$120/night at 74th and CPW for this fri, sat, sun

that website is amazing

In Birmingham you could get a suite in the Host Hotel for $120. Now we are in New York and being forced to pay the same price for a HOSTEL. Thanks again USATF. I bet Glenn Latimer and Jim Estes don't have to pay a cent in New York. Probably bring the wives as well.

i am not going to compete....just to watch. but that does raise in interesting question. did the "B" qualifiers have any deals made available to them for rooms in NYC? the "A" qualifiers get their way paid entirely, correct? So are the "B's" just left to fend for themselves and pay absurd prices for a hotel room in midtown? if the race were not starting at 7am, perhaps qualifiers could stay outside of the city....but having to be in times square at 7am for the start of a race doesn't leave you many lodging options other than manhattan.

I believe the host hotel on 94 and york??? eastern holiday roof inn or somesuch has a special rate for the "B's" $299 a night.

The "negotiated" price at the host hotel for B athletes is $399. That was what USATF and NYRR came up with as the best option. If you want anything else, it was up to you to do it on your own.

Still cheap lodging in New Jersey too and you're just a bus ride away.

Alan

Birmingham sucks ass. The trials are going to absolutely rock this year.

A larger audience overall will see these trials than the last. There could be hundreds of thousands at Central Park and that wouldn't even dent the number that will see it live on TV that morning (granted they're not going to show it for long).

I think the reasoning to hold it in NYC was the added TV audience. They could hold it in Boulder, or Eugene in the afternoon and have 100,000 people show up but ZERO tv exposure. Instead they have it in NYC at the butt crack of dawn and have maybe only a couple thousand show up but parts LIVE on tv.

Alan

You're missing the point of having it in NYC if you are worried about $299 + hotel rooms..

WTF are we worrying so much about B qualfiiers..hell there should be only one standard as it is...

since the large marjority of the B's are track qualies, some of whom haven't even run a marathon yet...will the "A" qualfiers get to use their marathon standard to run the 5/10 next spring of course not..

hotels in NYC are almost always $299+ that is just how it is, busy place, lots of people and demand...a couple weeks ago in Boulder the damn HI Express was $160/night ..that's a sham..

Let's have the trials in a place like Tyler, TX, that way everyone could stay at the Motel 6 or Holiday Inn Express

Fire and Ice Cream wrote:

The "negotiated" price at the host hotel for B athletes is $399. That was what USATF and NYRR came up with as the best option. If you want anything else, it was up to you to do it on your own.

I don't believe this is true. I want to know if any "B athletes" could speak to this issue? Are you staying at the Host Hotel and are you paying $399 a night?

It is true. I don't know of any B guys that are staying there. We will be staying all over the city. I am coming in from Connecticut. I am not complaining because they may take my water away from me.

The hotels would be a lot cheaper if there weren't going to be over 200,000 spectators.

Which would you rather have, cheap hotels or people 8 deep around the course?

try LIC or Sunnyside near the 7 tracks: there's a Comfort Inn right behind the Queensboro Plaza stop and then a few stops farther a La Quinta around 43rd Street. Both much cheaper than what's mentioned, and the 7 will take you straight to Times Square (last stop) from there in about 15 minutes.

The reality is that 2:20-2:21 marathon runners have never had anything handed to them ever. It's the whole "lonely road to the Olympic Trials" idea. These guys are used to doing intervals in the dark after a full day at work, planning their racing schedules around vacation time, fitting in doubles during lunch hour, etc. Sure, they would appreciate free hotel rooms, and deserve it too, but they've gotten to the trials without relying on assistance like that.

For the guys who qualified because of their 28:00 10k times, I'm sure their shoe sponsor is helping them out where USATF isn't.

Who do they deserve it from? I agree with everything else you wrote. Also, I hope one of these guys makes the team.

I don't know who exactly they deserve it from. I'm just saying that a basketball or baseball player at this type of performance level gets all his needs met (as in, he is a second-string player in the NBA or MLB with a minimum 6-figure salary). I guess the argument is the baseball players are being compensated for the contribution they make to the American entertainment industry, which is not something a marathon runner is necessarily doing.

Personally I think competitive runners, whether they run 2:20 or 2:04, contribute a lot to our society as role models to children and adults. Unfortunately it's a rather priceless contribution, and doesn't translate into them receiving any compensation for it.

I'm a B qualifier and I received the "discounted" rate of $379 before taxes at the host hotel. I booked my reservations through USATF's travel agency.

Are you a sponsored athlete or are you footing the bill?

I'm paying for everything.