Should Influencers Get Free Marathon Bibs?

With the World Marathon Majors becoming increasingly harder to get into, the influencer bib debate seems to have escalated. There aren't a ton of controversial topics in the amateur running world, but when they arise, I like to address them.

I'll provide an overview of why this is so controversial and then break down the three different parties responsible for these influencer bibs: the marathon itself, the sponsor, and the influencer.

The Debate
Social media content creators, more commonly called "influencers," are running the World Marathon Majors with bibs obtained from sponsors. Instead of entering these races through the lottery, charity, a tour group, or qualifying times (which is how most people gain entry), some influencers run these marathons

with "gifted" bibs from the race sponsors. I put "gifted" in quotes because even though the influencer doesn't pay money for the bib, he or she is responsible for creating content to promote the race and the sponsor. 

Runners try for years to gain entry into the NYC marathon lottery, which has hundreds of thousands of runners seeking only 50,000 spots. Likewise, many runners try for years and years to qualify for Boston by improving their race times. Others spend large amounts of time and effort raising money for charity. The demand for these marathons is rapidly increasing, but supply is staying about the same. Therefore, when these runners browse social media and see that an influencer got a "free" bib without having to fundraise, qualify, or win a competitive lottery, they get irritated. Or angry. Or jealous. Or a mix of all of these. 

The Marathon
To understand how this works, let's start with the marathon: Boston, New York, Chicago, London, Tokyo, Berlin. These marathons have two main sources of income: 1) registration fees 2) sponsorships. In order to pay for the extraordinary expenses of hosting these events, the income needs to be significant. A sponsorship package may look something like this: large booth at the race expo, logo on all race materials, advertisements in the race packet/program, and a certain number of race bibs. Do these bibs have to be part of the sponsorship package? Not necessarily. But if you are Bank of America and are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars (more likely millions of dollars) to sponsor the Boston Marathon and you don't even get any race entries? That feels wrong. "Thank you for this enormous amount of money to fund our marathon, but no - we will not be letting you have any bibs."

The reality of the situation is that large marathons need big-ticket sponsors. And when they are taking that kind of money from a sponsor, it seems like they should give the sponsor a few race entries as part of the package.

The Sponsors
Bibs in hand, the sponsors can do whatever they choose with them. They can give them to employees, executives, customers, nonprofits, partners - whatever they want. Do the sponsors have to give the bibs to influencers? No. So maybe you should direct your anger towards them. It's fine to give the bibs to your employees but don't give them to influencers who will shove it into our faces that they got in for free!!! 

That logic falls apart quickly. The sponsors are businesses, too, and they want the most mileage out of their sponsorship (pun intended).

Blame the sponsors all you want, but the reality is that they want maximum exposure, and they should want maximum exposure for the price they pay to sponsor the marathon. That said, another option for the sponsors is to give them to customers through a sweepstakes or contest. "Buy a pair of our shoes in the month of August and you'll be entered to win a free bib to the NYC Marathon". That's probably what many sponsors did before the rise of social media, but I'm guessing they've done the math and found the social media exposure to be more valuable. So can we get mad at the sponsors? Largely no, but maybe a little bit annoyed that they don't go the sweepstakes route.

NYC Marathon 2013

The Influencers
Imagine if you received an email offering you a bib to one of the World Marathon Majors, and all you would have to do in return is what you normally do every day? Would you take it? Yes. Kind of a no-brainer. 

This exact thing happened to me in 2013. I gained entry into the NYC Marathon through a sweepstakes bib from ASICS. I had already run NYC and hadn't planned on doing it again, but I could not turn down a free entry into a race that was so hard to get into, and expensive too!

The reality is that sponsors are going to offer bibs to influencers and of course that's going to be appealing to the influencers! Can you get mad at the influencers for accepting a bib from a sponsor? No! Because if someone offered it to you, you would probably accept it.

It's not unfair. It's not unearned. Sponsored entries are a legitimate way to gain entry into a marathon. The influencer has earned it by building a social media audience and working hard day after day to create content that resonates with the running community. If this bothers you, then you are free to start your own Instagram or TikTok or YouTube, build a following, and then get a sponsored bib. Nobody is stopping you. 

