ToT 13K Race Report(Pics Added-Brief for Now) [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

ultramickeymouse

10-28-2007, 09:07 AM

Brief Report(much longer and detailed with LOTS of pics coming):

Afternoon started with 15 of us putting around at Fantasia Gardens. Some showers but the last 2 holes we had about a 10 min rain delay. Anyone with a hole in won got a free pair of socks! Linda would run and track them down. We than headed over to Pikabo for a nice late lunch/early dinner. We took over a section and had some good food and company. Linda was Master of Ceremonies and dealed out Fuel Belt Fanny packs to the winners. She also was in charge of Disney Trivia which gave everyone a chance to win fanny packs as well. After that you had to watch out for those flying socks!

We headed back to the room to rest and get ready for the race. At 8:30 we all met at the bridge between the Swan and Boardwalk to head down to the start. We wandered around a bit as there was no directions or signs to the start. We saw some tents and headed away. We met more WISHer’s and we gathered and waited and waited, and waited for the start. It was delayed 20 minutes due to traffic issues.

Linda and I walked the whole race with Kim and Mike. Great conversation as we wandered the World. The race actually had us go on a dirt and gravel road where the escapees awaited. They were looking for their friend Dave. We told them he was behind us. We weaved through WWoS back to MGM. Dave and Erica caught up with us at about mile 6.5. Dave said he took so long because he had the reunion with all his white shirted friends. We than weaved through MGM into Lights, Motors, Action where we were displayed on a big screen (ala DL ½). http://www.disneyrunning.com/07photos/07tot13klma.jpg

We continued to about mile 7.5 where than band started playing its tribute to Dave and we all sang and danced to YMCA.

We cruised down the stretch hand in hand with our wives. We finished according to clock at 2:09:42. After some water and ice on my knee, we headed back to our room to get the beverages that Dave and Erica brought for our post race meeting at the Boardwalk pool. Jeanne and John joined in as we talked until about 3:00am.

Great day with great friends! I took lots of pics which I will post some real soon.

The reward:

http://www.disneyrunning.com/07photos/07tot13kmedal.jpg

BTW: Forgot to add that this is the first time it took me 2 days to finish a 13K:scared1: With the late start, we did finish until 12:03 am Sunday:rolleyes:

lenshanem

10-28-2007, 09:10 AM

Glad you had a nice time. Can't wait to see the pics! Thanks! :thumbsup2

Sandy321

10-28-2007, 09:48 AM

LOVE that medal !!

:rotfl2: 2 days to finish a race!!

thanks for sharing! It sounds like so much fun!

princessmomma

10-28-2007, 09:57 AM

The reward:

http://www.disneyrunning.com/07photos/07tot13kmedal.jpg

WOW!:eek:

That medal is AWESOME! :cheer2:

Congratulations to all the ToT WISHers!

Luv2Roam

10-28-2007, 10:13 AM

:wave:
Hello. I came over to this board to see if anyone had posted about the ToT event.
I showed DH your post. He says he even reads your web page. :flower3:
DH ran the 13k. He has been a runner for YEARS, and has even be a race director, and course planner, including Race for the Cure in one town.
DH :love: Disney races. That is what brought us to WDW in the first place. We use to travel all over and plan our vacations around his marathon runs. I finally got him to a Disney marathon where we both became Disneyholics. :wizard: DH even volunteers at what Disney races he does not enter.
That being said, I think this race needed a lot of improvement, from a participant and spectator point of view.
I can't believe I paid $25 just to be able to ride 4 rides and see 2 gift shops after hours. :sad2: (Where is an emoticon where I am kicking myself on the backside? :rotfl2: )
MNSSHP would cost around $35 and guests get characters, candy, special fireworks, parade, entertainment, special decor, etc.
$25 and not even the bare minmum. Not even running trams at closing :rolleyes1
Next time I need to know up front what I get for the jack. Once bitten, twice shy.
Luckily we did not have the lack of transportation that many had.
This could have been a great race.
I did take a lot of good ToT pictures as no one else was around when the ride first opened. :thumbsup2

I am sure DH enjoyed the race. If they have it next year it would need to be vastly improved for us to participate again.

(DH's opinion, and only his opinion, was the late start was due to bad instructions for where race start was. The map was not very good and did not help matters either. He does not buy it was traffic issues. But certainly have no proof one way or another. He said the crowd was booing before race start.)

ultramickeymouse

10-28-2007, 11:01 AM

First 29 pics:

http://www.disneyrunning.com/07tot13kphotorm1.html

More to come...

Luv2Roam

10-28-2007, 11:35 AM

Great photos. :thumbsup2 Thanks for sharing. :flower3:

hoosmi

10-28-2007, 04:51 PM

Hey Robert- sorry we missed you. We had a great time! The medal is pretty sweet- did you see the words on the lanyard glow in the dark?!

