Packing List When Travelling to a Race

Good morning and happy weekend! Given that I recently ran a race away from home (Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC), the logistics of running a destination race are fresh in my mind. Destination races/”runcations” are one of my favorite parts of running! You don’t want to be without the essentials for race day, so I have developed a list of things you should bring with you.

Race packing list:

• If possible, pack up your pre-race meal to bring with you, for example:
  1. Packaged peanut butter
  2. Packaged cheese spread
  3. Bananas
  4. Honey stingers
  5. GUs
  6. Bread/bagels
  7. NUUN tablets
  8. Generation UCAN

• Gatorade and water bottles, unless you’re flying. Bring an empty Nalgene with you to the airport so you can fill it after security gates.
• If you check-in your bag, wear your racing sneakers and carry on any essential race items such as your ipod/garmin. If your suitcase gets lost, you can purchase race clothes at the expo.
• I usually bring post-race snacks such as cliff bars, trail mix, and apples with me as the last thing I want to be doing post-race is shopping for food!
• Bring all iPod/music/Garmin chargers with you and make sure you charge everything the night before the race.
• BODY GLIDE
• Bring a portable foam roller or massage stick.
• Pack some extra plastic bags (or use hotel plastic laundry bag) for dirty clothes.
• Pack extra pair of sneakers or comfortable shoes to wear post-race.
• Pack several different race outfits so you can adjust depending on the temperature/humidity level of the race location.
• Bring a throw-away long sleeve or fleece (races usually donate the clothing to charity) to wear in the early morning on race day.

You should pack the following in your race checked bag (I usually don’t check in a bag unless I know that I will be waiting at the finish line for others, etc):

• Pack dry socks or flip flops
• Long sleeve shirt and an extra jacket depending on the weather
• Body glide
• Extra snacks
• Cell phone if you don’t carry it during the race

What are the race-day items that you can’t live without?