Feb 27, 2015

Five Reasons to Use BibRave | Friday Five

This week's Friday Five linkup is a free Friday. That means the topic can be anything we want to do. I decided to share a site that I love and is great for any runner. This week's topic is


Five Reasons to Use BibRave

1. Know BEFORE You Go (and register)

About to run a race but haven't been to the expo or run the course before? About click 'register' on a new race and plunk down a chunk of your race budget? Thinking of setting up a racecation but need to know if the race it worth it? Enter BibRave. BibRave is like the Yelp of racing. You can find and review races all across the country and globe. See what real runners just like you had to say about all aspects of the race. How was the parking? Is there an expo? How hard is the course? And one of the most important ones, would you recommend it? All this can be found on the site, so look up that race today.

2. Find Great Races

We all love racing, but if you're like me, you love finding new races. How do you find them? Sure, its great when you read about one on another blog, or see a linkup with Five Races to Run in 2015. Then there's the companies that run a series of races to try, like PR Races put on by Potomac River Running. But in the end, you need a way to find other races. Guess what? You can use BibRave for that as well. You can search by a location, month, length and even terrain. Maybe you want to give a train run near Poughkeepsie?

3. Share Experiences (good and bad)

The other great thing about BibRave I love is share my experience. I love reading other reviews, but love to share my thoughts. Ever race I run, when I write up my race recap I also write up a BibRave review and link to it from my recap. I love reading what others had to say and find it valuable, so why not do the same for others? In doing so, you only make the site better. I've even added 6 races previously not reviewed. Many were very small local races, but good races that I want other in northern Virginia to know about. But it's not only about the good, but also the bad. I don't go on to bash a poor race, but I write about what could be improved or what I didn't like about it. Maybe it just wasn't my type of race but someone else will still enjoy it. Or maybe it's valuable feedback that can help improve the race. I've read reviews by some where it talked about the improvements from the previous year. Just like the guideline I think you should use for anywhere on the internet: don't bash, be constructive but don't hide the truth either, be honest.

4. Community (#bibchat)

The community around BibRave is great too. The site itself allows you to have profiles and upvote races, but there isn't a lot of interaction beyond that on the site. I like following certain people, so I can see anytime they post a review; another great way to discover races. But the community of BibRave is through #bibchat on Twitter. Every Tuesday, at 8 pm CT, the folks at BibRave host a Twitter chat. Each week it will cover a different topic related to racing and fitness. Every week there is also a giveaway: sometimes through sponsors like last week's MESTRENGTH or even just some orange BibRave swag. The people participating are fun, friendly and it is always enjoyable. The hashtag is one used throughout the week as well, for all things racing and running related.

5. BibRavePros

Last, but certainly not least, are the BibRavePros. They are the ambassadors for BibRave. Yours truly happens to be one of them. The reason why I applied to be one at the end of last year was because of reasons 1 - 4. I truly love the site and enjoy the chats each. I was adding reviews to my recaps long before I was a BibRavePro. I'm an ambassador because I love the site, which I think is the only reason to be an ambassador. BibRavePros get opportunities to work with races and get you discounts which we share and products to review and share with you as well. We are also out there running races and putting them on BibRave for you to read about. I mentioned "global" when I talked about where you can find races. We have 3 international BibRavePros, so I'm not just saying global to sound good.

Haven't seen the site before? Go check out BibRave, read a few reviews, see what you think. While you're there, create a profile, maybe follow me, and write your first review. The running community is an awesome place and this site is a great part of it.

Linking Up


Check here for some links out to others sharing, staring with our three lovely hosts: CourtneyCynthia and Mar. Check their posts (Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run to see the full set of links). I will add some others, usually randomly, as I read them to share the love. Go visit and keep reading!


Our hosts:

Mar on the Run - What Running Has Taught Me

Eat, Pray, Run DC - Five Things I Will Miss About WInter

You Signed Up for What?! - Workout... Interrupted


Some other good reads, pulled from the link up:

Running on Lentils - Five Reasons to Run the Pittsburgh Marathon

4 Well Rules - Top Five Pictures from Princess Half Weekend

Run Away With Me - Five Weird Things About Living in Alaska





20 comments:

  1. I've never heard of BibRave! I have heard of BibChat but had no idea what it was, so thanks for explaining. I will definitely check out BibRave. Thanks so much for the info. Happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to introduce you to the site and help you understand #bibchat. Have a great weekend!

      Delete
  2. Great post! I've been a BibRavePro since the beginning and it's a great "family" to be a part of! Welcome to the family!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is an awesome, crazy, and awesome-crazy family. Glad to be a part of it. Really have been enjoying it so far. :-D

      Delete
  3. You have convinced me to finally check this site out! If I can figure out what I am doing, I'll try to look you up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad I convinced you. It's a cool and useful site.

      Delete
    2. Here's John's Profile! http://www.bibrave.com/users/25419 Check out #BibChat on tuesday night's at 8pm too. We'd love to have you!!

      Delete
  4. I actually had never heard of this site before but it sounds great! It would be awesome to know more about some races before actually signing up for them especially with the ones that cost a lot of money. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep! It's awesome too because it's all honest reviews from other experienced runners who know what it takes to put on a successful race! If you set up an account, follow me! http://www.bibrave.com/users/292

      Delete
    2. Glad to introduce you to the site. It is a very cool one. Great for "is the race worth it" when fees can get pretty high.

      Delete
  5. I have never heard of bib rave. GREAT POST! Now I know where to go to read about races I am considering!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. Glad I could introduce you to it. Have fun reading about the races. :-)

      Delete
  6. how do I not know about this? I need to get on there stat!

    ReplyDelete
  7. i know the site is great, i just can't add another thing to keep up with! but i do check it out occasionally so thanks for the reminder!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it's good for even stopping by just when you need it, or to share a review you already wrote for your blog.

      Delete
  8. This is brilliant- thanks for sharing! I will definitely be adding this to my post race "must do" list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you like it. Look forward to reading those review. :-)

      Delete
  9. I've been bad at remembering all the run chats on twitter. Will need to join in on the next one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, there are a lot a pop in and out of. This is the only one I'm sure to do every week.

      Delete