Luv2Roam- trust me, there were traffic issues. My DD (7) and I were walking the 6.5k. We left our hotel (CBR) at about 7:15 because I was nervous about the whole shutting down the parking lot at 8:30 thing. CBR is so close to MGM that I thought we were set! It took until over 9:00 to get there. The serious looking runners were FREAKING OUT! People were hopping out of their cars and running down the median to see what was happening. It was horrible. I already decided if they closed the parking lot at 8:30 after I'd been driving maybe one mile in over an hour, I'd take my big ol' SUV over their barricade and anyone who got in my way. I'm guessing a lot of people had the same look in their eyes since there was no sign of closing.:lmao:

Luckily, the race itself was fun. I had a wonderful time with my DD. We got to chat with Becky (Lexxifern) and her sister Jen before the race. They're a lot of fun. I'll write more in a race report later, but wanted to comment on the traffic since people who walked over had no idea how horrible it was!

Jen in GA

Calcio

10-28-2007, 05:54 PM

I PLACED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not in the top 5 in my age group, but right now #12 in the group sounds good enough to me. I was aiming for sub-73 and finished in 72:04, finishing 12th in the 50-54 males. Woo-Hoo.

My report is short. I had a terrible time working through the crowds in the first 2 miles, hitting #2 in 19 minutes. I was hoping for 9 minutes per mile for the distance, so already I was 1 minute behind. Once I broke out I was able to make up a little time on each mile, until mile 5 when I was back on 9 min per mile pace. The last 2 miles I was pushing it as hard as I could, and thankfully the finish came about 10 meters before my body was finished.

The 20 minute hold was a bunch of crap. Typical Disney garbage at a race. Get some police out on the entrance to the studios and in the lots and move the people in. For god's sake, how about a 2 lane turn in and quick movement into the parking lot, kind of like first thing in the AM when the tourists come in. The worse part was the cutesy guy and gal up there being totally stupid. Let me amend that, the worst part was the "music" videos while we waited, nothing but T&A shaking to a pseudo-beat.

The course, I enjoyed a lot. The cross country part was a blast, and I loved running all around the World of Sports complex. Returning along the Race for the Taste course was fun. Entering the Disney Studios with 2 miles to go was puzzling, as I wondered where 2 miles were going to be found in the park. We ran all around paths and roads, in the front and backstage which I never knew existed. I especially smiled when I ran by Muppet Vision.

The best part by far was being out in the starting corrals, and after the finish, with so many good friends.

Thanks to all of you, I had a wonderful time with the gang. January 12-13 here I come.

Craig

andromedaslove

10-28-2007, 07:41 PM

I just got back about an hour ago. I loved the race and had a blast!! I was a little disappointed in the delay at the start and the lack of things to do at the party afterwards!! Michael got to go on Rock'n'Roller Coaster for the first time and had a blast, and then we pretty much headed out. My time was NOT great!! I attribute that to spending the day in Universal, and the fact that it was so hard to get moving for the first 2 miles, then as soon as you thought it was clearing up you got to go through the gravel/dirt/mud road where everyone was running each other over to avoid the puddles. I swear I spent more time on the sides of the road than the road itself just trying to get back on pace. I never quite made it!! I finished in 1:16:59 (avg 9:30ish mpm). I better get my behind back in gear before January if I plan on keeping that pace for all 26 miles!! I have some pictures (I hope), DH was in charge of the camera, but I am supposed to have pictures. I hope to post them later.

Dana

Duanerice

10-28-2007, 08:32 PM

Hey Craig, I was right behind you, 72:38 in the male 50 - 54 group. I was spent at the end. I missed the 7 mile marker so I thought I had another mile or so to go. I never would have made it!

The race was awesome! The other stuff, well let's just say they screwed up pretty much from when they first mentioned it (remember it was supposed to start at 9:00 originally). No excuse for the traffic.

Anyway, if you are going to get something right, make it the race. And they did. I'll write a short report later, but they did a nice job one they got going.

Loved running at night. Why don't more places do this? I mean running through the park with all those people cheering you on. If you couldn't get a rush out of that, I don't know what would do it.

Oh yea, the elevator on the medal moves up and down - way too cool!

Great meeting everyone. More to come.
Duane

Calcio

10-28-2007, 09:09 PM

Hello Duane

Congratulations and good work. I just looked at the results and saw 7 of our group finished in 72+. I see you from Ft. Myers.

Yes the mile 7 marker was in the back and in a very dark area. I saw it but could not get enough light on my watch to get the 7 split. It would have been nice to have a clock at each split. I mean, at the Boulder Road Runners track meets, which cost $1 per race, they had a clock working.

Craig

Tiger Lily 03

10-28-2007, 09:36 PM

I enjoyed the event. It was terrific to be able to meet up with everyone. I sure do WISH it were just a wee bit less humid. Whew! I was thrilled that DH was able to participate in the 6.5 and he even had a good time too! The WISH Team support made the event well worth it for us. WISH Team is fantastic! Thanks to everyone.

Congratulations on the time Craig.

EWR2AUS

10-28-2007, 10:04 PM

I thought the race was great! Kinks are inevitable in any "first ever" event. I'm sure that clearing people out of a park and dealing with traffic as parks were closing for the night posed some unique challenges that they will improve on next year.

