Marathon Weekend 2023

[jennysdcc]

Hello, another holiday weekend SW Survivor here. We were scheduled to fly out of Austin to Midway (Chicago) yesterday and was delayed over and over for about ~4 hours before the inevitable cancellation came in. The whole departure board was red and orange with delays and cancellations, we ended up booking an evening flight with United before the cancellation was official because we read the writing on the wall.

No idea if/when we’ll see our luggage again, which is a HUGE pain in my butt because I had brought some running gear to get in some maintenance runs during my taper. Now without my favorite pair of shoes I’ve been breaking in for the marathon and may need to make a big Saucony purchase and just spend the next week gently breaking in my shoes as much as possible so I still have multiple pairs of shoes to switch out during the weekend. Can’t tell you what a nightmare it was on the ground - thousands of people stranded and many solo travelers just SOL. If you can avoid SW I would highly recommend it - we’re planning on finding another airline for our 1/2 flight to Orlando next week.

Random PSA: I think everyone on this forum is kind and understands that this is out of a lot of SW employee’s hands, but just a reminder to be very patient and extra kind to staff during this next week of travel. Other airlines were also overwhelmed with trying to get some last minute bookings arranged, I think everyone is feeling the ripple effect. I saw some SW employees that just looked ready to break - they’ve been through the ringer this weekend

 

[jrsharp21]

Was finally able to cancel our SW flight on the website. Looks like they are starting to get that straightened out. They also added some notices to the website about the cancelations and call volume.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Glad we decided to go with the 13 hour drive again! I had stress with flights this past MW, don't want to go through that again.

 

[huskies90]

For the races, we always book a backup flight on SW because you never know with the weather or other flight craziness. If they cancel your flight, it’s always a scramble to get rebooked so we booked the back up on points and just cancel if we don’t need it.

I agree this year’s debacle is really bad and now we are questioning our flights on 1/3 and our backup on 1/4. Luckily, our first race is the 10K so we do not need to be there until Thursday to get our bibs. We now have a backup one way rental car booked and if things are still crazy by next Tuesday, we will just hop in the car and make the 22 hour drive.

 

[The Expert]

Random PSA: I think everyone on this forum is kind and understands that this is out of a lot of SW employee’s hands, but just a reminder to be very patient and extra kind to staff during this next week of travel. Other airlines were also overwhelmed with trying to get some last minute bookings arranged, I think everyone is feeling the ripple effect. I saw some SW employees that just looked ready to break - they’ve been through the ringer this weekend

YES! This is so important to remember. I often travel with $5 Starbucks gift cards in my purse to pass out to random airport and airline personnel during busy times. A little kindness goes a long way.

 

[jpeterson]

YES! This is so important to remember. I often travel with $5 Starbucks gift cards in my purse to pass out to random airport and airline personnel during busy times. A little kindness goes a long way.

This is a great idea and I'm going to steal it!

I looked into booking a backup flight but I think if it comes to that I'm just going to drive. It's a 17 hour drive but all through southern states. If there is another ice storm they prevents that from happening then it just wasn't meant to be!

 

[jrsharp21]

On of my co-workers asked me "what happens if your flight home gets canceled"? I started laughing immediately. You mean I will be stuck in Orlando for another day or two? Shucks.

 

[jpeterson]

On of my co-workers asked me "what happens if your flight home gets canceled"? I started laughing immediately. You mean I will be stuck in Orlando for another day or two? Shucks.

That is not one of my worries either!

 

[pluto377]

Ugh, I've not really been following this SW mess. I'm scheduled to leave 1/3, but I already had a back up flight booked on 1/4 in case of snow. Now I'm not sure what to do. It's a solo trip and a 20-22 hr drive, so not practical to drive alone. My only other option from my local airport is Frontier and I don't think there's a refundable option.

As far as tapering, last week was a mess with the weather, so I've been focusing on getting in my tempo runs whenever I can and skipping the "easy" runs. I should be back on schedule this week.

