Whether putting together a training program, organizing an event, or setting up my own racing schedule, I am an obsessive pre-planner and like to have things done months in advance. But despite my inability to procrastinate and my phobia against “winging it,” the marathon mania that has swept the nation has caught me off guard at times, and no doubt has altered the plans of many an unsuspecting marathoner.
With the spectacular finish in Notre Dame Stadium, the Sunburst Races held in South Bend the first weekend in June are among my favorites. Although I haven’t settled on which of the 4 distances I am going to tackle this year, I recently decided to go ahead and make reservations figuring that 2 ½ months out I wouldn’t have a problem finding a hotel room in downtown South Bend. Wrong! I started with the host hotel. Booked solid. I then tried one 3 blocks from the starting line. Once again booked! Finally, I conducted an online search, and was able to book one 2 miles from the start at the College Football Hall of Fame.
Last year the Chicago Marathon closed in May, the earliest ever, locking many people out while training programs were still conducting their planning meetings. This year the cap was raised to 45,000, but I dare not even attempt to predict when it will close. My advice to everyone has been if your heart is set on Chicago, the time to register is now. Don’t procrastinate. Ditto on securing a hotel room Chicago weekend. With Chicago closing earlier and earlier each year, the Safari Training Program is now targeting Grand Rapids, rather than Chicago. But still, one is not safe. Grand Rapids has been gaining popularity with its gummy bears and pickle juice, has a cap of 1250 for the full marathon, and also presents a potentially high risk for closing early.
The Boston Marathon is in its 111th year, yet somehow, a city-wide convention was scheduled the same weekend that booked up to 5,000 hotel room nights. I started researching hotel rooms a year in advance, and finally over the summer, a couple of us blocked off 9 hotel rooms at the Omni Parker House for KAR members. I had called the Omni and attempted to negotiate a discounted block, but as much as they wanted to be able to accommodate us, they weren’t able to do it because of this “convention”. Their advice to me was to hang onto the rooms I booked “for dear life,” because there is soon going to be a major shortage of rooms. We held on to them, and sure enough by the time fall marathon season rolled around and the masses attained their qualifying times, affordable hotel rooms in Boston Proper were long gone, and soon after our 9 rooms were gone. My heart sank as one of our Front Line team mates, a young runner from the east side of the state emailed and mentioned she hadn’t booked a hotel room in Boston yet.
The Bayshore Half Marathon already closed 3 months out, and the Bayshore Marathon is expected to cap out by the end of this month. Of course there is always Sunburst the following weekend, but if you don’t have a hotel by booked now, expect to stay a few miles out from the starting line.
I finally attained success when I called the Intercontinental in Toronto to book one of the discounted rooms blocked for participants of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. I was almost shocked to hear the words, “Yes, we have rooms available.” “How many nights would you like?” Of course it is 6 ½ months in advance, but there is no longer procrastination anymore when it comes to small city marathons, let alone big city events. When you make reservations directly through the hotel you tend to pay a little more, but most hotels do allow you to cancel your reservations without penalty if done so by their stated deadline. My advice is that if you are even contemplating a particular marathon, make hotel reservations and then cancel them if plans fall through. If you wait to see if you make it through marathon training injury free, most likely it will be too late. When it comes to signing up for a marathon, you risk losing your registration fee if something happens, but it is the chance one must take when it comes to those notorious for closing early such as Grandmas & Chicago.
With the spectacular finish in Notre Dame Stadium, the Sunburst Races held in South Bend the first weekend in June are among my favorites. Although I haven’t settled on which of the 4 distances I am going to tackle this year, I recently decided to go ahead and make reservations figuring that 2 ½ months out I wouldn’t have a problem finding a hotel room in downtown South Bend. Wrong! I started with the host hotel. Booked solid. I then tried one 3 blocks from the starting line. Once again booked! Finally, I conducted an online search, and was able to book one 2 miles from the start at the College Football Hall of Fame.
Last year the Chicago Marathon closed in May, the earliest ever, locking many people out while training programs were still conducting their planning meetings. This year the cap was raised to 45,000, but I dare not even attempt to predict when it will close. My advice to everyone has been if your heart is set on Chicago, the time to register is now. Don’t procrastinate. Ditto on securing a hotel room Chicago weekend. With Chicago closing earlier and earlier each year, the Safari Training Program is now targeting Grand Rapids, rather than Chicago. But still, one is not safe. Grand Rapids has been gaining popularity with its gummy bears and pickle juice, has a cap of 1250 for the full marathon, and also presents a potentially high risk for closing early.
The Boston Marathon is in its 111th year, yet somehow, a city-wide convention was scheduled the same weekend that booked up to 5,000 hotel room nights. I started researching hotel rooms a year in advance, and finally over the summer, a couple of us blocked off 9 hotel rooms at the Omni Parker House for KAR members. I had called the Omni and attempted to negotiate a discounted block, but as much as they wanted to be able to accommodate us, they weren’t able to do it because of this “convention”. Their advice to me was to hang onto the rooms I booked “for dear life,” because there is soon going to be a major shortage of rooms. We held on to them, and sure enough by the time fall marathon season rolled around and the masses attained their qualifying times, affordable hotel rooms in Boston Proper were long gone, and soon after our 9 rooms were gone. My heart sank as one of our Front Line team mates, a young runner from the east side of the state emailed and mentioned she hadn’t booked a hotel room in Boston yet.
The Bayshore Half Marathon already closed 3 months out, and the Bayshore Marathon is expected to cap out by the end of this month. Of course there is always Sunburst the following weekend, but if you don’t have a hotel by booked now, expect to stay a few miles out from the starting line.
I finally attained success when I called the Intercontinental in Toronto to book one of the discounted rooms blocked for participants of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. I was almost shocked to hear the words, “Yes, we have rooms available.” “How many nights would you like?” Of course it is 6 ½ months in advance, but there is no longer procrastination anymore when it comes to small city marathons, let alone big city events. When you make reservations directly through the hotel you tend to pay a little more, but most hotels do allow you to cancel your reservations without penalty if done so by their stated deadline. My advice is that if you are even contemplating a particular marathon, make hotel reservations and then cancel them if plans fall through. If you wait to see if you make it through marathon training injury free, most likely it will be too late. When it comes to signing up for a marathon, you risk losing your registration fee if something happens, but it is the chance one must take when it comes to those notorious for closing early such as Grandmas & Chicago.
By the way, the 2007 Boston Marathon is now closed! You snooze you lose!