But here's where things get tricky, and here's where I think the heart of the debate really lies. Once the influencer has accepted the sponsor bib, how do they talk about it on social media? What is their message? Is it positive? Entitled? Inspiring? Informative? What does it offer the running community? Are they genuine? Do they acknowledge the fact that hundreds of thousands of runners want their bib, but couldn't get it?

So while you can't really fault the influencer for accepting the bib, you can be annoyed by how they promote it on social media. Be annoyed at their content, yes, but the mere fact that they are part of a marketing opportunity is simply how business works. 

What Would Elizabeth Do?
I have never run a World Marathon Major with a sponsored bib. I've had offers in the past, but turned them down because I didn't want to travel to Berlin and Tokyo at those times. If I had wanted to run those marathons, I would have accepted the sponsor bibs. But as with any brand partnership I take on, I only partner with a brand when I actually WANT their product. I'd love to run Berlin and Tokyo someday, but the timing needs to be right. 

Boston Marathon 2022

In 2022, Amazon sponsored me to run the Boston Marathon, but I did not accept their bib because I already had one that I had gained through qualification. I received some other perks from Amazon, but the bib was not one of them. At the time I asked myself, "If I hadn't qualified yet, would I accept this sponsored bib?" My answer was no. And that's not because I am selfless! It's because qualifying is what makes Boston special to me.

Other people may see Boston as special for other reasons, which are just as valid as mine, but given my 7-year struggle, to me it's all about earning the spot through time qualification. I wouldn't genuinely be excited about Boston if I hadn't qualified, because to me, that's the main reason to run Boston! It's why I have run Boston six times but Chicago only once. London only once. New York twice (but one was the sweepstakes)! 

So yes, I would have earned the sponsor bib because of my social media presence. Yes, it would be a legitimate entry. But it wouldn't be the Boston I know and love. 

As for the other world majors, I would accept a sponsored bib if I was interested in that marathon at that time. I would create content that expressed gratitude for the opportunity, and show the day-to-day of how I was preparing for the event. It wouldn't necessarily have to be my goal race, but I would have goals for it, because that's how I roll!

TLDR
You can't be mad at the marathons for giving bibs to sponsors. You can't really get mad at sponsors for giving the bibs to influencers (though you might be a little annoyed). You can't get mad at the influencer for accepting the bib, and you can't claim that it's not fair. Every step of the process is a business transaction. You CAN be angry, annoyed, jealous, judgmental-- whatever you want-- if the influencer creates content that you think disrespects the opportunity that has become more and more elusive. If the influencer is me, at least you now know my position. 

NYC Marathon: VIP Style!

A few weeks ago, I was offered the opportunity to run the New York City Marathon for free, courtesy of Asics!

I would receive a free, legitimate bib into the marathon, plus VIP transportation to the start line, VIP bag check, and "head to toe" Asics NYC Marathon gear. It was through their "Celebrate Running" contest, and my friend Chad and I were both selected as winners. Score!!! Greg refers to it as the "Cadillac" of NYC Marathon experiences.

Not only does a NYC marathon bib typically cost around $250, but it's also extremely hard to get in through their lottery system. In 2010, I didn't get in through the lottery, so I raised $3000 for Central Park to gain entry. Plus the cost of the bib.

Even though New York City would be just three weeks after the Chicago Marathon, this opportunity was too amazing to turn down. I didn't think I would ever run New York again, and now I had the chance to run it for free, with VIP treatment!

During the three weeks between Chicago and New York, I ran a grand total of 5 times. Most runs were only 4 miles, and my longest was 7 miles. I wanted to make sure I was as recovered as possible for NYC, and didn't want to risk delaying recovery by putting more strain on my body.

For various reasons, Greg opted to stay home and track me remotely. Given that NYC is so crowded that you might not even see your spectator or vice versa, I was totally fine with this, although I definitely missed him.

VIP Expo Treatment
Chad and I drove up to NYC on Saturday morning. We met up with our Asics rep, and his driver drove us from the hotel to the expo. Once there, we were allowed to choose pretty much whatever we wanted from the Asics NYC merchandise section, including shoes! I loaded up: a hat, an ear warmer, gloves, arm warms, socks, a long sleeved shirt, 2 short-sleeved shirts, a pair of shorts, 2 pairs of pants, and a jacket.

Free NYC Marathon Gear. Thanks, Asics!

It was so much fun getting to pick all this stuff out. I decided I would wear the arm warmers and the white shirt to run the race in. I would have worn the shorts, but it didn't have enough pockets for all of my gels the way my skirt does.

