Going to the marathon expo with kids? You HAVE to do this.

Extra Snickers bars? Check

If you're going to run marathons and race triathlons, you have to get your family on board.

One of the best ways to get your kids to love it is to have them go 'trick -or-treating' at the race expo. My girls, 5 and 6, absolutely love this. They each get one of the many bags vendors hang out, and then they go around to all the vendors and say "trick or treat!" And since they're cute little girls and not greedy adult runners, venders just love giving them tons of free stuff. At the last expo we attended, I got a few gels and a bottled water from vendors. My girls each got tech tees (adult medium, but who cares) race finisher medals, a bunch of gels, bars, waters, gatorades, shaving cream- probably $100+ in free stuff. The girls didn't want any of it, they just had fun 'trick-or-treating". And I had enough gels to last for months.

Scary Disney Marathon Poster!

As my friend Shawn says, "Kids are expensive! You might as well get some money back from them."

 Have fun at the expo!