Qualified for OT but race hotel is booked

Quid Pro Quo wrote:

No way do qualifiers get accomodations paid. The race director has to give the big wigs at USATF, NCAATF, IAAF, BAA, NYRR, etc. free perks otherwise he/she/shim won't get treated in a reciprocal manner with free accomodations at their meets and thons. That's how the system works. The cave man, the Romans, the Persians, the Greeks, and now the Americans have done quid pro quo since the Kenyans invented the human race after the Ice Age. So don't expect things to change soon...

That is actually correct; you sound like and insider.

I live in Houston and work downtown (and I am a timer for the Trials...)

Skip the car, and stay at the Downtown Residence Inn. $150/night, walking distance to the race.

Take the Houston Metro 102 Bus to downtown.

http://www.ridemetro.org/schedulesmaps/Pdfs/102-iah.pdf

Low stress, easy access...cheap...decent bus...

And if you decide to stay near herman park (by the way there is nothing going on there either...most of the stuff is near the galleria "uptown" area), there are good restaurants and bars in Midtown (between Hermann Park and Downtown..) take the train...dont bother with a car...

you can stay with me if you want...I am right by the course

No but for real my Hotel room is right by the start/finish, and is pretty big, I am willing to help out a fellow runner in a bind.

ditto. (has to be female though..)

There is an after hours party, after 2am, on 314 Main st. The door will be unlocked by the ATM. This is going to be exclusive to LRC and others at the trials.

Unless Hotel ZaZa screwed up and sold a $300 room for $99, you are probably staying in the Houston Medical Center. This might not be a good idea as there are medical helicopter flights at anytime of day or night. You really won't be within walking distance of any decent restaurants in the medical center. You will have to drive over to Rice Village, Montrose or Midtown. You will be able to walk to Hermann Park, which is very nice for a run and has a nice zoo and museums. But the medical center can be busier and crazier than downtown at times. If you are renting a car, don't mind driving around alot and won't freak out if a helicopter gets you out of bed at night, you should be fine. But if you can find a decent rate downtown (you will have to pay extra for parking), that might be better as you will be able to step out of bed and jog to the start.

Yes, an insider...

http://www.usatf.org/events/2012/OlympicTrials-Marathon/athleteInfo/2012OlympicTrialsMarathonEntryBooklet.pdf

or perhaps, just someone that can read...

Hermann Park is easy...

just 4 miles and 17 minutes south of downtown

via the METRORail train on Main Street

What time is the race? The course map says 8:00AM, but doesn't specify if that's the men's or women's start. Which race is first, and what time is the second race?

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions. I didn't realize they had a metro system. My understanding is that the women's race starts after the men's race. Since the race only has a few hundred people, I didn't think it would be that difficult to park somewhere downtown and get to the start. I've been to Houston before to run the half marathon so it'll be good to spend some time in a different part of the city.

Yeah, no traffic, no people...

just 15 to 20 thousand people picking

up their packets at the Expo on Saturday

for their marathon on Sunday.

It seems strange and a tad bit unorganized if the city and/or USATF didn't reserve enough rooms for all the qualifiers. They always did before. I believe they normally just pay for the A qualifiers. But I've never see the rest left out in the cold and on their own before.

i will see you there wrote:

Yeah, no traffic, no people...

just 15 to 20 thousand people picking

up their packets at the Expo on Saturday

for their marathon on Sunday.

Smart guy, it's just the trials marathon, not a regular marathon. Only qualifiers, so like 150 men and 190 women.

Unless I misread what he is saying, the common marathon, half and 5k are the next day so there will be plenty of people in town.

http://www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com/Marathon/index.cfm

Beaver Retriever wrote:

Smart guy, it's just the trials marathon, not a regular marathon. Only qualifiers, so like 150 men and 190 women.

too smart for you

if you are standing outside the George R. Brown Convention

Center on Saturday January 14th at 8:00am (when the Men's OT race goes off) or 8:15am (when the Women's OT race starts) you will be up to your knees, elbows, necks in penguins and all the other marathoners who will "compete" in the Chevron Houston Marathon on Sunday January 15th.

The Expo doesn't start until 9am that morning,

so they will all be outside watching and waiting and in your way.

All 20,000 people will be there picking up their packets at 6:00 in the morning? Maybe you should tell these people they can sleep in and pick it up their packets later in the morning. The expo might not be open at that time.

To ID runners and stop bandits why don't the use the Virtual Auschwitz Initiative instant Iris/Facial/Voice/Fingerprint system the Arabs and Islamic countries have standardized for airports and border crossing.

Sunrise 7:18am 01-14-2012

So you will be in the dark...

true, some of the tens of thousands in town for Sunday's marathon will miss the Trials race, but don't expect downtown to be a ghost town even at 6am. There are some die hard fans

that will be there to cheer and support.

If you weren't there in Boston in 2008

http://www.letsrun.com/photos/2008/bostontrials/

check out the pics.

I would estimate at least 100,000 all along the 10km loop,

some were estimating half a million fans, but like the next day for the BAA Boston Marathon you could see crowds 10 deep

on Boylston Street at the finish line and your start and finish line in Houston is the entrance to the Chevron Houston Marathon Expo.

If you've got limited big city marathon experience you will thrive on the crowds you find next month...deep in the heart of Texas. Isn't that right, Texas RunnerGirl?