After the expo, Chad and I went back to the hotel, relaxed, and then went back out to dinner. We met up with his cousin and her friends, as well as the Asics rep, who paid for everyone's dinner. Asics was definitely very generous and I am so grateful to have had this opportunity! After dinner, the Asics rep gave chad and me special wrist bands that would allow us to access the VIP tent at the start line. This was a warm tent with tables and chairs, and plenty of food. Much preferable to the 3-hour wait that Greg and I had back in 2010 sitting on the ground, freezing our butts off!

Before the Race
Race morning came and I found that I didn't have my typical nerves. This was actually a bad thing because those nerves combined with the bagel that I eat first thing in the morning allow me to empty my digestive system fully before the race starts. And since the start wasn't until 10:05, I had to wait until I was on the bus to the start line to eat my bagel. Unfortunately, that did not get my digestive system going like it usually does.

Anyway, we took a special VIP bus to the starting area and promptly found our tent. I only stayed in there for a short time because I had to drop my bag off and then make my way to my corral. Chad and I separated because he had a different color bib, which meant a different starting location.

I was in the second of four waves, which equated to a 10:05 start time. The one benefit of being in the second wave, as opposed to the first, is that there were plenty of warm clothes left over from the wave 1 starters that I could sit down on. I had en entire pile of jackets to relax on, which made the wait inside the corral much more bearable. I was surrounded by a bunch of French guys and I felt like I was the only American there! Luckily, I speak French.

I was fortunate to get an orange bib, which meant I got to run above the bridge instead of below it like I did in 2010. So my first three miles were different from the 2010 race, which was cool. The forecast called for a sustained 15 MPH headwind for the first 21 miles, with temps in the high 40's to low 50's. I was told that the wind would be especially chilly on the bridges. I decided I would start off the race wearing arm warmers, and then ditch them if I got too hot.

Finally, they moved our corral out of the staging area and up to the start line. It was an amazing view of the bridge.

Miles 1-8
The first two miles took us over the Verazzano-Narrows bridge. My plan for this race was to start at a pace of 9:15-9:30 and then try to speed up if at all possible. My primary goal for running this race was simply to have fun and enjoy the experience, so I wasn't hung up on time. But I also wanted to practice strong execution.

My stomach started to feel off starting at around mile 3. I experienced some mild stomach cramping, but I did my best to ignore it and run through it. I was seriously hoping that my inability to go to the bathroom before the race wouldn't come back to haunt me.

This part of the course wasn't particularly scenic, but it did have a good atmosphere, as does the entire race. I took my first gel at mile 5 and even though my stomach had been bothering me, it seemed to go down fine.

I wore my headphone like I did in Chicago, and they seemed to enhance the experience rather than detract from it. I could still hear what was going on around me, but with the added benefit of inspiring music. Five For Fighting and Panic At The Disco were the two prevalent artists, quite an interesting mix!

Mile 1: 9:55
Mile 2: 8:53
Mile 3: 9:22
Mile 4: 9:01
Mile 5: 9:02
Mile 6: 8:57
Mile 7: 8:53
Mile 8: 9:18

Miles 9-13
This was when my race took a turn for the worse. During mile 9, I really had to go pee and there were no porta potties in sight. I saw a few guys go off the course into a parking lot and pee in between cars, so I did the same thing. Not something I am proud of, but I didn't have any other options at the time.

I felt a little bit better after that but soon realized that my stomach problems were much greater than originally expected. During the 10th mile, I was lucky enough to find an open bar, and they let me use their bathroom. It was such a major relief and I am very fortunate that I found that bar when I did. I don't think I could have waited another few minutes.

I felt much better afterwards and it was technically time to take my next gel. I figured that even though my stomach had been acting up, I should still take my gel because I didn't want to run out of energy later in the race. A mile later, I was paying for this decision, and found myself in the Meatball Shop in Brooklyn. After my previous bathroom stop, I didn't think it was possible that I would have anything left in me, but I was very wrong. Sorry if that's too graphic! But once again, I was very lucky that this place was open and that they were more than happy to let me use their bathroom. In fact, after I was done, everyone in the place was very encouraging, telling me to go out there and finish the race!

