u/UptownStriker

I am coming into town for one night on August 22nd for the Green River Marathon. I'm without a car, flying into New York from Texas and taking the Amtrak up on Saturday with the race early the next morning on Sunday.

I am trying to avoid paying $500 for the one night at the Hampton, but so far that seems to be the only reasonable option (since I can't drive from a nearby town). I figured I'd check here and see if anyone knows of any budget places off the main websites, travel shares, etc? Would appreciate any insight, even if the answer is no!

I'm on a plane to Dallas from San Francisco and I'm about to do some venting. If anyone is interested in the Presidio Half Marathon in San Francisco during a future year, read my review below! TLDR: Beautiful views, almost comically terrible course management.

I have a marathon in August where I'm hoping for a BQ in my last year of the 2:55 bracket before I age into the 35+ range and it gets a little easier. I live and train in Dallas but signed up for the Presidio Half Marathon as a bit of a mid-block fitness test. The race was yesterday.

It cost $170 for entry, so I figured it would be a serious event, and there is nowhere better to test fitness than 10% incline West Coast hills at 55f when you do 99% of your training at extremely flat White Rock Lake but in 95f temperatures. RunSignUp says there were about 1500 half marathoners, and organizers said about 2k in each of the the other two categories (10k and 5k) so it was bigger than most charity races.

I was both not ready for the crazy hills and really feeling myself when after 6ish miles at the highest elevation point of the course, I was well on my way to a PR and feeling great.

And then the whole event got absolutely ridiculous.

They put the half marathon course on a collision course with the back of the 10k race, where walkers and joggers were all wearing headphones and couldn't care less about the runners coming up fast behind them. It also happened to be RIGHT as the race turned onto the Golden Gate Bridge, where all ~3500 people between the two divisions were packed like sardines onto a narrow pedestrian walkway for both directions of the bridge (with literal stairs for the turnaround).

For 2 miles, I couldn't even clear 8 min/mi trying to get through the traffic. I scraped up my arm being literally pushed against the railing as I tried to get through.

Then as we came off the bridge, and I realized I somehow still had an outside shot at a PR if I could clear 19 minutes in the last 5k, we ran into the back of the 5K WALKING DIVISION, who had been encouraged to bring their dogs on leashes. So now it wasn't just people and their headphones, it was dogs on 7-foot leashes to trip over and oblivious owners walking on the opposite side of the narrow trail. It was a total mess.

In the end, I finished at exactly 90 minutes (and 1 second) and while I was encouraged by how I felt, I'm on a flight home after a $1000+ trip to what I thought was a serious event, feeling physically beat up for a mostly wasted effort. Oh, and I'm not sure it was a real 90 minutes because Strava says the course was roughly 1/5th of a mile short.

Looking at reviews, it's definitely my fault for not doing my due diligence on the race because it doesn't seem like these are new issues. But it's been going for 40+ years, so it is absolutely mind blowing that these very fixable problems haven't been addressed. It was scenic and beautiful, and as a fun run it would've been a great time. But you can also run the Presidio trails for free if you don't care about racing. And if you do care about racing, this isn't the one.

I just do not get charging $170 for...that.

I started test about 30 days ago. Just clinical dosing. I'm a long-distance runner and training for an important marathon in late August. I can deal with a little water weight, but I am concerned that the extra 5 lbs or so that I'm carrying right now will still be there in 3 months and obviously there are performance-related concerns there. What has been your experience with how long it's taken for your body to level out and shed some of the extra water retention?

Hello fellow hot weather runners.

It is summer time in Dallas and unusually humid for June. I am training for an August marathon in the northeast and had the crazy idea of training in the late afternoon/evening heat to work up a little advantage.

To put things in perspective, I feel more dry after running in the pouring rain than I do even after a recovery run. I am drenched to the point that my shoes are completely soaked through by the end. And holy blisters.

I have NEVER had blisters before this. I’m 33 and I’ve run on and off for 20 years. I’m at about 45-50 mpw in my block, so it’s not crazy volume either.

If I read this post from someone else a few months ago, I would immediately respond with “your shoes don’t fit.”

Friends, it is not the shoes.

I’ve been doing this for awhile and I know my fit. I wear 12.5s in some brands and size up to 13s in others but I have a decent rotation of Superblast 3, Endorphin Speed 3, Endorphin Pro 4, NB 1080s, all with under 250 miles. I wear Saucony no show socks - same brand for years without issue. Blisters may appear in slightly different spots but this issue does not discriminate on the shoe.

Anyone else had this issue in rainy and/or humid climates? Tips & tricks?