First time hopeful at Boston

Stay outside the city and take the MBTA. I recommend south on the red line. These might help:

Arrive on Saturday. Fly out on Tuesday. That gives you a day to hit the expo, check out the course a bit, and otherwise stay off your feet. You're going to hate walking through airports afterwards as it is, so give yourself a day to recover.

How many people were accepted this year compared to the last two years? When I ran in fall 2021, a bunch of hotel rooms reserved by Marathon Tours came back on the market a month or two before the marathon, so I got a great room 1 mile from the finish for normal-ish prices.

There are lots of other options, so see what other people suggest and figure out what works best for you. If money were no object, I'd stay right on Copley Square.

Congrats. I agree with Saturday to Tuesday.

I would stay in Back Bay or something close to the finish if price isn’t an issue. If it is, the seaport or Cambridge can be a little cheaper. I’ve never stayed out any further than those.

Besides the expo, normal Boston stuff. Mike’s pastries, Sox game, Prudential Center, North End for Italian. Faneuil Hall, etc.

Good luck on the race. Start slow, the downhills will come back to haunt you when you hit Newton if you push from the start.

All of that depends on (1) the money you want to spend, (2) the time you have off and (3) whether you want to enjoy the race or run fast.

My recommendation is that if you have the money, stay within walking distance of the bus line and finish line. Hilton Back Bay is a good option because it’s also right next door to the expo.

In terms of the timing of the trip, a few things to consider: (1) if you wait until Sunday to go to the expo, most of the Boston marathon gear will be pretty picked over to the extent that matters to you; (2) If you want to run fast, don’t sight see before the race. Boston is very much a walking city and just because of race logistics you may end up with 10,000 steps on Monday BEFORE you start the race so don’t waste energy walking a ton on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday to Tuesday is a fine schedule if you are just wanting to race, but I would add two extra days if you want to explore Boston. If your race time is a priority, add those days after the race. If you’re just wanting to maximally enjoy the whole Boston Marathon vibe, add them before the race.

My first time, I brought my whole family, did all the sightseeing before the race and didn’t sweat my race time. Second trip was Saturday to Tuesday, no sightseeing, trying (and failing) to PR.

Its expensive. Can't justify paying those city prices for 3 star hotels. I stayed in Revere last time.

Got a free hotel shuttle to the metro stop. I was in wave 1 and had no problems getting to the city and to the buses. Its marathon day just follow the crowd. You won't be left behind or denied a bus. You'll be nervous and up early so travelling 30 mins on a subway is fine.

Now if money is no problem just stay in Boylston street.

Boston will be one and done for me and I'm not running for time.

I'm paying to stay within a mile of the finish. We pay Disney hotel rates 4 times a year, I can pony up for a finish line hotel to make the weekend better.

I'm going Thursday and coming back Tuesday. It will double as a short family trip so we will probably do Salem and some of the freedom trail. I'll hit the expo early to get some stuff but then the weekend is about the family until Sunday night.

Agree with Sat to Tues, unless you want an extra day to see Boston, then Fri to Tues. Don't try to fly out the night after the race. That would be a nightmare. If you do that, the post-race experience will be ruined and you'll have trouble getting anywhere in time.

Stay as close to the finish line as you can afford. Hint: What ever hotel you reserve do it now. Most of the good ones are booked the day acceptances are mad, and many far before that. I stayed around mile 25 (near Citgo sign, Hotel Commonwealth). Everything about it was good, except price (they're all expensive) and getting to the hotel after the race was a pain in the butt, because of race crowds and the Red Sox game that was (and will be) letting out that day.

Make sure to look into the logistics of race morning. It's totally unlike most medium to small marathons with the late start, getting to the pick up point, sitting on a bus for an hour, then waiting at Athletes village. There will likely be more standing and waiting in port-potty lines that you're ideally want to do before any race.

