You’ve probably thought about the Richmond Marathon every day for the last several months. Appropriately, most of your concentration has been on your training and on the race itself. But just as taking care of the details in training—hitting marathon pace precisely on your final tempo run, or taking the time to do become familiar with the route on roads that you’ve never been on before—can make the difference between a good race and a great one, preparing your logistics well in advance for getting to the start can change your race-day mood from tense and worried to calm and cool, with nothing distracting you from the important part of the day ahead.
Plan to eat a sensible high-carbohydrate meal for Friday’s lunch and dinner. Don’t worry about getting a perfect night of sleep before the race; the scientific consensus is that it’s the sleep you get the whole week before the race that counts, and that last restless night is predictable and harmless. What’s more important is that you’re awake in time to tick off your pre-race necessities without feeling rushed.
Setting two alarms is a great idea; another is to arrange with a friend to be each other’s fall-back alarm via wake-up call. You’ll have your race gear decided upon and laid out the night before. (Making a written checklist is smart, so you won’t get to the start, snap your fingers, and say “Vaseline!”)
You may want to consider packing a big garbage as a final outer layer. The forecast is for a very cold start right now, so plan to have on layers. You can drop the layers as you warm up. The Sports Backers will be at mile 2.5 to collect anything you throw them. You can get it back at the finish, but expect to dig through lots of clothing. Anywhere else you drop gear will be donated to shelters, so don't put on your 50-dollar warm up jacket.
You’ll certainly remember to pin your number to the front of your race clothing, attach your ChampionChip to your shoe, and pack a bottle of your favorite pre-race drink.
There will be several UPS trucks to check your bags beside the starting corrals. If you have some extra stuff, you don't plan to start the race in, throw it in your bag. Attach a label to the bag and take it to the truck with your number. You can normally do this up to 15 minutes before the start. The longer you wait, the bigger the crowd. The earlier you give the bag, the colder you may become. Do what works for you.
After checking your bag, hit the bathroom again (quickly) if needed, and then head to your starting corral! If you start getting cold, keep moving and get ready for YOUR marathon!
not that i really have anything to add to these excellent tips other than my 2 cents. congrats to all who have made it this far. you will make it!
ReplyDeletethe main logistics in my opinion are...
1. to wake up early enough and plan for an early arrival (some great tips were offered on this point).
2. lay out EVERYTHING the night before in an orderly fashion. i prefer this to a checklist, but neither is "better" than the other, just what works for me in a morning brain fog.
3. for me, "success" in the potty department is ensured by eating as soon after waking up as possible.
4. think through the timing in advance (like the tips about when to drop bags, get in line etc.), one additional part is how and when to warm up. i like to get up a sweat, so i don't want to sit around afterward. i try to do my stretching about a half hour prior and warm-up about 15 minutes prior. start slow (don't burn your adrenaline) but run about 1 mile total including a few "stride outs". good luck!