That being said, thought the course was fantastic. I also enjoyed the after party. I think that comparing it to events like the Halloween events at MK really isn'y a fair comparison. I didn't really try to ride anything until the end of the night and was able to get in a ToT and RaRC ride in no prob. But by far the highlight of the night was the course!

Way to go Disney - looking forward to next year!

Lan

10-28-2007, 10:18 PM

I made it back today. I had so much fun. This was my first night race and 2nd Disney race. I finished in 2 hr 6 min. I jogged/walked with a friend (her 1st race ever). My sister finished 1 hr 49 min. I was a little upset that the start time was pushed back, but the closing time stayed the same.

Now I did see some of you, but was just too shy to say anything. Around 12:30am -12:45am I saw a WISH group eating while I was getting my food. Next time I will approach someone to introduce myself:).

ultramickeymouse

10-29-2007, 12:23 AM

I posted another dozen pics at http://www.disneyrunning.com/07tot13kphotorm1.html

princessrunner

10-29-2007, 04:42 AM

I got back late last evening. Soooo sorry I missed everyone but we had an illness happen in my party that kind of put the brakes to all fun and games :headache: but we did make the race. I saw everyone walk past us to the start but was not able to find you before. We had to leave nearly immediately post party back to the room for the same issue. :sick: Needless to say, I had a trying time. I did the 6.5K due to it being my DF first race and he is a hockey player....not a runner. We finished around 50 minutes (not timed of course :mad: ) as he had to keep walking. On the other hand DH and DFs wife had a GREAT time walking and they both finished in under an hour which was their goal. :woohoo: The pics are great, makes me really sorry I missed all the fun but there is always next year. :dance3:

CarolA

10-29-2007, 08:05 AM

OK, I came to read what people thought... I appear to be in the minority!

This was my first Disney race and quite possibly my last....

The 20 minute start delay was not acceptable IMHO. Sorry, but you wanted us to arrive an hour in advance and then you can't get your act together?

The "corralling" of those of us doing the 6.5K.... WHAT corralling? We were basically in the way of those doing the 13K!!! Come on Disney, you know how to do this and "stand to the right" is NOT it!!! There were lots of 6.5K folks I saw just standing near the middle of the 13K folks when it started.

The "blending" of the 13K and the 6.5K was way to early and was dangerous for the 13K runners. I was a 6.5K runner and knew to stay far to the side as I was overtaken by much faster runners. I saw lots of folks who apparently had never been on a race course and did not have a clue to do that and who had no guidance from the Disney folks on the race course. (telling us slow folks to stay right or left would not have been a criminal sin, nor would have putting in some lanes!) My boyfriend who was a fast 13K runner was VERY frustrated with this arrangement and felt that it was dangerous and his split times certainly showed that the impact of the strollers slowed him WAY down on the last mile (8 min miles until the last mile and then 10 and it's not like he was winded or exhausted!)

There were NO mile markers on the 6.5K. I knew I wasn't going to be timed. I didn't realize that the mile markers would only exist for 13K runners!!!! So we got a marker at mile 1 and another basically between what would have been mile 7 & 8 for the 13K folks.

Scott H

10-29-2007, 08:14 AM

TOT 13K, A JOURNEY TO THE DARK SIDE OF THE STUDIOS

Submitted for your examination is what appears to be a theme park attraction themed on Hollywood of the past, circa 1917. This is where your journey begins.

Imagine if you will, 4000 souls gathered to experience the night ahead, to run blindly into the darkness of the back lots of the studio. Few of the trepid souls wear costumes befitting the night, the costume de jour is that of a runner/walker. Many adorn themselves with pride of their past journeys.

As the time for the journey to begin draws nigh, many visit the pota potties , get the last drink in , check their laces, chips, bibs, etc move forward… then the announcement opf a delayed start, 20 min to wait.

Finally the anticipation is ended with the start of the national anthem,( I really like that people were asked to remove their hats, I am a flag etiquette kinda person) red rockes burst and we are off.

The first few miles were kinda clogged with a mix of runners and walkers vying for space on the road.

Then we headed off the road onto a dirt path, where we were met with some pretty kewl cast members spooking us out. It was very entertaining to me. Then onto the Sports Complex, never been there and it looked great weaving amongst the fields. Back to the roadways and heading back to the studios. Under the entry arch and through the parking Kiosk, Mile six looms. For me, for some reason I got a good bust of energy here, and stepped up my pace. I thought I would start to see a few Disney Characters inside the studio, but I don‘t recall many or any. The cast members and spectators were great. I was amazed at how far 2 miles seemed in the back lot area, I kept thinking there are faster ways to get to the TOT, than the way they took us. The crowds were great.

Crossed the line, with a time and overall pace I was pleased with. A fun course, a fun theme, the night was unique to me.

Well Done:
Nice placement of water stops
Course layout and traffic control
Volunteers and cast members

The start was nice in that you could gather and chat with others, but when we started it was kinda tough for working through the crowds for the first 2-3 miles.

