Race Goodies-USAT Age Group Nationals

One of the fund things about doing a race is getting your race packet and seeing what fun things were included as part of the race experience.  So I got home Thursday night and spread it all out. Since this was a National Championship I had high hopes.

First the swim cap is bright green. Every wave has it's own color. There are 44 women in my age group and all women 55 and over will be in the same swim wave. So there will be 96 of us taking off at 8:12 am on Sunday.

Race numbers were next.. There is a whole page of them for a triathlon. You have to put one number on your seat post and front post to even get into transition, there is also number for the swim cap, helmet and for the race belt. You have to wear a number on the run.  The page also included some tri tatts. When you see pictures of elite athlete and pros they are always wearing these.    They work sort of by transfer.  I did not have good luck with them the first too times. Sometimes I have trouble getting them to stick.  Last time I  used them was in Austin and I had trouble getting them off.

string bag

Most of these goodies came in a logo string bag. I have bunches of these from other races. They are great for carrying things around at races and on vacation. Nice if you want to show off competing in a National Championship.

socks

cap

Most races only give you a tee shirt and not much more. We got socks and a great baseball cap.

Tee shirt

The women's tee-shirt was red and pretty nice. It is cotton which is nice to wear with jeans. I did like the navy blue one the men got much better.

Race Program

We also got an event program. I got one of these the first year I did the Paratriathlon Nationals and the Boston Marathon. It will be nice to leave out on the coffee table when I have company I want to impress.

Lots of good perks for being an athlete in this race.  I've seen the finisher medal and it is just as good as all our other perks.

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Chris Wodke

Founder & Manager Team CMT

www.run4cmt.com

Team CMT is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and to find a cure for CMT. We have 127 members in 27 states. We also have members in Canada, Vietnam, Turkey, Finland and Iran. If you wish to join us visit our web site.

CMT or Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS).  It is a disease of the nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.

Symptoms include; muscle wasting in the lower legs and feet leading to foot drop, poor balance and gait problems Atrophy in the hands causes difficulty with manual dexterity.

Structural foot deformities such as high arches and hammer toes are common.

Poor tolerance for cool or cold temperatures and many people have chronically cold hands and feet.

Additional symptoms may include fatigue, sleep apnea, breathing difficulties and hearing loss.