Marathon Weekend 2023

[sandam1]

One more piece of my MW travel puzzle in place - I got a mid-afternoon nonstop return flight for a good price. It's a couple hours earlier than we usually leave, but I wasn't going to pass up a reasonable nonstop option.

 

[dobball23]

Quick reminder to book SWA flights home if you fly with them! Released this morning but pretty crazy high prices.

Yes, prices were very high for me from BWI->MCO and back!

 

[Barca33Runner]

I’d like to be all planned for my trip after the Southwest flight release but the rest of my group is much more complicated than me and they aren’t in a hurry to do anything. So, I’ve got my race registration and that’s pretty much it for now .

As much as I’d like to just say screw it and plan on my own the economies of scale are relevant and the trip is more fun with family and friends. Just have to hope they solidify their dates sooner than later.

 

[jpeterson]

Maybe the SWA prices aren't as bad here or maybe I've already adjusted to the POST-COVID reality but prices from AUS -> MCO didn't seem that bad to me. Not stellar deals, sure, but seemed OK.

 

[jrsharp21]

Like others, went to book some flights on SW today. My wife and I already had our flights for Jan 3rd. Now I needed to book flights for my son, daughter, and her boyfriend. They are coming out on January 5th. My son is running the 10k and daughter the half. The SW flight options out of Houston (IAH) to MCO were lacking. Only one or two direct flights and the 1 stop flights had long layovers. There was a 12:30 flight that got them into MCO at 3:30. But with the way flights are going these days and the expo/registration closing at 7pm, decided not to chance it. So headed over to United and ended up booking earlier flights there. But we did book our return flight back home on January 9th through SW. Got a 9am direct flight back to Houston.

 

[MissLiss279]

Yeah, the SW flight prices seem pretty normal for me, but I can rarely find nonstop flights. This past year a few have popped up. Right now I have one booked for the way down, but there weren’t any options for the way back. At least once this year (MW, Princess, Springtime??), I had one nonstop booked and it ended up changing to one with a stop, so who knows…

Since we’re talking flights… I have a flight (AA) in a few months that changed from a nonstop from Bangor, ME to Chicago to one with a 45 minute layover in PHL. I’m a little concerned about this. Will I make that connection? I’ve never been to the Philadelphia airport.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

I’ve never been to the Philadelphia airport.

Consider yourself lucky!

I'd be real nervous with that layover. Depending on the terminals it could be really tight.

 

[The Expert]

Yeah, the SW flight prices seem pretty normal for me, but I can rarely find nonstop flights. This past year a few have popped up. Right now I have one booked for the way down, but there weren’t any options for the way back. At least once this year (MW, Princess, Springtime??), I had one nonstop booked and it ended up changing to one with a stop, so who knows…

Since we’re talking flights… I have a flight (AA) in a few months that changed from a nonstop from Bangor, ME to Chicago to one with a 45 minute layover in PHL. I’m a little concerned about this. Will I make that connection? I’ve never been to the Philadelphia airport.

It's tight. My biggest worries would be weather that time of year delaying your arrival and checked baggage making the connection. I recently had a 45 minute connection in Atlanta turn into 35 minutes because we had to wait for a gate. I made it to the other plane just fine, but my bag did not. I finally got it delivered at 4am the next morning. Reinforcing my usual mantra to NEVER check luggage!

 

[pluto377]

Also got my return flight on SW today. I'm leaving midmorning Sunday, which should be interesting with the marathon road closures. I had wanted to leave late Saturday night, but the latest flight to my airport is 5pm :-( I used points so it was fine, but more points that I was expecting. Now I just have to decide if I'm coming down on the 3rd or 4th. I have two flights booked right now...

 

[kirstie101]

I’m looking at flights now and all but one option departs prior to 9:20. So if I have a 9:20 flight on a Tuesday, what time do I need to leave the resort? How’s traffic that early? This is only my 2nd WDW trip and
I flew out later last time.

 

[jrsharp21]

I’m looking at flights now and all but one option departs prior to 9:20. So if I have a 9:20 flight on a Tuesday, what time do I need to leave the resort? How’s traffic that early? This is only my 2nd WDW trip and
I flew out later last time.

You biggest obstacle on your return flight is going to be security. The lines at MCO have been crazy. The last two times we flew home from WDW, the end of the line was clear over in the other terminal. Luckily after the first time we waited in that line, we prepared for it the second time. We booked the free Clear reservation and got to skip the big line. This time around, we all have TSA pre-check. I would suggest getting to the airport 3 hours early if you don't have any of the preferred traveler programs.

 

[MissLiss279]

It's tight. My biggest worries would be weather that time of year delaying your arrival and checked baggage making the connection. I recently had a 45 minute connection in Atlanta turn into 35 minutes because we had to wait for a gate. I made it to the other plane just fine, but my bag did not. I finally got it delivered at 4am the next morning. Reinforcing my usual mantra to NEVER check luggage!

It’s a short trip, so I’m not planning on checking a bag; however, since it is a small plane from Bangor, I’m guessing I may have to gate check my bag and then stand around and wait for them to get it…
It’s not the smallest commercial plane I’ve been on, but a 2x2 - so a little hope that I won’t have to gate check.

