Any marathoners out there? (Austin: rental, good hotel, taxis)

[MozLee]

I am heading to Austin from Chicago in February for the Marathon and am very excited to be coming to visit for the first time! I am looking for a good hotel that is cheap and not too far from where the marathon start/finish is. I'm fine with Days Inn type hotels as long as Yelp tells me they're clean, and I'd rather pay less and take taxis to where I need to be instead of staying right downtown and paying $200 a night.

I'll also be in Austin for 5 days, so I'd like to be in a place that's not too far removed from fun things. For instance, I'd prefer not to stay near the airport. If you have any advice for me, I'd greatly appreciate it! I'll take any advice on must-do and must-see things, too .

[south side chap]

I've run the Austin Marathon the past two years, and will be running in 2012 as well. It is a great race and I'm sure you'll enjoy it (hopefully there will be no repeat of last year's brutal conditions). Austin is nuts about running!

I'm a local so don't need to worry about hotels, but if I were coming in from out of town I'd find myself a vacation rental. You'll have a kitchen to prepare your pre-race food, a decent fridge to stock up with your drinks, and I truly believe its the best way to experience Austin. Search any of the big vacation rental websites and find somewhere close to the start/finish line. It is possible in theory that you could find a place from where you can walk to the start (lower South Congress for example), and it should come in well under $200 a night.

I'll let everyone else weigh in with what to do and see, and in the meantime express my hope that you have a great race.

[cBach]

I believe the #1 hotel is Super 8 in tripadvisor, from what I've heard you can't go wrong there if you're just looking for something good and cheap.

I'm a runner but not a marathon runner. That's too much of an investment for me (both in time and money). I prefer my 3 mile daily runs.