Forums >General Running>Advice/lessons learned from [Boston Marathon] no-bag-drop-at-start?
It's Tuesday every day
Greetings! CIM, like Boston, will have no bag drop at the start. My plan is to bring everything I might possibly want to wear/eat/drink to the start and then, sigh, throw throw things away. Anybody have any additional advice/things you wish you'd thought of? Thanks! --Christine
RIP Milkman
The only thing I'd say is I believe they are doing donations for clothing, so you won't be throwing things out. I keep a lot of old warm clothing around for this exact purpose. Find some old sweaters / sweatpants you don't mind donating and wear that. Otherwise, it should be no different than any other race.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
I've worn a heavy contractor garbage bag several times at Boston. Just poke a hole for your head. No need for arm holes. It packs light and is easy to dispose of.
Thanks, both, for the tips. Re the garbage bag: do you actually run in it without armholes?
If you are taking the bus to the start, you can stay on it to keep warm as long as you want. Plus the forecast is showing 46 degrees, which is not too bad; if you do hang around outside, one extra layer of throwaway long sleeve t-shirt or sweatshirt is probably sufficient. If it’s rainy, use the garbage bag approach, or if you want to get fancy, splurge on one of those clear plastic rain ponchos. And if it’s particularly rainy, you can run in the poncho. I don’t think you can run in a garbage bag because your bib will be hidden, so the armholes may be a moot point.
How you do food is of course a personal preference. It’s a bit tough because eating before you leave the hotel for the bus may be too early, and after arriving to the start may be too late. I’m not sure if you can plan to eat on the bus; I imagine you may be expected to be masked while you’re on it, although I don’t see anything stated explicitly. I plan to eat breakfast early and take a banana with me, to have closer to the start time.
Dave
I'd also add: if you want to go the environmentally friendly route / charity friendly, you can always go to a thrift shop nearby and buy something that you plan on just donating back. I've done that for a few marathons. Nothing wrong with the garbage bag approach though if it's going to rain. I wouldn't read too much into any forecast though until this weekend. Most forecasts more than 5-7 days out are effectively a guess.
Ha! No. I chuck the bag as we start. Running warms me up enough. If it's cool I'll cut tips off cheap socks and wear as arm warmers and throw away when I no longer need them.
Thank you again, everybody! (Felt *insane* asking about the garbage bag, because I'd never seen anybody run in one armhole-less, but...) And good luck, JMac and Dave, at CIM! --Christine
Again, many thanks to all of you! I felt absolutely insane inquiring about the garbage bag because I'd never seen somebody run in one without an armhole, but And good luck at CIM, JMac and Dave! —Christine monkey mart