 

[GollyGadget]

All this talk about flights had me looking into my options. Not too many nonstop options but at least two each day. My plan was to fly on Thursday afternoon but now we're flying in Wed night because... Well...I really don't know. My partner liked the flight better and I'm easily persuaded to take longer vacations.

 

[BigEeyore]

Chicago marathon veterans - how big a deal are corral placements? At Disney, I am usually a corral C girl (although the SG thing has changed things), but for Chicago they put in me corral H. Is this really bad? Am I going to be standing around forever waiting to start, and then be stuck in a huge crowd?

 

[_shiny_side_up_]

Chicago marathon veterans - how big a deal are corral placements? At Disney, I am usually a corral C girl (although the SG thing has changed things), but for Chicago they put in me corral H. Is this really bad? Am I going to be standing around forever waiting to start, and then be stuck in a huge crowd?

I did Chicago in the fall of '19 and was in a corral or two in front of where you are now (but not in the first wave).
The starting area was very open and after getting myself situated and familiar with where I had to go I just sat under a tree and relaxed. It was very cold that morning so I got up and moved around after a while to keep myself warm.
But yes, it did feel like a lot of waiting.

As for being stuck in a huge crowd - given the number of runners I don't think corral placement matters too much. I felt comfortable throughout most of the race with the space between me and other runners. There were only a few points where it narrowed to the point that I had to start dodging others.

 

[Disney316]

Looking at SW flights and debating whether to fly in Thursday or Friday (only running the full). Of course I’d rather be there Thursday for a longer vacation, but Friday would work better for work and childcare logistics. Any thoughts/recommendations on which to do? If it helps, my flight would land about 5:30pm either day and cost isn’t too much of a factor.

 

[fatmanatee]

I did Chicago in the fall of '19 and was in a corral or two in front of where you are now (but not in the first wave).
The starting area was very open and after getting myself situated and familiar with where I had to go I just sat under a tree and relaxed. It was very cold that morning so I got up and moved around after a while to keep myself warm.
But yes, it did feel like a lot of waiting.

As for being stuck in a huge crowd - given the number of runners I don't think corral placement matters too much. I felt comfortable throughout most of the race with the space between me and other runners. There were only a few points where it narrowed to the point that I had to start dodging others.

Also a Chicago 2019 vet! I forget which corral but I don't recall it being any better or worse than WDW races. It's all a blur that early.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Chicago marathon veterans - how big a deal are corral placements? At Disney, I am usually a corral C girl (although the SG thing has changed things), but for Chicago they put in me corral H. Is this really bad? Am I going to be standing around forever waiting to start, and then be stuck in a huge crowd?

Are you anticipating a 4:00-4:15 marathon finish? That appears to be the estimated finish for that corral (link). This is my 2018 Chicago Marathon recap (link). I left my hotel on Michigan Ave (Chicago Athletic Association) at 5:20am. Dinked around a bit inside the gear check area, and then got to Corral B at 6:15am. Race started at 7:30am, and was across the start line at 7:32-ish at the back of Corral B. I went through the 2021 results and searched for people who finished around 4 hours. It looks like most took about 16-30 min (20 min seems about average) to start after the official gun start.

 

[MissLiss279]

Chicago marathon veterans - how big a deal are corral placements? At Disney, I am usually a corral C girl (although the SG thing has changed things), but for Chicago they put in me corral H. Is this really bad? Am I going to be standing around forever waiting to start, and then be stuck in a huge crowd?

Are you anticipating a 4:00-4:15 marathon finish? That appears to be the estimated finish for that corral (link). This is my 2018 Chicago Marathon recap (link). I left my hotel on Michigan Ave (Chicago Athletic Association) at 5:20am. Dinked around a bit inside the gear check area, and then got to Corral B at 6:15am. Race started at 7:30am, and was across the start line at 7:32-ish at the back of Corral B. I went through the 2021 results and searched for people who finished around 4 hours. It looks like most took about 16-30 min (20 min seems about average) to start after the official gun start.

Another data point from 2017. I think I started in Corral E (thanks to friends who worked for a parent company of a race sponsor). We crossed the start line at 7:49. I don’t remember anything else about what time we got there, but we did have a tent we could sit in until they walked us to the corral - so I’m not a very good pre-race example. Other friends started in Corral L, and I just remember that it took them a long time to start, it was hot that day, and they had even more time in the hotter part of the day.

There are a lot of people. I think you will be in a large crowd whatever corral you start in. I never felt like I couldn’t run though. And there are spectators along the entire race pretty much. It was great (except for the heat)!

 

[Herding_Cats]

Looking at SW flights and debating whether to fly in Thursday or Friday (only running the full). Of course I’d rather be there Thursday for a longer vacation, but Friday would work better for work and childcare logistics. Any thoughts/recommendations on which to do? If it helps, my flight would land about 5:30pm either day and cost isn’t too much of a factor.

Is winter weather a factor where you’re flying from?