Like to have seen:
Separate 13K- 6K medals
Date on the medal with inaugural
More characters on the route
Tech Shirt

Will do it again if the schedule works out for us.

It was great to meet new folks from Disney Running and DIS Wish boards.

See ya all around, ½ marathon this January.

Scott H

10-29-2007, 08:47 AM

ultramickeymouse

10-29-2007, 08:56 AM

I agree with Scott and Carol about issues Disney had. They should have had about a 10 min difference between starts. They also should have been setup up earlier and more organized at the packet pickup(Fri 3:00pm). Even though the Final instructions said no transportation, there were busses taking people to DTD when we left around 12:45. Some people who picked up their packet on Sat said "they were working on it" about transportation. This helped lead to confussion and the traffice issues that delayed the race.

A lot of these issues that everyone mentioned should and easily could be corrected. As Stac posted, they have the race set for 10/25/08.

We will probably be back as we liked a "different" course than the standard rehashed courses of the other Disney races. It was a fun race that should only get better. Let Disney know about your concerns so they will make the corrects needed. The power of the people does work!

Good seeing all of you out there.

princessrunner

10-29-2007, 09:01 AM

I am not a race afficionado but I do tend to agree. I was looking for the 6.5 corral and was surprised to just be told to stand off to the side. Then when the 6.5 started, it was not quite the fanfare of the 13K. I am not a speed demon but I did tend to have to run in the grass or on the wrong side of the cones a lot. :confused3 I did enjoy it though. It was my b-day that day and the total reason for me doing the race at all....I do plan to go next year though and see if it improved at all. ;)

hoosmi

10-29-2007, 09:31 AM

So here's the longer version of the 6.5k report-

I've already complained about the traffic. If I could go back in time I would have ignored the special rate for ToT at CBR and just stayed within easy walking distance. Really, with no transportation, why was CBR singled out anyway? It's close to MGM but not at the rate we were going!:rotfl: I was freaking out because my daughter was soooo excited and I didn't know if we were going to ever park, much less race.

Here we are in the hotel heading out!
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k261/hoosmi/wish.jpg

We found Becky and her sister Jen at the start (or they found us!) They were fun. Emma, who was hesitant to meet WISHers before the race, said "your little WISH friends are really nice." Made me laugh. We talked to a few other WISHers (hey Leanna with the super cool necklace!), but they were in the 13k. Saw other WISHers, but didn't know if we should wander up into the 13k crowd or not (I could easily have developed a "follow the herd" mentality and ended up in the 13k!)

We watched the 13k people take off. Emma's already developing into a racer- as the fireworks are about to go off, she decides she has to go to the bathroom. :rotfl: We made it in plenty of time. The start of the 6.5k was a mess- you weren't sure where to go so you wouldn't be in the way. First you're worried about being run over by the 13k people, then the speedy 6.5k people! I made sure we started towards the back of the pack, but there were still runners trying to pass us. Ok, I wouldn't ever want to line up at the very front, but if you're a runner, you don't need to be in the very back at the beginning (especially behind a 7 year old- how fast did they think she was moving?!)

The first mile out was all road. We had planned to meet Vicki (Tinks) and her 3 boys, but with the hectic beginning didn't find them. We did see her on the turn around- they were moving fast! :woohoo: The woman calling out times (hello, can't find a clock?!) was using the 13k times. I of course didn't pay close enough attention to the starting time for us to know how we were doing!

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k261/hoosmi/wish3.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k261/hoosmi/wish2.jpg

I liked the part where the 13k was next to us when we turned back towards MGM. It was fun to watch the really fast people and clap. Well, then we went past the starting line, and it was a lot less fun to have the 13k runners next to us. The 6.5k people tried to stay in their "lane," but it wasn't clear where it was and there were just a lot of people. I was very aware of staying out of the runners' way because I didn't want Emma to get trampled or hurt any runners, but it was confusing.

I did see one runner grab a 6.5k walker by the shoulders and basically push her out of the way. I was behind her, so I could tell it was one of those things where he was going too fast and didn't want to plow her down, but she looked a little disturbed. She was over closer to the 6.5 walkers, but I think the runner swerved to avoid other walkers. I've never been in a race where you have runners and walkers merging, so I don't know how it compares to others, but I didn't like it.

Still, being in the park was cool. Emma maintained a fast walking pace (I think about 16-17 minute miles). She totally got into the idea of grabbing a PowerAde and tossing her empty cup. I thought about telling her to wait for the trash can, but she was so into acting the part of a racer that I let it go.;) She turned to me at about mile 3 (no markers, so who knows?!) and said "I haven't complained once." I agreed and told her she was doing great. Then she said "you know, I am really proud of myself." We ran the last little bit, and crossed the finish line together at some mystery time (1:18:xx on the clock so maybe 5-10 minutes faster). We loved the medals!:cloud9:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k261/hoosmi/wish4.jpg

We took pictures, and then it was off to RNR. It was the first time for both of us. I had no idea it was so crazy!:scared1: Emma pronounced it AWESOME! Next, Tower of Terror, baby! Another first for Emma. She was so excited- as our elevator started, we looked at my watch and it was exactly midnight. Could it get any better!? Fun, fun, fun.