 

[HangWithMerida]

Oh yes...but I would totally take this weather for the marathon!
View attachment 727838

Absolutely! Would I prefer colder? Yes. But this is way better than what I was mentally preparing for. Hopefully as things shift, they shift in the right direction.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

Most impacted by the SW debacle are probably doing Dopey, but just in case….
I’m driving from Atlanta on Thursday and will be solo for this trip. So if you can at least can get here and promise me you’re not an axe murderer who will kill me somewhere along I-85 and don’t mind my choices in music ,podcasts and/or audio books, happy to provide the transportation. About 6 hour drive from the south side of Atlanta where the airport is.

 

[Cabius]

Most impacted by the SW debacle are probably doing Dopey, but just in case….
I’m driving from Atlanta on Thursday and will be solo for this trip. So if you can at least can get here and promise me you’re not an axe murderer who will kill me somewhere along I-85 and don’t mind my choices in music ,podcasts and/or audio books, happy to provide the transportation. About 6 hour drive from the south side of Atlanta where the airport is.

That's a lot of conditions. They have to like your podcasts AND promise not to axe murder you until you get to I-4? So complicated.

Safe travels to all -- whether by plane, train, or automobile!

 

[surfde22]

Got my final hard run in today, 8 miles @ marathon pace. Felt strong and the pace felt good. Definitely feeling cautiously optimistic about hitting sub-4 finally. Hopefully the temps don’t get too high.

On the travel front, thankfully we booked with Delta since my wife has their credit card. Have the first flight out on 1/3 and the weather looks like it should cooperate up here in the frozen tundra of MN.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Anyone else nervous about their Southwest flight? A Reddit post reveals that the massive cancellations are due to an internal scheduling malfunction, and I got an email that flights thru Jan 2 (when I’m flying) can be rescheduled. I feel like it -should- be solved by Monday— I have a nonstop from Columbus to Orlando— but am also tempted to book Delta as a back up…

I'm looking into this as well. Flying from the west coast for Dopey gives me very little wiggle room. They're supposed to be back to normal by then, but I'm leaving on Tuesday to make sure I make it to the Expo on Wednesday so I don't want to be stressing about that if I can possibly help it.

 

[camaker]

Anyone else nervous about their Southwest flight? A Reddit post reveals that the massive cancellations are due to an internal scheduling malfunction, and I got an email that flights thru Jan 2 (when I’m flying) can be rescheduled. I feel like it -should- be solved by Monday— I have a nonstop from Columbus to Orlando— but am also tempted to book Delta as a back up…

Definitely concerned. Southwest has been cancelling around 75% of their flights out of Raleigh the last couple of days. I'm mentally preparing myself to drive, if need be. 9-10 hours alone in my car isn't ideal, but if it gets me there...

 

[btk2333]

I bought a refundable Delta ticket as a back up. Ugh.

I had two tickets last year to Marathon weekend and planned to just get on the first one that took off lol
-One on United
-One on American lol

Forunately, they both arrived on time and there were no issues, but it was nice to have the back up!

 

[iheartglaciers]

Is there typically a massage tent after the finish line? I remember there was one you could pay in cash at the end of the Star Wars half I did at Disneyland, but that was a long time ago!

 

[pluto377]

Went ahead and booked a back up Frontier flight. Hopefully I read the fine print correctly and it is in fact refundable! I do not need this stress!

 

[cburnett11]

Started worrying yesterday about my January 5 SW flight to Orlando. Went to bed thinking about making a backup reservation today. I woke up this morning to a busted water pipe in basement. Needless to say, I was consumed with this all day (water removal, plumber left at 10pm, etc) and so sw worries took a back seat. But now I’ll join in with everyone.

 

[nekonekoneko]

Started worrying yesterday about my January 5 SW flight to Orlando. Went to bed thinking about making a backup reservation today. I woke up this morning to a busted water pipe in basement. Needless to say, I was consumed with this all day (water removal, plumber left at 10pm, etc) and so sw worries took a back seat. But now I’ll join in with everyone.

Hope all is good with the water pipe!