Will you do the drive in one day?

It all depends on what you and your familycan handle as far as travel load.

I typically drive to all IM events and time my arrival to be right at the last few hours of registration. I travel solo so I don't worry about others complaining for bathroom breaks, however your family could drop you off at registration, go get checked into the hotel and pick you back up an hour later after you walk through the IM village.

Just my .02

I like the Thursday arrival... Check in with minimal lines. I double my races as a vacation/race. And use Thursday as a fun day around town. Friday and Saturday turn into rest and preperation for the race.

I always feel like a Friday arrival makes it feel like it is strictly a business trip.

IMFL is a Saturday race so you must check in by Thursday. Check the event schedule for last year as checkin was until 5 or 6 pm on Thursday. Every IM requires you to check in at least 2 days before the race. You can’t check in the day before the race.

I did IMFL this last year and drove up Wednesday and checked in later that day. Lines were minimal. I did stop by the expo on Thursday and the line to check in was quite long. I would do Wednesday or 3 days before the race personally.

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blog

+1

As already mentioned, IMFL is a Saturday race and which means the latest you could do athlete check in is 5pm Central time on Thursday. If you show up on Friday you're not racing.

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

Glad I asked. I don’t know where I got it stuck that registration was Friday. It will be a vacation/race. It is not far from where we go to the beach for vacation and will be a single day drive. We will book wed to Sunday and have a good day or two before dad gets to hear mike say YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!

Thanks folks.

I will add this. IMFL was my first 140.6. I arrived early in the week and feel it was way too early. I thought I would use the time to settle in, get to know the environment, etc etc. I was settled and everything was ready to go by Tuesday evening. I then proceeded to freak myself out by listening to everyone I met throughout the week....veterans and newbs....I was second guessing everything by Friday.

For a Saturday race....with a long drive....I would drive Wednesday and take your time.

I've done IMFL twice and the first time I got there a few days early and spent a few days staring at the wall in my condo. The second time I did it I showed up on Wednesday night, checked in Thursday morning, did a practice swim in near unswimmable conditions, test rode the bike in near unrideable conditions, and watched a mofo of a storm roll in on Thur/Fri. Thankfully, all was mostly good on race day but had the storm arrived a day later the race would have been canceled. Beach was double red flagged and the crosswinds were so bad along Front Beach Rd. that most people would not have been able to ride upright.

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

2013? That was my first. I'm about a 4 hour drive and last time (this year) arrived on Thursday and left on Sunday. Maybe because I live by a beach, but PCB doesn't have a lot to offer outside of the race.

Yes, 2013. The two days leading up to the race were rough, especially Friday.

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

I am also planning to arrive on Wednesday

I will land in Tampa and then drive: is it a decent drive without much traffic? (I ll come from Europe...)

There won't be any traffic. Looks like a six hour drive from Tampa to Panama City Beach.

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

My n=1. For IMFL this year I arrived Wednesday morning and checked in that afternoon. I was in and out of check-in in 10-15 minutes. Very quick.
On Thursday I was walking through the village and the check-in line was obnoxiously long. People were looking pretty miserable, and looking like they wished they checked in the day prior.

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I talk to myself because mine are the only answers I'll accept - George Carlin

For my only IM and WTC race so far, I arrived at 2016 IMFL Tuesday night. I drove up straight from Miami so ca 10.5 hours in the car.

It might not have been necessary but I was relaxed the whole week. Checked in Weds no problem. Got in some sbr. I was particularly happy about the relaxed time to get the bike I’m working order.

Thenmt family flew into Tallahassee Thursday am. We went to some parks that day. They saw some others Friday while I hung around the condo.

Overall it was perfect. No hassles. I just worked or watched tv during my down times. If you can afford it, arriving early wed or late tues is recommended esp if you want to do some low key stuff in the area.

Good luck!

Thinking about IMFL this year... Older threads say Boardwalk Beach Hotel is a shithole, and Sunbird is your best bet. Is that still the case?

Do yourself a favor and consider renting one of the hundreds of condos within walking distance of transition. You can do much better than the Boardwalk for less money.

I don't know if Florida offers this, but I was able to purchase a bib ship option for Maryland that allows me to check in Friday for a Saturday race. I will still arrive Thursday by mid-day, but nice to not have to worry about any travel delays. Worth looking into.

I traditionally try and arrive on Thursday. I just drove to IM Mont Tremblant 70.3, it was a 17 hour drive. We got into town at 4PM and it was the perfect timing

AirBNB or VRBO

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

^This - been a while since I did IMFL but I stayed at the Summit Condos just down the road from the race site (also along the run course) and it was perfect. Easy walking to everything and we had a nice rental unit. We got in late that Tuesday night but it was nice to be able to get registration out of the way early and have a few days to relax in addition to getting some short workouts in during the days prior to the race.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler