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A goodie bag?


Earlier today I participated in a 5Km fun run in Edinburgh - the Great Winter Run.  About 1300 were there for a snowy run around  Holyrood Park.

I don't run very often and in preparation for this just did 2 interval sessions over the past 2 weeks and while I did not post a great time (I was 31 minutes) I got around comfortably with no problems on a snowy and hilly course.

But that is not the point of this post....At the end of the race - as it usual at these events - we were given a goody bag.  The contents are below.  I laid them out on the floor when I got home.




  • A medal - thanks
  • A space blanket - handy.  Will go in my hillwalking kit
  • A nice cotton long sleeved T shirt - fine it is good and I will wear it
  • Fajita seasoning - ??? eh? WT Heck?
  • Andrex toilet roll - why?
  • Powerade - yuck.  I will pour it down the toilet and perhaps use the empty bottle
  • Powerbar - yuck...throw away or maybe emergency rations in the bottom of my rucksack...but I'd have to be desperate
  • Jointace gel - no idea what this is
  • Scholl Party Feet Blister Pack - handy for the first aid kit
  • Nature Valley Granola bar....again I will not eat this by choice 
  • Eat Natural bar... again I will not eat this by choice
  • A liquid washing detergent capsule - again........ why?

A wierd mix.  The food and drink was all sugary crap.  Useful things - blister packs, space blanket......Then there was random stuff:  toilet roll, washing detergent, fajita seasoning.

Weird
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Just be thankful for sponsors and the whole demographic that likes sugar/participates in 5k runs in front of whom they're paying to get their product.

If you want to hear something really wtf, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fundraiser walk I attended was giving out sugary granola snacks sweetened with agave, which is naturally high in fructose.
January 8, 2011 at 3:26 PM
toilet paper guy said…
can never have too much toilet paper
January 8, 2011 at 4:33 PM
Methuselah said…
The only thing missing from that random collection of items was a free one-month subscription to Sky. This sounds like a triumph of commericalism over practicality.
January 8, 2011 at 11:22 PM
Chris said…
wins all round - the sponsors get to give away free samples to a particular demographic and the organiser looks very generous
January 9, 2011 at 1:41 AM
Chirs G said…
Ha! On the brightside its pretty generous in the amount of stuff. I did the Wharfedale 1/2 marathon last year and the goody bag was a poor quality t shirt (shrank after 1st wash), a sachet of H5 energy gel, a used biro from the Black Sheep brewery and a post card from a local cottage rental company! Oh a bottle of water when you crossed the finish line. a lot of it, I think, is down to how many people are paying to enter the race. They could provise some healthier goodies though.
January 9, 2011 at 2:52 AM
Chris said…
Cheers Chris.

yeah this was generous....it was the contents that amused me.

Emergency toilet paper......
January 9, 2011 at 9:34 AM
Heather said…
I think the weirdest collection I got in a goodie bag included:

a package of beef jerky
a can of beer
a fortune cookie
a sorority keyring

(among more traditional things like a tee shirt and pharma samples)
January 10, 2011 at 9:34 AM
Anonymous said…
5k run I did for Leukemia gave out a package that included:

-A Pink Beer Cozy
-Perfume Samplers
-A local restaurant guide
-$20 Off Coupon for a Kay Jewelers
-A local Realtor Booklet
-A Powerbar
-5% discount for Family portraits at a local photographer

As a single 27yo male I can say that I've never had a had a run make me evaluate what stage my life is in more then that one. The jokes just write themselves.
January 10, 2011 at 11:10 AM
Chris said…
Anon - Love it

As a single 42 year old I understand where you are coming from!
January 10, 2011 at 4:13 PM
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