We then watched runners for a bit- we clapped for some WISHers who were looking strong! Finally, we went to the movie ride. That was one ride too many! We were totally exhausted. I forgot about how they play movie clips at the end- longest sequence ever! Made it to the car without too much trouble, and back to the hotel.

Last thought- learned a valuable lesson about walking. We spent the morning in MK and afternoon in Epcot. My heel hurt before the race even started! If I'm going to survive Goofy, I've got to remember that pain! :rolleyes1

Jen in GA

CarolA

10-29-2007, 09:32 AM

Oh yeah, the "entertainment" on the course they kept talking about.... They failed to mention you only got that IF you were on the 13K course, the rest of us.... Not so much LOL!

:rotfl2:

We will both be writing to Disney (if we can find an email address!)

Folks around me told me to give them another chance, but.... I don't think the boyfriend will. He's not the Disney fan and did this just for me. They probably lost his future entry fees.

princessrunner

10-29-2007, 09:46 AM

Jen, my DF and I had a similar experience to the one you saw. Being that we were maintaining about a 10 mpm pace, we got passed a lot in the hairpin turns on the course by the 13Kers. One of them had room on either side of us but managed to push through the middle, throwing shoulders to both of us. I looked around to make sure we were not blocking the path for some reason and we were not. There was plenty of room. I understand that the faster runners were frustrated by being "held back" as I would have been if I was not running with my DF. I think that some of them forget that we are not all that fast, runners, walkers whatever. I also think this was a first race for a lot of people, judging from the cross country route I had to take once in awhile. :confused3

Hockeychic

10-29-2007, 10:04 AM

Hey there we are back in really cold Canada!!!!

It was awesome to see old friends and meet new ones.

I agree with most of what I read here.

The wait before the race was crazy, traffic getting to the MGM parking lot was crazy it took us 30 mins to get from POP to MGM and that was at 7:45 glad we didn't wait any longer to leave.

There should have been some sort of pace corrals.

There should have been something different on each medal, by looking at it you can't tell which one you did....now of course you know but others don't....does that make sense.???

I would have thought there would have been characters along the way????

But all together we had a awesome time, walked the entire way with Robert and Linda and had a blast, they are awesome people, Dave and Erica joinned us and again there are awesome people and glad to have shared it with you guys:grouphug:

I will catch up on the other threads, just wanted to quickly post some of my thoughts gotta go catch up on laundry.

Hope everyone has a safe and uneventful trip home.

Oh....on the runway our plane stalled out twice....not just once but twice....boy it was a long 2.5 hour drive home.....:scared1:

Kim

swandiverpatt

10-29-2007, 11:01 AM

I thoroughly enjoyed the race. We got there early, coming in from the West (we live in Clermont). There was a small back-up at the light turning into MGM parking lots, but not too bad. Standing from 8:00 to almost 10:00 was a little bad, though (especially with the ear-splitting music going). With 4,000 participants + their guests/families, yeah, busses should have been provided and I suspect next year they will be.

For "entertainment" out on the 13K course, for those of you doing the 5K ... I really don't think you missed all that much ..... We saw one of the guys heading to the parking lot and I said, "Crazy shift must be over." He stared at me and said, "I'm still stalking you." :rotfl2: :rotfl2: *That* was funny.

Another funny moment -- going past a stretch of woods and hearing an owl going, "Whoo, whoo." Somewhere behind me a voice said, "It's me, dummy!"

All in all, being walkers we knew to keep it to the right. It was disheartening, however, to be walking your heart out at the beginning and having the bikes come up behind announcing the 5K runners and they zoomed on past us. ;)

Without training, we kept a consistent pace and ended up with a 16.29 minute, so we're happy old, round people. :woohoo:

Co-workers who did the 5K said they were surprised they got the same medal. I think they should at least give different medals!

Anyway, we'll be signing up for this one again next year! We had a great time (beyond the fact we dressed WAY too warmly, forgetting things we'd learned at the half marathon). We were two big sweat puddles by about mile 3. It didn't get any better!

ultramickeymouse

10-29-2007, 11:06 AM

Tinks

10-29-2007, 12:02 PM

Our race report:

The boys and I got to MGM around 5 - 5:30. I made everyone take a nap that afternoon but it certainly wasn't long enough! They were cranky! We grabbed a boat to Epcot in an attempt to see how the lines were for Soarin' and/or TT, but holy cow was Epcot crowded! We didn't see crowds like that our entire weekend where most MK rides were 10 minute waits for us so we did this :eek: and made our way back to MGM. Food and wine festival = crazy Epcot!

