When you head down to Big Sur, try and get the right side of the bus. If it is clear and the moon is out, you wlil get some incredible scenes. The buses will actually go past the start and turn around at the Ventana Inn and head back north. When you get dropped off at the start, you have the Porta Potties directly ahead and some off to the right. The sweats buses are off to the right. Dropping off sweats in the lower start area can get very crowded. There is a truck up on the start line, way in the back for sweats. It is incredibly convenient AND you can stay warm right up to the last second. Around 6:15 they will start calling people to the start line. If you are under 3:00 head up quickly and get in front, if you are 4 hours, hop in the middle, if you are over 4 hours, head to the back. Be honest, trust me it will be to your advantage and you will beat people who think they are faster than they really are. I have been all over the place time wise, but I ALWAYS start as far back as I can get. In the next post I will cover why you want to start at the back and run very slow at the start. Big hint starting out too fast will cause major problems at the end....

Yes I'd recommend bring something to sit on, or wrap yourself in. Most years it is cool. Many people do the trash bag trick.