Once again, I spent Patriot’s Day Weekend in the greater Boston area and got to watch the runner’s enjoy the great weather. But I’m ahead of myself; the weekend started on Friday evening at the Expo.

Since I’m not running I didn’t have a need to actually go to the expo, but I was looking forward to meeting up with a few people (some who showed, some who didn’t, and some that I just met randomly while there.)

It was crowded enough that I didn’t get to talk to everybody that I wanted among the exhibitors, and I never actually got to the Recovery Sock booth before the expo closed. I was hoping to thank whoever was working there for helping out during my 1 More Mile Challenge back in January. I did get to meet Ze’ev from Zensah and thank him, though.

The first place I stopped and spent a little time chatting, though, was with Vanessa Fajans-Turner, the executive director of the Ryan and Sara Hall Steps Foundation. They benefit communities both internationally and domestically with clean water and mentoring programs. Unfortunately, Ryan wasn’t going to be at the expo until Saturday when I’d be running the Exeter Marathon.

I tried some shoes on from Zoot Sports while chatting with Chris Bohannon. Their shoes are designed for triathletes to get into quickly and they were really comfortable. It was very much like wearing slippers. I have no need of new shoes right now but I might give them a try next time I’m up for experimenting with something new. Unfortunately, Peak Performance Sports was the closest supplier and they went out of business a few months ago so I’ll probably have to go to Bangor if I want to try the shoes on again.

All in all, it was a worthwhile trip to the expo. I picked up a few items (including a new hydration pack from my friends at Nathan) and met some interesting folks, gave out some business cards and a DVD or three, got to try a few free samples.

After the expo closed, my wife and I went down Boylston Street and found a restaurant called Globe that was quite tasty; I recommend it if you are in the area at any point in the near future. Then we headed over to my friend’s house where we were staying for the weekend so I could turn in for the night and get ready for my marathon the next morning in Rhode Island.