One of these things is not like the other… singing yet? 🙂
Ah, the sage wisdom of Mr. Rogers.
Yesterday, Sandy and I ran in the Sunshine Run 10k in Austin. This is our second year to do the race, and we really enjoy the event, and appreciate the hard working YMBL & Sunshine Camps staff. This, however is not a review of the event. I wanted to share a mishap, that we all should add to our list of things to check on race day (or before).
Yes, we all know the regulars, “check your bib number/name”, “wear your bib where it is visible”, etc. And for couples like Sandy and I, “make sure you are wearing your own bib”. And a list like this would not be complete without the famous (infamous) runDisney-ism; “remove your Mylar blanket!” Oh, how many times I have heard that one.
I never thought about needing to add, “make sure your bib actually has an rfid tag (chip) on it.” Yep, this is a new one and that’s exactly what happened to me yesterday. In fact, I didn’t even notice it until we got home and Sandy was checking our race results. I was non-existent. Since I didn’t show up as a DNF, we are guessing that my bib never had a chip. This would have been very easy to rectify either at packet pickup or the morning of the race.
Sandy and I are signed up for multiple 10k races over the next few months, working towards a good proof of time for our Wine & Dine Two-course Challenge in November at Disney World. Luckily, neither of us got times we were satisfied with, so the lack of results for me wont be a big issue. On the other hand, had this been a PR (and good POT for Disney) I would have been very disappointed. I’m sure I don’t have to elaborate.
So, the moral of this story is to check everything you get in your packet. Preferably at packet pickup, and again on race day. It would suck to knock out a PR, only to find out it didn’t really happen. As a smart person (not sure who, but surely someone said this once) once said, “If it’s not on the internet, it didn’t happen”.
Happy running!
-fatman
(Check out more about Austin Sunshine Camps and their mission, here.)