I got back into the race and felt pretty good. Usually after I have major stomach distress, the rest of my

Not sure what mile this is.

run is killed. I think that because I found restrooms exactly when I needed them and didn't have to run in pain while waiting to find a bathroom, that helped a lot. This is the advantage of big city marathons!

By this point, I was coming up on mile marker 12. I decided that I should just take the rest of the race easy and not try and speed up at all. I actually couldn't believe I still had 14 miles ahead of me, so I figured the best approach would be to relax, run slowly, and take in the experience.

I was also thinking about Greg tracking me at home and what he must think. Obviously there was a major slowdown between the 15K and 20K marks, and I was hoping that he wasn't thinking I was hurt.  Part of my motivation to keep running strong was to not worry him!

I crossed the halfway mark in 2:13:09. My original plan had been to cross it at around 2:02, but that was obviously out the window. It seems as if the bathroom stops cost me about 10-11 minutes. But I wasn't trying to run a particular time, so it didn't bother me. I just focused on running my best for the second half of the race.

Miles 14-20
These were the glory miles. I felt better at this point than at any other time during the race. The stomach issues were gone, I felt energized and excited to be running the race. I consider miles 15-16 to be the toughest miles of the course-- the Queensboro bridge. It's a mile uphill and a mile downhill, similar to the very first bridge. But by this point, your legs feel it a lot more.

Many people were stopped on this bridge to stretch. I remember how tough this was for Greg and me in 2010 and how I couldn't wait to get over it.  During the uphill mile, I stayed strong and focused, running at a very conservative pace. During the dowhill mile, I made sure not to go crazy fast, and was looking forward to being on First Ave. where the huge crowd was.

After we got off the bridge, we were finally in Manhattan. Miles 17-20 are a straightaway along first avenue and there are loads and loads of people lining the streets. This is when my favorite Panic! At the  Disco album started to play on my iPod and the timing couldn't have been better. The music and the crowds pumped me up so much and it was a definite high. I was smiling and waving at all the spectators, having the time of my life. I glanced at my Garmin from time to time and noticed that I was back down to a pace of around 9:00 for these miles.

Because the Garmin reception wasn't great during the covered bridge portion, I don't have accurate splits for those miles. But I would guess that my average pace for the "glory miles" was somewhere around 9:00-9:15.

During mile 18 I had some Honey Stinger Chews. I hoped those would be better for my stomach than the gels, and I knew I needed more calories to take me through the end of the race. Thankfully, I did not regret this decision!

Miles 21-Finish
During these last five miles, my legs told me that they didn't want to be running anymore. This is where I could tell I wasn't fully recovered from Chicago, and/or the NYC course just took a toll on my legs with all of the bridges and hills.

Slow, focused run to the finish.

My energy level and spirits were actually really high. Overall I felt very strong. It's just that my legs didn't want to move anymore. I decided that I would run to mile marker 21, and then allow myself a 1-minute walk. I did that, and then ran to mile 22, where I got another 1-minute walk. I did this all the way to the finish and it worked.

At this point about half the people were walking and half the people were slowly jogging. I didn't see anyone who looked particularly strong. It's just a brutal course, and the headwind had also taken its toll.  There were times when I thought I would never make it to the finish.

One motivator for me was that one of my best friends was in town that weekend, and she was leaving that evening. We had tentative plans for an early dinner, so I knew that if I wanted to keep those plans, I'd better keep moving and not walk my way to the finish. (Of course, this is based on the experience of knowing it would take me well over an hour to get back to my hotel post race).

I also noticed that when I was running, my pace was around a 9:30, which is decent. Sadly, when combined with my 1:00 walk breaks, the slows down to a 10:30. I was just relieved that I was in the home stretch and that I hadn't hit "the wall" in terms of my energy. Just in terms of my legs giving out on me. I did run the entire last mile (no walking) and found the energy to do it at a pretty decent clip. My official splits show my average pace steadily declining over those last five miles, but with the final run to the finish, it actually got very slightly faster. I love the feeling of finishing strong. This also shows how much of a mental thing marathon running is.

After The Race
I finished in 4:28:29, which makes this my 2nd slowest marathon of 16, and my slowest marathon since I started running them in 2006. I am totally fine with this, as NYC was meant to be about the experience and

About to finish

the fun, and not about running a particular time. I just PRed in Chicago three weeks ago, so I was by no means hungry for a fast race.