Leana said hi to us as we entered MGM around 6:00/6:30. She was heading to Fantasmic and we were going to grab a bite to eat. Easier said than done as we didn't have reservations and some quickie eateries were closing up shop! Luckily we found some chicken fingers over at Rosie's (I think:confused3 ) Then we headed toward the entrance, hung out and made our way toward the tents.

Anne recognized me from the Minnie and made introductions to the Wish group that was hanging out. Thank you, Anne! It was fun to see such a big group. We made our way over to baggage check, and then walked with the group toward the start. At this point we separated ourselves and sat down near the lights. The kids were tired and hated the wait so you can imagine how thrilled they were to hear that the start was delayed.:laughing: I was annoyed at that point.:headache: I figured anyone who was racing would have known to show up pretty early!:headache: D'OH!

The start of the 13K was fun, then the gal said "okay 6.5 people, five minutes!" So we made our way to the middle/mid-back of the pack. Five minutes later the gal came on and said "5 mnutes to start time." :headache: :laughing: What??!! So we started exactly 10 minutes after the 13Kers. No fireworks for us.:upsidedow

We started off at a brisk walk but my 5 year old got too excited and was worried. "Don't you want to win, mom? Why are we walking?" so he took off.:eek: No, really. He took off! Full speed with the 3 of us laughing and trying to catch up. Walked for "one minute, mom" which was about 10-20 secs. then he would take off at top speed. The little stinker did that for 3 miles. I tried to corral him a bit because I'm sure he annoyed people along the way, but he was having a ball. We did manage to stay out of the runner's paths. At least, it seemed like it.:confused3 He couldn't believe that people were cheering for him as we entered MGM. It just made him run all the faster!
Then we hit about 3 miles and he tired out. We walked the rest. We finished in just over an hour. Collected our medals, hit the store to buy a TOT race shirt, then meltdown began because the youngest refused to do TOT and the oldest was mad, mad, mad! (re: tired) So we went back to the resort to sleep. We were walking out at midnight. Good thing, too. The boys were asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow and we had to get up at 6:00 to catch our flight home. Yikes!

Notes: The times they were calling out were 10 minutes ahead of the 6.5K start. I only know this because my middle one, Joe, had his stop watch going to time us. I also forgot to grab my cell phone when we headed out to the race so I had no way to call DH or any Wish people.:headache: It would have killed some time during the long wait before the race when kids had meltdown no.1. A great moment for us during the 6.5K was when the 13K leader ran by. We saw him coming (the bike police were in front of him) and we all started cheering for him.:cheer2: Pretty cool. Also, I was glad the medal was the same! Well, kinda. I was really afraid that we stayed late for this race with cranky kids and we'd end up with some cheap plastic medal because we did the 6.5K. A nice 6.5 medal that was differently marked than the 13K one would have been great, too, but I was relieved to get a "not cheap" medal.:thumbsup2

Had a good time. Wish I could have spent more time with WISH people but it was hard with the cranky boys.

On a totally unrelated note I have an announcement. Leana and her mom know this already because we chatted at the Minnie and discovered her mom lives in Indonesia. WE ARE MOVING TO SINGAPORE! :yay: It was announced at DH's work Friday. He is being transferred there for around 3 years starting this January. The boys and I will follow this summer when the school year finishes. (We didn't want to pull them out of school mid-year) Anyway, I really want to do the Minnie again this year as it is the last Minnie and my last opportunity to do a Disney race for a few years. Anybody up for it? I'm trying to see how to swing it.

Great job to all the Wishers who did ToT:wizard: :dance3:

Scott H

10-29-2007, 12:32 PM

Oh I forgot, it was KEWL!!! to meet a few of you folks , just wish ( no pun intended) could have been more, really enjoyed meeting you all, well there is the 1/2 in January.

sunshine girl

10-29-2007, 12:41 PM

I ran the 13K and had a lot of fun! I have to add my comments on the traffic issues... the traffic was AWFUL! Holy cow, I have never seen anything like it.

On that note, people who drive up to the front of a long line of cars and then force their way in, rather than wait in the line, are incomprehensible! Unless one is heading to the hospital or to some other such emergency, this is just bad form!! I saw a lot of racers who forced their way into the traffic line and a lot of un-Disneylike behavior. Bummer.

We were trying to get from the Pop to MGM, and after waiting in an interminable traffic lineup to turn left, we decided to use our maps and create an alternate route, turning right and making a big loop around Epcot and coming back around. This worked out well and we got in on time.

I've never seen the traffic like that at Disney before. You'd think they could have done the math on this one beforehand...

BUT, that being said I had a really nice time. The post-race party should be improved vastly (among other things, I needed more food options!) but I still had fun. And the medal is cool! :sunny:

DisneyMarathon

10-29-2007, 12:47 PM

Tinks,
I had sent you a PM about Singapore.

andromedaslove

10-29-2007, 12:49 PM

Just wnated to pop in and post some of the pics DH got of the runners. Unfortunately, even though I set my camera to the right settings before I left it with him some things got changed and the pictures aren't fantastic. I edited the best I could and figured I would share what we did have!!

