Athlete's Village - items to bring

I've seen references to things to make sure you have in AV. If you can, please reply and specify one or a few items you consider must-haves to bring with you there. Thanks.

I copied and pasted this list together that I found on various sites, some are repeated, some maybe not so necessary, but I'll post it here:



running shoes (will wear old shoes and change in the AV)
Body Glide
camera (or maybe I'll just use the one on my phone)
plastic bags for feet
garbage bags for a** and for a poncho, if needed.
newspaper to sit on (and to read if y'all suck at the Red Dot )
duct tape
athletic tape
sharpie
nail clipper
bandaids
PB jar
sunglasses
safety pins
chapstick
sunscreen
Kleenex (also works as TP)
Gu
extra socks
warm hat/gloves
purell
baby wipes
deodorant
Timex in case the Garmin dies
dry shirt/fleece for after
CEP socks for after
$$ for Jury's after

1. Race Bib
2. Race Outfit (singlet, shirt, armwarmers, shorts, socks)
3. Racing Shoes
4. Body Glide
5. Gels
6. Ultra Fuel pre-race fueling
7. Gatorade bottle. Full then empty.
8. Sunscreen.
9. Old clothes to keep warm and throw away. (It most likely will in the low 40s and windy).
9a. This usually includes sweatshirt, sweatpants, hat, gloves, old socks, old sneakers.
9b. You'll need some of these warm clothes after you finish, so put the good ones into your bag as you head to the start. The crappy ones can stay in the corral.
10. Trash bags to sit on, unless you bring a tarp or a chair.
11. Sharpie. Good to write on things.

2. Large tarp to spread on ground.

Disposable clothes to wear until race time then ditch.

Duct tape to reinforce my gear bag; I've heard they have a tendency to fall apart a bit.

Inner gear bag to go inside the Boston-issued one; same reason.

Sunscreen (supposed to get some sunshine next Monday)

Cap and sunglasses, ditto.

Food/drink, including one last serving of Ultra Fuel.

Endurolyte caps to take during the race

Gels, ditto

Small Gatorade bottle to get me around the first few aid stations.

Toilet paper

Garbage bags, including one to wear as a semi-poncho/privacy shield for potty break on the bus ride.

Empty wide-mouth Gatorade bottle for potty break on bus ride.

Plastic grocery sacks to keep my feet dry.

Extra pair of shoes

Sponge

With the current weather forecast this doesn't require too much thought. For the first timer, it may be helpful to think about what is different about Boston, being a point-to-point course than say, Chicago.

At the Expo, you'll get a really large plastic bag with long rope handles so that you can easily carry it over your shoulders. It fits a LOT and the very last thing you do on the way to your corral is throw it on a school bus. So, you can keep pretty much anything you don't wear to the starting corral. Based on the current forecast, you shouldn't really need any throwaway clothes. Maybe a L/S tee shirt that you can chuck. You might pack a garbage bag *just in case*.

If you take the busses, you'll be leaving Boston Common at somewhere around 6:30. It will be low to mid-50s so some warmups/sweats are in order - probably the same ones that you'll wear after the race. Probably put your race shoes in your bag and change just before the race. But, you can pack the extra shoes, you won't really have to chuck them unless you want to.

DON'T overhydrate race morning, it's a long ride!

It'll take about an hour to get to Hopkinton, so depending on your corral, you have about 2+ hours of waiting. For me, being off of my feet for that time is key. I bought a cheap $10 folding chair last time, and have again, that I just chucked. Most people sat on blankets or yoga mats.

No reason for bags for your feet etc. We haven't had very much rain at all - we're way behind for the year - so the ground isn't very wet. AV is a typical school yard - grass, mostly. It only gets muddy when we get a Nor'easter like 2007.

So, other than Body Glide, sunscreen, sunglasses if you wear them, gels, and whatever else you need for racing, it comes down to food. Overpack on small snacky items - granola bars, bananas etc unless you like having something more substantial like a PB bagel. It's a LONG wait, and you'll be running through your normal lunch time, something that you probably haven't done often in training. Bring gatorade or water, but don't overdo it, it's more important to hydrate between now and then than race day.