One of the reasons I had decided that NYC was a 1-time marathon was because the post-race experience is so miserable. Even with my VIP bag check (which means you can avoid the mile-long walk through the park to get your bag, and it takes 45 minutes because it's so crowded) it still took me nearly two hours after I crossed the finish line to get home. It was in the 40's and overcast, and I was freezing. One of my fingers even went numb. This put me in a really bad mood because I was tired and cold and I just wanted to be back at my hotel. Instead, I probably walked an additional two miles at a snails pace because all of the runners were going the same way.

Eventually I made it back to my hotel with enough time to shower and meet my friend for dinner. Chad actually waited in the VIP finish area for them to find his bag. They lost my bag and his too, but mine didn't have anything in it that I cared about. Just some food and a warm throw-away jacket (which would have been nice-- but not worth a wait).

Final Takeaways
I'm very glad I took advantage of this opportunity. I ran the race to the best of my ability, kept positive even when my stomach was acting up, and focused on the experience rather than the time on the clock. I ran the second half only 2 minutes slower than the first half, which shows that despite all of the stomach drama and leg stuff at the end, I was overall pretty consistent with my pacing.

Because I was injured for six weeks this past summer, this fall season has been a great opportunity to focus on the mental aspects of racing-- the area where I struggle most. Now that I have two "positive" marathon experiences under my belt, I am beginning to see the marathon as something to enjoy, and not something where I have to go out and prove to the world that I am a great runner. Of course I will ultimately want to run faster and set PRs, but in order to do that, I first needed to establish that it's not just about the finish time. Marathoning can offer a great deal of personal satisfaction even if the time on the clock isn't as fast as I would like, or as fast as I think it "should" be based on training. It's taken me 16 marathons to figure this out, but I'm glad I finally did.

I think this fall racing season has set me up to continue marathoning in a much more positive light than ever before, and I look forward to being able to train consistently and tie the whole package together at some point!

My name in the NY Times. I placed 27,627th. 

NYC Marathon: Training Update

This is my first official blog dedicated to my training for the NYC Marathon.

The NYC marathon is the largest marathon in the United States, and rivals the London marathon for the largest marathon in the world. Due to its popularity, there is a lottery system to get into the race. It seems like about 1 in 6 people got in through the lottery this year (and that's just a guess based on how many people I know who entered it and were accepted vs. denied). And one of them was my fiancé, Greg. I was unfortunately denied, so I opted to raise money for charity and "earn" my entry that way. This will be Greg's first marathon, and I definitely want us to share the experience.

When it came time to choose the charity, I realized there were a lot of options. Most of them revolved around fighting some kind of disease, none of which have directly affected me (thankfully). So I chose a charity that was relevant to the marathon and relevant to my family history: The Central Park Conservancy. This organization cares for Central Park and goes far and beyond what taxpayer dollars would cover.

My father grew up in New York city in an apartment building that faced central park. Throughout his childhood, he would play in the park and he built many memories there. He eventually moved down to Virginia where I was born. We would visit my grandparents and uncle in New York, and I had the opportunity to play in the park, just like my father.

My grandparents passed away about 7 years ago. It was very sad for me because I had a strong relationship with them. Every time I go to New York, I remember them and all the wonderful times we had together. My uncle is my only remaining family member in Manhattan and it will be great to have his support when I run the marathon.


So if you are reading this, please help me meet my fundraising goal of $3,000. I am currently 46% of the way there and every dollar counts! Click here to donate now.

Now for the training aspect of it! My attitude when training for this marathon is that I want to motivate Greg and support him in his first marathon. I don't care as much about our finish time, although I really think Greg is capable of that golden 3:40. His half marathon PR is the McMillan equivalent of a 3:40, and he has built up even more endurance since then.
We've been doing most of our runs together-- but sometimes I run a few extra miles on my own or I do a recovery run when he has a rest day. For interval work, we go to a track and run at our own paces. He's faster than me on the intervals and I wouldn't want to hold him back.

My past few weeks have been:

Week of 6/28: 41 miles (includes a 5K race)
Week of 7/5: 45 miles (inc. 13-miler)
Week of 7/12: 47 miles (inc. 16-miler)
Week of 7/19: 48.6 miles (inc. 15-miler)
Week of 7/26: 52.5 miles (inc. 18-miler)

Each week includes one speed work, one Fartlek, and one long run. For this week I am planning on 56 miles. And then next week I am getting married so I have a recovery week!