Yeah. Waking up that early is a no for me, lol. Fortunately, I no longer live where marathons start at 5am, so there is that.

 

I had the lead cyclists so I wasn't the only person around! (I'd probably still be running if they hadn't been there because I'd have gotten lost and would be going around in circles...)

the coolness factor of that is probably more helpful than having other runners

 

the coolness factor of that is probably more helpful than having other runners

But if you can have both...

 

I'll never experience it, but I can see how that would be awesome!

If you have the cyclist AND other runners, the best part of it is that they tend to yell at the people ahead of you (like people who were running the half when you were running the full) to stay to the right, so you don't have to worry about having to do it

 

For me, the stress/anxiety is 95% transportation. Bathroom issues will work themselves out, one way or the other. I usually end of getting to races an hour earlier than everyone else due to the parking/transportation

 

I have a 5k on Sunday in the same location as the 5k I PR'd a few weeks, about 15-20 minutes away. Plus I run there fairly often. I know where all the parking lots are and how far they are to the start. There is plenty of free parking and park restrooms. And I will already have my bib. YET here I am, still stressed and anxious about getting there

This is the story of my life! It doesn't help that I'm generally an anxious person, and I have a horrible sense of direction. The HM I did last weekend? I can't even count how many times I've run races in that park over the years, and this is the first time I ever went there and actually made it to my intended parking lot on the first try. Let's not even mention the time I ran a marathon and parked in one of the lots there but couldn't find my car after the race... yeah, that was fun.

 

45-60 mins? The beauty of it is that you can stay on the bus until start time. For CIM 2019, mine happened to be a coach bus which meant I could relax in comfort with a personal bathroom. No freezing. No sitting on the ground. Half the people got off so plenty of space.

OK, similar transit time as Boston, but the bathroom and the ability to stay on it till the start make it a whole different world. If I ever did Boston again, I’d consider paying for a bus situation like that, like some people here have done.

 

Mine have ranged from <1000 to 50,000 and I think around 5,000 is the sweet spot

I go from 100 to 30,000. I’d probably put my sweet spot in the 1000-2000 range. Although I haven’t done much between that and Boston size. Just Detroit which was 4000, and I guess that was fine. Sometimes it’s hard to compare sizes because it depends on whether there’s a simultaneous half. Detroit felt much bigger because there were about 12,000 running the half, all starting together. The main criteria is to never be running completely alone, and really I’ve had company in races down to 300-500. Not the case with the two tiniest ones I did (100-200). Although one I had a terrible race, the other remains my best race ever. So who knows. If you’re going to have a good day, you’re going to have a good day. And vice versa.

 

For bigger races, yes. Or actually scratch that. For races I need to drive to and park at, yes, an hour is the minimum.

 

For IMM, we stayed with a friend, who was 2 blocks from the start. it's a small race, so I was able to go out there 30 min before the race started. It was a dream.

It is, isn't it. My office is one block from the start which might make me come earlier and just try to nap in my office, lol