If your daily running isn't on hills, find a plan for doing regular hill running. Not hill sprint for 20 min once ever week or two. Frequent, copious rolling hills. Everyone talks about the Newton Hills from miles 16 to 21, but almost that whole damn race is rolling hills, from the very first step. Get in as much elevation as possible, regularly, especially on your long runs and do not make pace estimates based off running done on flats. You'll blow up. Gage everything off how your paces are on similar elevation gains and losses.

I always found Saturday to Tuesday is best. Get in Saturday and get settled. Pick up your packet tha day or get in Sunday morning. Fly out the day after the race.

I prefer to stay close to the bus pickup. Makes race day morning so much easier. I stayed near the finish once and it was such a cluster after the race and although not difficult on race morning to get to the buses, it's easier if you are closer. Plus the finish spits you out near where the buses pick you up, so you can just walk to your hotel if you stay near the buses or you can take a break at the Commons. Very convenient.

If price is a big factor, you can stay in Cambridge across the river. You'll be taking the T more to get to start, expo, and get back after the race.

Here is a good primer on the different locations around the race to stay. There is another site I came across once that had a pretty good description too. I couldn't find it right now, but I'll post it if I do come across it.

findmymarathon.com

Best Boston Marathon Hotels

We've compiled our recommendations for the best hotels for the Boston Marathon. View the hotel locations compared to the Finish Line, Bus Loading Area, Expo and along the course.

Link:findmymarathon.com/boston-marathon-hot...

Good Luck!

Hopkington is a crazy crazy scene

be prepared…

my own take it the runners who let their emotions run wild get best of them in Hopkington don’t do well

ghose that control their emotions In Hopkington do better

it can be warm cold wet snowing hot or windy Ie any conditions

be prepared

4 races sections

1. Start to 5 miles downhill

hopkinton blimps bands tv trucks Crowded

many sub 2:30 runners I know shot themselves on foot by going out too fast here

2, 5-16 lock into good pace

Fairly flat

3, hills which are not too bad but what makes course hard is you are bonking if not prepared

4. heartbreak to finish

key to the race make sure you have gas in tank

be prepared for the downhill

This is generally thought to be the hardest section of course

Incorporate some downhill intervals

usually runners complain about spot above kneecap being sore after this race due to downholls

Use the crowd to pull you out bad sections patches

As far as place to stay not sure

if you take bus make sure have something to pee in if no bathrooms (if you hydrate probably have to go(

Great advice especially the bottle on the bus. My bus got lost ok the way out to Hopkington and it was a bad, bad scene.

Yes, get your hotel in Montreal so you can commute five hours to Boston to get your race packet, five hours back, then five more hours on race day and of course, don't forget that wonderful five hour return trip after the race.

Did you say where you're coming from OP? Saturday-Tuesday is fine but if you're coming from the west coast I'd aim for mid-week (if you can) for jet lag. Know so many west coast folks who have taken gross red eyes on Friday/Saturday & have been flat on race day. I'm pro frontloading the trip to get acclimated. You don't need more than a day or two after the race in Boston unless you're going to do other cities with it.

As far as staying goes, book your hotel/air bnb now. They're just going to keep going up & up. Depends on what you want on race morning. There aren't a ton of places to stay in/around Hopkinton but if you want less stress on race morning you could try to stay there. If not, you want to stay near the Commons so you can take the bus on race morning.

I stay as close as possible to the finish line. I think the Lennox and Mandarin Oriental are right there but both are crazy expensive. Back Bay is a good option, but also ridiculous prices currently. I got a room at the Liberty through Marathon Tours that is somewhat reasonable, but I may cancel as I should rack up enough Marriott points in 3-4 months to stay somewhere a little closer for “free”.

Saturday-Tuesday is the standard. Go easy the first 5 miles. I’ve felt great at the half and terrible by mile 17 in past races. The Newton hills are no joke and Heartbreak is in a really tough part of the race. But if you train hills regularly shouldn’t be too bad.

Prudential Center, especially the top is cool. The Harbor, North End, Faneuil Hall, Sox game, and a shake out jog on the Charles River on Saturday or Sunday are all good things to do.

Good luck.

*Edit* - I just realized this post was from last year and was bumped up. Hope it went well.