Longest I've driven is close to 500 miles solo (about 8 hours on the roads I was on) after doing an 80 mile bike event which required me getting up at 4:30am. Probably not the greatest idea I ever had, but manageable if you're sensible and have good concentration. I have regularly driven >200 miles (>3 hours) after a race, it's just a factor of where I live and where the good races are. My normal strategy involves:
- Set off fairly quickly after the race. Post-race buzz normally has me wide-awake and super alert for at least a couple of hours
- Alternating great/cheesy tunes on the stereo (singing along loudly and badly is encouraged, Prodigy, Queen and Guns'n'Roses are always popular) with catching up with friends/family on the phone (assuming a good hands free kit)
- When/if the post-race buzz wears off I'll reach for the energy drinks (in order of escalating effectiveness - coffee, coke, red bull, Monster...)
- If it feels like I'm going to really struggle I'll stop in a service station and have a nap first, then go for some fresh air and an energy drink to wake up before I hit the road again
- Make sure I never have a hard deadline to get home for. Would never want to feel under pressure to keep driving regardless of how I was feeling, I always want to know that stopping for an hour or more to snooze is an option

Having somebody to share the driving or at least provide conversation is obviously preferable.

I'm struggling to drive more than a couple of hours after a long, hard race. My wife on the other hand, she needs 15 minutes to recover and then she's good for a 6 hr drive. I guess the answer is the dreaded, "it depends".

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"Suddenly the thought struck me. My floor is someone elses ceiling"-Nils Ferlin

I drove home from IMFL in 2010 the Monday morning after the race. I felt 10x worse on Monday than I did on Sunday. It made for a very, very long and painful (and solo) drive back to Houston. I had to stop for 15-20 minutes every two hours because seemingly every muscle in my body tightened up.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

4 hours home from a team time trial with a broken collarbone. 8 hour flight home from tour of Venezuela with another broken collarbone. Long island to Buffalo after a stage race with no injuries. Vermont to Buffalo after Green Mtn stage race. Ottawa to Buffalo after ski marathon.

Just turn the key and go. If you plan to break your right collarbone, borrow a car with an automatic.

This. Only I've done it 4 times, all solo. Once holding one eye open with the other swollen shut due to getting anti-fog in my eyes (didn't get it all rinsed out, went blind at mile 40 of the bike, only DNF in 20 years. 4 hours in the med tent, they wanted to transport me, I decided to go home. Long drive with no depth perception).

not a problem, stop every hour or so and walk for 5min..

I have driven 15 hours back from an ultra, but I was younger then..

I drove 5.5hrs after finishing American Triple T. You can drive 5hrs after finishing a marathon.