Live from the Liverpool RnR Expo

The Running and Endurance Show, aka the Liverpool Rock n Roll Expo, is taking place today at ACC Convention Centre in Kings Dock Liverpool.  This blog will be updated throughout the day to highlight what's happening and you can see the schedule here.  The expo is open from 1pm until 7pm today but it is also open 9am until 5pm tomorrow.  It's open and free to all so you don't need to be running one the races this weekend to attend.

11:45 Stage is being built. Anyone else excited? 

11:50 Met my friends Cici from the Dopey Group. She's been on a tour of Euope to get here from Guatamala to run the marathon and 5k and she's even volunteering at the expo today. Classy lady. 

Signs are up. 

12:06 I just walked past Geo Melichar!! Starstruck!

12:29 This blog is brought to you by Starbucks, literally. 😀

13:00 People waiting for the expo to start

13:09 Number collections has began. Lines are not too bad and lovely Adrienne is manning the Solutions desk. Seperate desk for corral changes too. 

13:28 And we have wifi. They let anyone in here. Found Ken and Stan already. T-shirt collection is much easier than after the race. 

13:32 Katy Alex just finished singing. Love her, heard at the press conference earlier on in the year too. 

13:34 Rob is getting ready for press conference. 

Geoff Smith is on stage too now in his Boston Marathon jacket. Talk about a man who has earned the right to wear the logo!!

13:42 Timothy More, mayoral lead for sports and culture, talking about how the event is good for Liverpool and how it's a great place to have it. Liverpool really takes to heart the combination of sports and music. 12 thousand runners will take part, a 50%. 

13:44 Geoff Smith, true legend. Says Rock n Roll races are about going out and having fun. He just joked about how he would run in the dark so that people wouldn't see him running but now there's so many people out there doing it and it's amazing. Also, he's had two hip replacements so now is the time to beat him. "It's about fun and rock and roll", love him. 

14:08 You need to go and Jenkies, Frankie and Kenny are maning the photo booth and you can get some funny photos whilst holding you bib using the massive dress up box. I'll share my freaky horse photo later. 

14:23 I'm seriously in love with these No Show CEP socks. They were number 11  of my top ten picks at the Manchester Expo but I should have put them higher. £13.50 and really pretty colours. You get a free waterbottle if you spend £20 and the thrown is back. I'll link to the Twitter thrown campaign later for those who haven't seen #BeSuperior on Twitter. Good news for those who want a tshirt the same as the pacers too, CEP can order them into the country if you email them. They're limited edition and you won't find them anywhere else. 

14:51 So runner Lornah Kiplagat has done her own brand of clothing and it is so so so so nice but also its proper technical stuff and there's no ugly pink girl stuff in sight. There's a lot of print and bright colours and no two pieces look the same. The philosophy behind the clothing is that by making a woman pride it helps bring female runners together and creates support for each other. Very #thisgirlcan. It ain't the cheapest clothing, tops and shorts sart at around £45 and a jacket (which is amazing I want it) is around £85 but there's £5 off everything at the expo. 

15:05 Vital Events are giving out codes to get 20% their races including Southport Half marathon. 

15:12 Ronhill are hear selling their old clothes off cheap as always. 

15:15 Geo has taken to the stage. He is an ambassador for RnR races. He reckons the best thing about RnR racers is the journey together with friends, the ones you have and the ones you make, and the bands. Plus he is a big fan of water stations. He Couldn't finish his first 5k but rather than it defeating him it empowered him to train. He ended up doing a full instead of the half and was so nervous that he couldn't even remember how far he was running. He really believes that the RnR participants are a family that form a community to support each other and that they rock. Races are discoveries of new places to him but it's the people you see as you run as well as where you are running past which make authentic experiences. "This is a global party and I'm excited to rock Liverpool"

15:38 They've got the World Rocker medal here. It's Hugh!!

16:15 The Brist Triathlon Foundation Trust have a stand here and they're giving you the chance to do a Dri Tri. 500 meters rowing, 1k on a bike and then 20 jumps. Me and Kenny went head to head and it was tough. He beat me by a mile. 

16:36 High 5 are here with their Gel and Bar tasters and they're doing a similar deal to Manchester expo with a box of goodies for £10. It's the Rasberry energy plus and the Citrus on course and you can sample both (but best not to use them on Sunday if you haven't tried them on a run). 

16:48 Just been talking to the lovely ladies at Maui Jim. They actually have quite a few sports style sunglasses that look pretty cool. Prices start at £120 so not probably one for people like me who have to get a new pair every week cod I lost the old ones somewhere but they are pretty impressive. The lenses are designed to filter out glare and give you colour clarity. Try the fish test and see how different it looks. These are the results with the HCL Bronze lenses.