Dana

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b34/andromedaslove/IMG_4670.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b34/andromedaslove/IMG_4667.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b34/andromedaslove/IMG_4662.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b34/andromedaslove/IMG_4661.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b34/andromedaslove/IMG_4660.jpg

JimB.

10-29-2007, 03:05 PM

My own personal quick report -

Went down Friday. We were going to camp @ FW. Check - in was uneventful. Get to our campsite & there was some Cracker Bubba's Big *** pickup truck in our site. Owners nowhere to be found. It took 25 minutes for FW to find us another campsite. Meanwhile we are clogging up traffic in our loop. It turns out Bubba's truck was from a party TWO LOOPS AWAY!!!. I guess the inconsiderate morons thought they could just plant their truck anywhere but where it was supposed to go....................

Anyway, I am (amazingly) still calm. Get the camper set up. Plug it in. No power. No lights. Reset all circuit breakers, switch cords, plugs, lights, say a few prayers, do a rain dance, perform a ritualistic sacrifice of a small woodsy animal. Nothing works. At All. Bummer. So DW & I decide we can't stay there.

So we drove up to the check-in building. Get on the phone. There are NO rooms that sleep 5 available at WDW. So we LITERALLY start going through the pages of the phone book for hotels. Fortunately, we found a very nice suite at the Buena Vista Suites about a mile away. First time we have stayed "off-site" in decades, but what the hey, it was a roof, a/c & comfy beds for all. PLUS a free breakfast buffet to boot. We finally got settled in about 11 pm. "Catastrophe" was an appropriate description of Friday night.

And I Slept HORRIBLY!!

Woke up Saturday feeling really tired.... picked up packet, napped, snacked, hydrated & proceeded to watch the Florida Gators puke all over the football field. :sad2: :sad2: :mad:

RACE TIME!!! - Traffic. What can we say. Ugh, Ugh & double ugh. It took over an hour from the hotel, & 50 minutes for the last 1/2 mile. Disney has GOT to do a better job at this. Perhaps have a different start point so that all entrances into the parking lot can be used.

BTW - This was the FIRST race I have run in since college (28 years to be exact). My fondest hopes were to break 90 minutes, but I really did not know what to expect. I ran w/a couple of friends, but we got split up within the first 1/2 mile.

I was really pleased at how comfortable I felt. Never any problems except for minor hip pain on the last mile, but at that point I was not going to stop if I got hit by a truck! I finished in 1:19:27, over 10 MINUTES below my goal. :banana:

One of my co-workers came in 2nd overall. Of the 2 folks I was running with, Bridget, the young speedster, finished 6 minutes ahead of me, & Jeff, another friend from work, finished in 1:40, beating his goal by 5 minutes.

It was really cool seeing all of the lime green shirts. I tend to be a bit shy about "web friends", so you will probably never see me wearing one. Sometimes I revel in my anonymity, but I look forward to seeing every one in January. I'll be running the 1/2, & volunteering as a bike paramedic for the full.

See ya there!!

Hmmm. Maybe it wasn't so quick after all............................

ETA: Running into MGM with all of the people cheering up & down the street was REALLY way cool.

corinnak

10-29-2007, 03:26 PM

The traffic WAS distressing. My friend and I had taken a cab from CBR to MGM and I spent the next 20 minutes (or whatever it was) just kind of quietly freaking out because of the traffic.

We didn't understand the need to delay the 13K due to the race being chipped. It really was kind of brutally unsettling to be ready to go, ready to go and then suddenly...nope. Not going.

Overall, I had a good time, but as we were waiting for the delayed start, my friend and I were wondering why exactly we decided to do the 13K since the 6.5 provided the same shirts, the same medal, and MORE time in the park to play. With the race having been pushed back first to 9:30 (am I right that it was originally 9pm?) and then pushed back another 20 minutes, we saw our ride time shrinking dramatically, as we are not the fastest runners. We are not the slowest, either. As it was, we managed to ride on the tower and the roller coaster once apiece before they closed the rides down. We had been hoping for a little more, as this was the only park time the whole trip.

On the way out of the park, we talked to a man standing near the exits about the race - he seemed to be a guy in-the-know about the MGM park side of things and he told us a little of what had gone wrong with the traffic. It was such a small thing that they just missed - because park closing is going on at the same time, they had the traffic signals set to speed people AWAY from Fantasmic. It was not programmed to funnel people efficiently into the park. By the time they got the state patrol on the scene, it was already a disaster, he said. That is something that they will SURELY get right next time.

I think by the time we got to the end, most of the 6.5ers had finished, but it sounds like that was a REAL problem.

There was also the last minute final instructions including the changing of the packet pick up location. That was made too late in the game for people on trips to Florida without a computer to happen to notice the change.

