Camping with the other participants can be really fun. We do this for mountain bike races and have done it twice for the MS150 in Texas. You get a unique experience, so if it works out in the future it will be worth a try.

I don't sleep well until a few nights in my environment, unfortunately I also do not respond to the sleeping ingredient in OTC things. It is the same thing that makes you drowsy from Benedryl but I get wired on Benedryl. My doc claims only 10% of people will not get tired. I find cool temps, sometimes a Trazadone (prescription sleep aid for my insomnia) helps. Plus don't overhydrate so you aren't needing to pee a bunch.

We have some Big Agnes brand insulated sleeping pads, we used to use a big air matress but now using our own pads helps. They are quite comfy but a bit pricey, I think they were $69 for the short and $79 for DH's tall.