The Friday night a team block has to cover
The CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K runs on Saturday, November 7, 2026.
Gear check opens at 6:30 a.m. at Washington Street and West Street. The half and full marathon start at 8:00 a.m., the 5K starts at 8:40 a.m., and the course closes at 3:30 p.m. Every participant collects the official clear gear check bag at the expo. Only that bag clears gear check, all bags are searched, and unattended bags are removed.
The Monumental Health and Fitness Expo and packet pickup runs at the Indiana Convention Center. The organiser's race weekend schedule lists Thursday, November 5 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Friday, November 6 from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The venue page lists the expo for November 6 in Exhibit Hall A-B and publishes a forecast attendance of 20,000. The organiser's FAQ notes that the Indiana Convention Center sits one block from the start and finish areas on Maryland Street.
General registration is sold out across all in-person distances, and limited charity entries remain. A downtown block on race weekend competes with that field.
A running club or charity team needs one night, the Friday. A Thursday arrival adds a second night and lines up with the Thursday evening pickup window.
The booking channel and the waitlist
The organiser holds a block of guestrooms at a number of downtown hotels. Teams search the 2026 Hotel Block website, select "Attendee" in the dropdown, and enter no access code.
The Visit Indy Housing Bureau runs the block. The bureau email is housing@visitindy.com and the phone number is 317-262-8191. Staff answer Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.
Waitlist mechanics are published on the organiser's hotel block page. A club that wants a specific property emails or calls the bureau and asks to be added to the waitlist for that hotel. The bureau calls to confirm the preferred hotel when it becomes available for the team's arrival and departure dates, then sends a new acknowledgment. The team cancels any unwanted reservations and pays the fees attached to them.
The page also warns that a search returning no availability can still hide single or non-sequential nights. The organiser suggests calling the hotel direct at that point. Extra days booked that way may sit outside block pricing.
Four dates that decide the block
September 29 is the deadline to assign guest occupant names to rooms held under one name. A club holding six rooms under one coach runs out of time on that date, not in November.
October 8 is the deadline to cancel without penalty. Every reservation cancelled after Thursday, October 8, 2026 carries a $25 cancellation fee.
October 5 through October 16 is the window for new reservations and extra nights on existing reservations. The exact date varies by hotel and depends on availability.
October 22 is the deadline to modify existing reservations through the housing bureau. Name changes and similar edits belong in that window. After October 22 the hotel handles every modification and every new request directly. Reservations cancelled or marked as no-shows after October 22 are charged by the hotel.
Sizing one night and the attrition question
Attrition is the clause to settle in writing. The organiser publishes no attrition percentage for this block, so a club cannot read one off the page. Ask the hotel for three figures in writing. Ask how attrition is measured, in room nights or in room revenue. Ask how the block counts a no-show against that figure. Ask whether the $25 per-reservation cancellation fee replaces the attrition charge or stacks on top of it.
One published detail changes the risk profile for a charity team. General registration for all in-person distances is sold out, and limited charity entries remain. A room list built on charity entries can firm up later than a standard club roster. Ask the hotel whether names can be swapped inside the block after October 8 without triggering an attrition test.
State the remaining terms in the same request. The club states one Friday night, the room count, the names deadline of September 29, and the checkout date. The hotel states the minimum hold, the release cut-off, the deposit and the guarantee terms.
Downtown inventory and the walk to the start
The Indiana Convention Center publishes the downtown inventory. Downtown Indianapolis holds 7,100 hotel rooms, and more than half of them sit within blocks of the center. Skywalks connect 4,700 rooms to the convention center. Two hundred downtown restaurants sit within walking distance, and the airport is 15 minutes away.
Skywalk timing matters on race morning. The venue states that skywalk hours depend on the event, with a rule of thumb of around 11:00 p.m. for evening lockdown and around 6:00 a.m. for morning reopening. A 6:30 a.m. gear check sits just inside that reopening window.
The groupRooms directory lists 273 Indianapolis hotels ready to quote a block. The platform spans 103,857 hotels across 46 states, with fee-free rate requests.
The hotel block page publishes no deposit figure, no minimum hold and no attrition percentage for the marathon block. Those terms arrive from the hotel at the point of contract. A club that loses the waitlist race draws from the 4,700 skywalk-connected rooms spread across downtown properties.
What to put in the request
Send the housing bureau or the hotel one page. State the Friday night arrival, the room count, the September 29 name deadline, and the checkout. State the Thursday add-on as a separate line. Ask for the attrition percentage and its measurement base, the release cut-off, the minimum hold, and the deposit terms. Ask whether skywalk-connected properties inside the block can hold the group rate for a Thursday night.
