In my writeup of the Ultimate Mileage Run, I had mentioned at the end about how I may do something on a smaller scale at some point this year or next year. It would be a way to maximize a use of miles as well as hit as many cities as possible within a short timeframe. Of course, I would want to run in cities where I could run with readers – that is a big part of doing something like this. I can run all day in different cities (and have) by myself, but the real fun is doing it with others.
So, help me sketch out an idea! I was surprised at the number of people who contacted me when I mentioned this before saying that they would be interested in it, so I want to get this going as far in advance as possible to give plenty of time to coordinate with those of you in the cities that we pick. I will not plan on being in any one city for more than 23 hours (some cities may be as short as 5 hours), so I want to make sure we have a good plan in place. Here is some of what I am thinking.
Continental Tour
I am choosing the half-marathon distance (13.1 miles) for this continental tour because it is the perfect distance to allow for scenic parts of a city to be visited while not being overly taxing. I can run 13 miles in successive days without much training at all. Attempting to do 26 miles a day for successive days (with the travel) will take a lot more training and I do not have the time to do it right now. So, for this tour, I have a few thoughts that I need help with to form this event. One thing for sure is that it will be a great opportunity to run major cities across a continent!
Why do this?
The goal of this blog is to help people travel for less and, specifically, help runners run in more places for less. I see an opportunity like this as a great way to use miles and points to run in as many cities as possible in a short time. I also think this would be a great way to meet up with fellow travelers/runners in various cities along the way.
Who can participate?
I would love to have as many of you as possible join in on this! You don’t even have to run the whole 13.1 miles! Just a couple of miles would be fine. It would just be a great opportunity to meet up and talk about all things miles/points/running while on the run. If you would actually like to travel along for part or all of the tour, that would be great too. I would plan for this to be no more than 5 days long (as of right now). We all have busy lives and I do not want to eat into much of a chunk of that with something too long. If this is a success, we could always look at something longer in the future.
How many cities?
I am thinking of anywhere from 4 – 7 cities for this half-marathon tour. It would depend on the mileage program used for this little excursion as well as how many of you readers in various cities would be available to participate.
What cities?
There would have to be one major decision made before the selection of cities and that would be which continent to do this tour on. It would be either Europe or North America. I am currently in Europe but will be in back in North America from time-t0-time which is why I am limiting it to these two. In the future, if this is something that develops interest, I would also like to include Asia in it.
So, what cities am I thinking of? There are a lot of options! Ultimately, the cities will be grouped by alliance for the purpose of maximizing frequent flyer miles. Because of that, and to eliminate time-costing connections, I will try to stick with hub/major airports of the major alliances.
[table “” not found /]When it comes to Europe, the list is even more wide open. Pretty much any major city will work!
What time of year?
What time of year do you feel would be best? I think spring or fall time would work out, though summer certainly has its advantages. I believe winter will be out because of the high chance of flight cancellations/delays. For the purpose of using awards though, summer would not be prime. So, help me out here with your suggestions! 🙂
Summary
So, help me out here! I think this could be an incredibly fun excursion. I really would love to have quite a few of us in each city and would even welcome those who would like to come along for the whole trip. Once we narrow some things down, I can put together the trip with both award options and paid options. Let’s get talking! Comment below with your suggestions.
