wrath. Though spots are few and far between at the Sheraton's lot, stalking expo goers for a spot is worth the $5 saved (which is $5 earned!). Just be sure to get your parking stamp validated at the expo (more on that in a second).

Once parked, take the elevators or stairs to the ground level. Once there, little green arrows will show the way to the Exhibit Hall. Just follow the green arrows!

Look at these helpful receipt-printing
volunteers!

In the week prior to expo time, event organizers sent out emails with confirmation emails of participants' registration. This email is needed for your actual packet pick-up. If you didn't print it off, fret-not! Just outside the exhibit hall is a row of tables with really awesome volunteers to help ease your confirmation-less woes! Just give them your name, and they'll print off a receipt with your confirmation information.

Now that that jazz is taken care of, get your parking validated! Right at the opening of the exhibit hall, there's a table specifically for validation. Just give them the parking ticket from Sheraton's garage, and a quick stamp will save you your $5. For 2013 athletes, this table is in pretty much the same location as last year.

Now to take care of the last bits of business, grab your packet! These are located at the very back of the exhibit hall. Presumably, this is so you're required to hit the exhibitor tables no matter what, but I like to wait for that table stroll until after my packet is in-hand. Like last year, these are organized by bib number, NOT by last name (hence the required confirmation email).

The relay tables were nearly empty. Half-marathon? Not so much.

If you're a late registerer, you're all the way to the right. Next from right are the kiddy runners, relayers (black signs), then half-marathoners (green signs), and finally full marathoners nearly all the way to the left of the back wall (blue signs). Upon my arrival, nearly right at 3pm on the first expo day, the half-marathon tables were packed. This is always going to be hit-or-miss, but usually the busiest times for packet pick-up are right at the start, right at the end, or during natural breaks in the day (such as around the lunch our, or at rush hour time). Plan accordingly

Now you can hit the actual expo part of the expo! Various vendors showcase at the expo -- about the same as Hospital Hill (this year at HH, I picked up a Fitletic number holder on the cheap). UltraMax Sports, the Running Well Store, and KC Running Company store are just a few of the local vendors. Take your time, and appreciate the work of all the exhibitors that took their time to come on out!

I believe that's about it. You got your packet, your goodies, go home and start carb-ing up!!

Until then, keep R/B/S-ing.

-tds

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