Gatineau / Ottawa Marathon Weekend Details

Feb 5, 2010

Good Day Everyone,

Please review the following details relating to the above noted training / racing weekend. I am just going to use a point form format, which is totally against my nature, so if I tend to go off on a tangent, well..

  • The dates are check in Thursday May 27, Friday May 28, Saturday May 29 and check out Sunday May 30.
  • The hotel is named Capital Hill Hotel and Suites. - located in downtown Ottawa, close to start finish line of marathon events. Walking distance to Byward Market area and easy drive to the hills of Gatineau Provincial Park in Quebec.
  • event / training schedule looks kinda like; (remember this is a train at your own pace, distance weekend - you are your own training control board)(you are responsible for bringing all your own training essentials)
  • arrive Thursday in time to get checked in bite to eat and a beer after your drive. (Evening arrival - for me anyway) I know some people arrived early in the day Thursday last year and got some sightseeing in etc.. (secret training)
  • Friday - up early grab a coffee and bite off to Gatineau, spend the day riding. Each loop is about 46K - 23k up.. 23k down.. sort of. You can ride as many loops as you like.
  • back to Ottawa for showers, naps, poke around the city. Once we know numbers we will make reservations at a local restaurant for a group dinner. Swap stories about watching Brian change his flat tire while getting bitten by black flies (I would STRONGLY urge you all to bring bug spray)
  • Saturday - up coffee eat.. back to the hills.. more riding and merriment. The Saturday riding is typically shorter then the Friday as people are mindful of the running events on the Sunday. I say typically, because it is not always the case.
  • Back to town Saturday afternoon, pick up race kits, shower, nap, poke around.. group dinner - this dinner is important because we need to make sure that we are all in equally rough shape for the running event the next day. Anyone found not to be in rough shape will be forced to drink tequila.. kidding..
  • Sunday - run.. half marathon.. or the full if you like.. meet in the food area after the race and back to hotel to check out and find some place for lunch. (if you are planing on running in Ottawa - note that early bird pricing is in effect until Feb 15th.)
  • Cost per person for the hotel may vary depending on the final number of people that attend and the number of rooms etc. but we are looking in the $120 to $130 range, unless something really goes off the rails. But at this point I have booked 6 rooms - 4 people per room (24 people total for the math challenged) and if we fill all of that the cost will be $120 / person plus parking which I believe is $15 / night / vehicle - can you say car pool.
  • It is important to note that in order to keep the costs down of weekends like this - these are SHARED accommodations - in the true sense of the word. That is to say - there will be 4 guys or 4 gals in a room with 2 queen beds.. figure it out.. There may be two couples in a room etc. but there will not be mixing.. if the weekend participation plays out where there is an extra body we will make the necessary arrangements via extra cot or something. We picked this hotel again because last year when we showed up they gave us all suites where the two queen beds were in a separate room and there was a couch in the living room, a kitchenette, dining table and lots of room for our bikes etc. We booked early this year in hopes that we will get the same. I could not order the suites and still get the same low rate. But it all worked out. At the end of the day, everyone is tired and smelly.. so go to sleep.. and lay off the broccoli for a few days prior..
  • At this point I have 16 people confirmed and they have started to give me their $110 deposits. Thank you to those that have - As I have put this on my credit card, I ask that the rest that have committed please do so.
  • So in addition to the 16 confirmed I have two others that have asked me to hold a spot for a short period of time until they can confirm things on their home fronts, which I have agreed to, so that leaves 6 open spots at this time. It is not limited to six, but I will not book another room until those 6 spots are filled and it looks like we have enough interest to fill another.. if we fill the 6 spots and we find that one more person wants to come, we will accommodate them with a cot and the savings will be distributed among the rest of the group - hence the deposit and not the firm amount. Like wise if we only get 5 spots filled, then the additional cost will be distributed among the group - again hence the deposit.
  • I can cancel a room. If we do not get enough to fill the extra spots, I will simply cancel a room. But I need to know some numbers - so please take this weekend into consideration and let me know asap.
  • I went on line to hotels.ca and looked at how much it would cost if I just went and got a room with one queen bed for the same three nights and the cost was $538.
  • I think that is it. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions at all and I will do my best to answer them. We have done this weekend for the past 4 or 5 years at least and it truly is a good time. The view from the top of Gatineau is beautiful and the group photos from the top are some of my best.
  • We also have a group doing the Rideau Lakes ride - separate email later which is June 5,6 and we are also looking at going back to Huntsville for a training weekend June 11,12 again separate email..


Hope to see you out there..

Jim