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lishie_rebooted
lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
in Social Groups
So I know people travel for races all the time. More than an hour or two is where I'm heading.

For those of you who drive far distances or fly for a race, how many days ahead do you arrive?

I want to do the Canadian Army Half in Ottawa on 27 Sep (Sunday). Its 400mi away and I plan to drive it (waaaay cheaper than flying, I looked). My plan was to drive that Friday and kind of relax that Saturday. Run the race on Sunday then be a tourist and do all of my walking about on Monday/Tuesday.
I considered driving up Saturday but I fear I'd be too stiff for Sunday if I did that. Nothing is set in stone yet for it and I have some time before I need to book hotels.
I'm a planner so yeah. I'm also fairly certain I won't be racing this half - I'm planning on a 25k 2 weeks later - my first, a baby, baby Ultra lol (the races does have ultra in the title and standard ultra distances as well)

Replies

  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I travel for races. :)

    400 miles--I would drive (have driven) Friday, hydrate and race expo Saturday, run Sunday. (adjust days if necessary). 100 miles, I'm willing to drive while hydrating, as long as I can make the race expo in time. Flying, I am *definitely* coming in a full day early, or at least planning to.

    I do like compression socks or tights for the drive home afterwards.

    Or a chauffeur.
  • karenfaber
    karenfaber Posts: 13 Member
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    I'd do exactly like you're planning (I travel for races a lot, trying to do a marathon in all 50 states and I'm 25 down, 25 to go). The only times I'd travel on a Saturday for a Sunday race would be a) if it was not that far - 3-4 hours or less, b) if I didn't have the vacation time, in which case I definitely wouldn't "race" it, I'd just run for fun, or c) if I was going to a high altitude. I've read that if you can't get there a week ahead of time to acclimate, it's best to get there and run as soon as possible. And if it's high altitude, I'd probably be running it for fun anyway.
  • kristinegift
    kristinegift Posts: 2,406 Member
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    I've definitely done my fair share of traveling for races. When I did the Baltimore marathon last year, I drove the day before (about 4 hours), and I was perfectly fine for the race. More hours than that though and I've had added a buffer day. When I've flown somewhere for a race, it's been a dual race + vacation, so I'd go down a couple days before the race, walk around/explore, do the race, and have a couple days before having to sit in a plane again. I think your plan to drive and have a buffer day sounds good, because 400 miles on your butt is a long time! :)
  • Huppdiwupp
    Huppdiwupp Posts: 50 Member
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    Whenever I go to a conference, I check if there's a race in the area at the same time. However, I treat these mostly as sightseeing events.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
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    I traveled 10 hours to Charleston this past weekend. The race was on Saturday. We drove down on Thursday and arrived in the evening, went to dinner and then back to the house where we were staying. On Friday we did a short shake out run, checked out the Expo/ packet pick up and went to the grocery store for dinner items. Relaxed Friday night, raced on Saturday and then headed home on Sunday. We visit Charleston regularly because my in-laws have a house on Isle of Palms (where we stayed). If I wasn't familiar with the area, I would have planned on staying longer to do some sight seeing. I think that's part of the point of traveling for a race. The only reason I traveled for this one is that I wanted to do a January race and that just doesn't happen in Ohio.
  • vcphil
    vcphil Posts: 79 Member
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    I've traveled about 600 miles in a car for a race. We split it up into 2 days because we left Friday after work... I like to get to the expo of a sunday race no later than 4pm if driving. I Drove 480 miles in one day got there at 4pm then raced a marathon the next day. It didn't make me too stiff but you know your body!
  • DavidMartinez2
    DavidMartinez2 Posts: 840 Member
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    You could drive up on Saturday and be fine for Sunday but if you have the time your plan is better. I've done the "drive to expo/get bib/sleep in car/race/drive home" thing and it does not make for a great weekend.
  • JustWant2Run
    JustWant2Run Posts: 286 Member
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    603reader wrote: »
    So I know people travel for races all the time. More than an hour or two is where I'm heading.

    For those of you who drive far distances or fly for a race, how many days ahead do you arrive?

    I want to do the Canadian Army Half in Ottawa on 27 Sep (Sunday). Its 400mi away and I plan to drive it (waaaay cheaper than flying, I looked). My plan was to drive that Friday and kind of relax that Saturday. Run the race on Sunday then be a tourist and do all of my walking about on Monday/Tuesday.
    I considered driving up Saturday but I fear I'd be too stiff for Sunday if I did that. Nothing is set in stone yet for it and I have some time before I need to book hotels.
    I'm a planner so yeah. I'm also fairly certain I won't be racing this half - I'm planning on a 25k 2 weeks later - my first, a baby, baby Ultra lol (the races does have ultra in the title and standard ultra distances as well)

    So I've decided to do the half as a training run after all LOL. (I might change my mind by the time registrations open up though haha). But I don't really want to miss it since I've done it every year since I've started running. I could run it with you :smile:

  • alikonda
    alikonda Posts: 2,358 Member
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    My husband and I don't travel for half marathons (we have a lot of local races to choose from), but will for fulls. He's completed several, my first full marathon is this weekend (we're flying to New Orleans!). I'm following his schedule, which is to travel on Thurs, drive the course & visit expo on Friday, relax on Saturday, and race Sunday. We'll come back Monday afternoon.

    I'd definitely stick with the plan to travel Friday instead of Saturday. No need to stress about getting in by such-and-such a time, and you'll have plenty of time to stretch and relax before the race on Sunday. :smile:
  • Roxiegirl2008
    Roxiegirl2008 Posts: 756 Member
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    If the race is on Sunday we typically arrive on Friday. Hit the expo on Saturday and rest our legs. Race Sunday and leave late Monday night. If we really like where we are going we will arrive on Thursday and stay until Tuesday.

    Have fun. I love "race-cations"
  • vcphil
    vcphil Posts: 79 Member
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    DavidMartinez2 wrote: »
    You could drive up on Saturday and be fine for Sunday but if you have the time your plan is better. I've done the "drive to expo/get bib/sleep in car/race/drive home" thing and it does not make for a great weekend.

    Lol sleep in car- I might have to try that :)
  • sinister2014
    sinister2014 Posts: 92 Member
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    drove 6 hours from Charleston, SC to Orlando for a disney race the day before. it didn't affect us 'leg-wise'. we ended up spending the entire day walking around the parks after the race as well.

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