Race Week Checklist

Open the compact blank planning sheet to print or save a one-page PDF. The copy and print controls on this page retain the complete checklist and examples.

Your event details come first

Fill these from the organizer's current instructions. An example time never overrides an event deadline. Mark an item N/A when it does not apply; this is not a requirement to turn a short local race into a week-long project.

Scope labels: All = check relevance for any race; Longer = conditional on expected duration and your practiced fueling plan; Travel = only if traveling; Optional = a preference, not a performance requirement. A checkbox records a planning task, not medical clearance.

Seven days before: confirm the plan

• ☐ All: Verify registration, distance, wave and latest organizer instructions.
• ☐ All: Put packet pickup, transport, bag-check and corral deadlines into your calendar; same-day pickup may not exist.
• ☐ All: Review the training already planned for this week. Do not add a final hard session just because this checklist has started.
• ☐ Travel: Confirm accommodation, travel, start/finish access and a backup for delays.
• ☐ Optional: Agree a spectator/meeting plan and how to reconnect if phone service is unreliable.

Five to six days before: check practical needs

• ☐ All: Review food availability, usual meals and your practiced breakfast timing. Do not automatically begin carbohydrate loading or restrict fiber for every race.
• ☐ Longer: Confirm whether your existing nutrition plan calls for specific pre-race carbohydrate preparation, its timing and suitable foods. Resolve uncertainty with a sports dietitian rather than adopting a generic week-long prescription.
• ☐ All: Make room for sleep within work, travel and caregiving constraints; no fixed eight-hour threshold certifies recovery.
• ☐ Optional: Review the course and choose a few useful cues for pacing or difficult moments.

Three to four days before: organize, without adding work

• ☐ All: Follow the taper or ordinary training schedule appropriate to this event and your current preparation; strides, complete rest and short runs are not universally required.
• ☐ All: Check footwear, clothing, bib/timing arrangements, weather protection and carrying needs. Use the gear checklist for detailed packing rather than duplicating it here.
• ☐ Longer: Confirm aid-station locations, offered products, carrying permissions and a practiced alternative if a station or product is unavailable.
• ☐ Travel: Check transport rules for liquids, gels and medicines with the relevant authority/carrier; package size and route matter.
• ☐ Optional: Save route, instructions and contact details offline.

Two days before: verify actual deadlines

• ☐ All: Collect your packet only if this is within official pickup hours; verify bib and timing instructions.
• ☐ All: Check course changes, forecast and event alerts. Adjust plans when conditions warrant it.
• ☐ Longer: Follow only nutrition changes appropriate to your duration, tolerance and established plan. Low-fiber, low-fat or spicy-food restrictions are not blanket requirements for every entrant.
• ☐ Optional: Charge devices and save cumulative pacing checkpoints in your preferred format.

The day before: make tomorrow executable

• ☐ All: Confirm your wave and work backward through corral access, preparation, queues and travel; include buffers.
• ☐ All: Prepare familiar meals and breakfast items that fit the planned timing and tolerance. No compulsory early dinner hour or fluid restriction applies here.
• ☐ All: Check clothing and gear against updated conditions. Familiar equipment is useful; necessary safety adjustments take priority over a “nothing new” slogan.
• ☐ All: Keep medication arrangements consistent with your clinician's instructions; do not add a race-day supplement from this checklist.
• ☐ Optional: Set an alarm and a backup, then leave space for your normal wind-down routine.

Race morning and after the finish

• ☐ All: Check official updates and whether you feel well enough to proceed; get appropriate assistance for concerning symptoms.
• ☐ All: Use the breakfast, fluids and preparation suited to you; do not force a universal drink amount or automatically stop fluids hours before starting.
• ☐ All: Follow the event's bib, timing, bag and corral instructions. Dispose of clothing only where permitted.
• ☐ Longer: Keep the practiced fuel/fluid plan accessible, with station locations and alternatives.
• ☐ All: Use the race-day decision guide for delays, heat, missed stations, GPS disagreement and an unexpected opening split.
• ☐ All: Follow finish-area instructions; seek medical help if unwell. Otherwise collect belongings, appropriate clothing and transport/meeting arrangements.
• ☐ Optional: Record what changed and arrange a familiar meal or snack. A post-race stretch or recovery product is not required to complete the checklist.

Record your pace and fuel plan

Select strategy using the pacing guide. Keep units consistent; a checkpoint can be time-based or distance-based. Delete unused rows.

The AIS duration-based guidance distinguishes fueling needs and emphasizes practice, gut comfort and available opportunities. A half-marathon distance does not mean every participant has the same duration or needs. Fluid needs also vary; automatic cups at every station or optional salt tablets do not establish a suitable plan. Use the measured sweat-rate guide for its measurement limits, not a universal replacement quota.

A taper changes training before competition; its details belong to the actual runner and plan. For example, Houmard and colleagues (1994) compared running taper, cycling taper and normal training in three groups of eight runners using a 5K time trial. That specific protocol is not a final-week schedule for every race distance or training background. This checklist does not assign a percentage reduction, final-hard-session date or new exercise routine. If illness, pain or disruption changes the plan, review it rather than mechanically ticking the original sessions.

Filled example: hypothetical local 10K

Sunday September 27, 2026, 09:00 wave; approximately 50-minute goal; no overnight travel. All event rules below are invented example assumptions, not instructions for a real race.

Example morning: wake 06:00, breakfast 06:15, leave 07:15, arrive 07:45 after 30 minutes travel; bag drop 08:15 before an assumed 08:30 cutoff; preparation 08:20–08:40; corral 08:40 before an assumed 08:50 closure; wave 09:00. Spaces between actions and deadlines are buffers, not permission to ignore the organizer's access rules. The race-day guide provides the same example with editable fields and explains the arithmetic.

Your blank morning timeline

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