Carlsbad 5000 Race Recap - Vendor Style

This past weekend Tough Chik participated in the Carlsbad 5000 Expo in Carlsbad, CA (just North of San Diego). We also participated in the event last year, so we knew what to expect. This is an outdoor expo and packet pick up located in a parking lot in downtown Carlsbad. I was a little concerned that turn out would be lower since the Oceanside Ironman was only a few miles away.

I love outdoor expos for one reason alone, you can drive right up to your spot to unload! Woo Hoo! I travel with a lot of product and six 8ft tall grid walls, so this is huge! We set up on Saturday morning which means I was up at 4:30! Ouch! My husband was along to assist, although he get very antsy and leaves every 10 minutes or so. But he is great help with set up and tear down.

We had amazing weather both days. The kids race was Saturday and the adults on Sunday. This is a very flat course so a lot of folks enter in hopes of PRing. (is that a word?) Kids are great fun to watch and my hubs decided he runs like a 5 yr old. Hauls butt off the line, then stops gasping for air, then takes off again! Ha, might be my next shirt, "I run like a 5 yr old".

Sales were great, a lot of repeat customers which is always nice but the highlight of my weekend was Saturday when a little girl and her mom walked into the tent. This girl was probably 4 or 5 and went straight for the pink toddler Tough Chik shirt hanging on the wall. She didn't speak, just pointed with a huge smile on her face. This girl was wearing a pink shirt with a pink and black plaid skirt and argyle knee socks. She loved pink and was definitely into clothes. Her mom asked about the sizing and I explained that the shirt was available in 2T, 3T and 4T. She told me that her daughter was a five (I don't have kids and don't understand this weird sizing system because my girls shirts are 6-8, like a range??? i dunno). As the mother explained to her daughter that the shirt wasn't in her size, the little girl's bottom lip started to stick out and arms went folded across her chest, she was not happy. So mom said, "Let's try the 4T". I pulled the shirt out and the mom took off the little girls shirt (she was acting embarrassed, but I don't really think she was) and we swapped it for the TC pink T and it was a great fit, if anything a little big. Mom asked the girl, "Are you going to wear it, really wear it" and the girl shaked her head frantically and she stared at the image on her shirt. Her mom said, "That says Tough Chik, do you know what that means?" and the girl said "Hi Ya" and made a big karate chop! Yep, she was already a Tough Chik!

I didn't have my camera, but this is the shirt.