Did I forget something?

Watch the weather. A lot of those items are redundant if the weather is fine. Depending upon what you do at the finish, i.e., walk to your hotel, catch a cab or bus will determine what you need at the end. I usually put on all my gear on at the hotel so I don't forget it. Bib, glide, etc.

I think a lot of these lists were created when the race had a noon start time. I may be wrong, but I think the buses still left really early even when the start time was noon, so some people had a 4 hour wait at AV. With the earlier start, there really isn't as much sit around time as there used to be...which is good.

GregC wrote:I think a lot of these lists were created when the race had a noon start time. I may be wrong, but I think the buses still left really early even when the start time was noon, so some people had a 4 hour wait at AV. With the earlier start, there really isn't as much sit around time as there used to be...which is good.

That is correct. You basically had a tent village in the old days.

Nothing has been forgotten, but my top 3 list is:

sunscreen

sunglasses

small bottle of gatorade for first few miles (I think with forecast first few hydration stops are going to be jammed, even more than usual)

They are now calling for 30% chance of showers so a rain poncho or umbrella might be prudent.

Bob wrote:I copied and pasted this list together that I found on various sites, some are repeated, some maybe not so necessary, but I'll post it here:



running shoes (will wear old shoes and change in the AV)
Body Glide
camera (or maybe I'll just use the one on my phone)
plastic bags for feet
garbage bags for a** and for a poncho, if needed.
newspaper to sit on (and to read if y'all suck at the Red Dot )
duct tape
athletic tape
sharpie
nail clipper
bandaids
PB jar
sunglasses
safety pins
chapstick
sunscreen
Kleenex (also works as TP)
Gu
extra socks
warm hat/gloves
purell
baby wipes
deodorant
Timex in case the Garmin dies
dry shirt/fleece for after
CEP socks for after
$$ for Jury's after

1. Race Bib
2. Race Outfit (singlet, shirt, armwarmers, shorts, socks)
3. Racing Shoes
4. Body Glide
5. Gels
6. Ultra Fuel pre-race fueling
7. Gatorade bottle. Full then empty.
8. Sunscreen.
9. Old clothes to keep warm and throw away. (It most likely will in the low 40s and windy).
9a. This usually includes sweatshirt, sweatpants, hat, gloves, old socks, old sneakers.
9b. You'll need some of these warm clothes after you finish, so put the good ones into your bag as you head to the start. The crappy ones can stay in the corral.
10. Trash bags to sit on, unless you bring a tarp or a chair.
11. Sharpie. Good to write on things.

2. Large tarp to spread on ground.

Disposable clothes to wear until race time then ditch.

Duct tape to reinforce my gear bag; I've heard they have a tendency to fall apart a bit.

Inner gear bag to go inside the Boston-issued one; same reason.

Sunscreen (supposed to get some sunshine next Monday)

Cap and sunglasses, ditto.

Food/drink, including one last serving of Ultra Fuel.

Endurolyte caps to take during the race

Gels, ditto

Small Gatorade bottle to get me around the first few aid stations.

Toilet paper

Garbage bags, including one to wear as a semi-poncho/privacy shield for potty break on the bus ride.

Empty wide-mouth Gatorade bottle for potty break on bus ride.

Plastic grocery sacks to keep my feet dry.

Extra pair of shoes

Sponge

OH, you forgot the military duffle bag to hold all this, geez! Obsessing a bit are we/they !

The newspaper. It is on the list. Something to read or at least pretend to read while you watch people. Also good if you run out of tp.

fostever wrote:They are now calling for 30% chance of showers so a rain poncho or umbrella might be prudent.

Fair point. It was supposed to be 55 and sunny today with a chance of late afternoon localized showers lasting 5 or 10 minutes. It's 45 and it's been raining for the last four hours.