Lots of valid critiques on this thread - I wasn't expecting so many kinks, even for an inaugural race, but I hope to run it again sometime.

nicolita3

10-29-2007, 04:11 PM

Here is my report for TOT:
So DH and I left our apartment about 1 1/2 hours early even though it only usually takes us half an hour to get there (I am very paranoid so I insisted we leave early!) Thank goodness we did because the traffic was horrible! We almost didnt make it on time. I actually had to get out of our truck on walk while he was stuck in traffic, because I didnt think we would make it (it was about 9:05 at that point) so I finally make it to the starting line and I just sit back in the corner since I was doing the 6.5. Thank goodness my DH is so tall because I was actually able to see him wondering through the crowd looking for me about 20 minutes later. Then they announced since traffic was so bad the start would be postponed for about 20 minutes and wouldnt start until 9:50, that actually got quite a bit of boos out of everyone. Well once it started everyone for the 6.5 lined up all excited and we were off! It was a good race crowds cheering us on the whole time we were in the park. I finished in about 65 minutes. I was happy with that. After the race we decided to head to the rides. We walked right on TOT which was awesome, my medal almost flew off my head. Then we went again with zero wait. We also did star tours which was walk on. The longest wait we had was for the great movie ride which we only waited about 5 minutes for. At that point we were getting tired it was 1am but we had one more ride, rockin rollercoaster which we walked right on to. After that we were both so tired we decided to go home. We had a blast.

Oh and one of the funniest comments I had heard on during the race was from this little boy, we were running through the back of MGM and we saw this mobile storage unit and it had bars on the windows, and he looks over to his mom and says, "look mom its disney's jail!" :laughing: I got a good laugh at that, it was just so cute.

scuba diver

10-29-2007, 07:23 PM

Myquick trip report:

After the Chicago Marathon mess......ToT was great. Not perfect, but after seeing how bad a race can be run I've learned to live with a few little problems, especially with the first one. Chicago was the 30th anniversary and they stopped it after 3 hours.

I'll be here next year and will plan on getting there early again.

EPCOTDUDE

10-29-2007, 07:58 PM

That is a great medal! I hope they look that good next year.

cobbler

10-29-2007, 09:44 PM

Just got home today and had a blast. Didn't really meet any of the Wish'ers as I was completely lost for a while, finding out where to go.

We had traffic issues too. We left SSR at 10 to 8 and I jumped out of the vehicle (hubby drove) and tried to find out where to go.

I had fun. I did mostly running and finished the 6.5K in about 45-50 minutes. I just got over a cold the week before and obviously hadn't put any real running in for that week and a half prior. I tried to run on the cruise but only got to 1.5 miles before the coughing fits started. So I think I did pretty well considering.

It was a lot of fun and I hope to do more Disney races.

goofyinohio

10-30-2007, 09:12 AM

I totally loved this event. It was my first Disney run ever. I didn't have any travel issues as I'd went to Epcot and then took the boat from the Boardwalk to MGM. Figuring out where to go for the start was not easy. I was going to stand at the front of MGM, but I saw some WISHers talking and then started following them and found everything. The 13k was awesome. Loved the Insane people. I thought the course was cool although I kept looking for characters. I finished in just under 1 hour and a half which was my goal. It was a great experience and gave me a feel of what the Marathon might be like.

Now a gripe I did have was picking up my packet was easy and then picking up my pin was also easy, but the whole buying merchandise thing was a mess. I must have waited an hour to get my stuff and then I had to check out which probably took another half hour or so.

To the party. I changed and then rode TOT and RNR and really couldn't figure out where anything else was. So if they had merchandise I didn't see it and if other things were opened I just didn't have time to get to it.

I appreciated all the people cheering for us because I was there solo and while I didn't get to look for someone while running I really appreciated the support.

I didn't get to meet any WISHers, but that was my own fault. I'm way too shy to go up and talk to people so for that I'm sorry.

Great job everyone!!! Can't wait until the Marathon now.

Mark214

10-30-2007, 09:34 AM

While I enjoyed the race and am glad I ran in the inaugural ToT 13k, I doubt I will be back to run it again unless I happen to be at Disney for another reason.

Considering that Disney has been running the marathon races for 14 years, there is no excuse for the lack of preparation for the 13k. Most of the information that was in the final instructions that came out days before the race should have been published when registration opened.

Things that bothered me:

Saying transportation would not be provided and than walking out of MGM at 12:30 to walk over to the Boardwalk to get a bus to PI and than to the POP and finding resort buses running. Did the race director not know about this? If he did, couldn't they have announced it before the race began or during the post-race party.

The announcement that the race would be starting 20 minutes late and making it sound like it was the fault of late arriving runners. Sure, blame the participants to hide the fact that you did not plan properly for traffic getting to the park. Maybe if you had let people know there would be buses back to the resorts after the race, less people would have driven to MGM.

Charging for refreshments at the post-race party. Don't call it a party if you are going to charge people to eat and drink. I also thought the markup on a can of beer was a bit high even for Disney.

The merging of the 13k and 6.5k runners. Coming back into the park was a nightmare as I had to dodge the 6.5k participants. Some were walking with small children which made it that much more dangerous. They should have created a separate lane for the two groups to have prevented this from happening.

Not instituting a coral system so that those who are running the race are not mixed in with the walkers.

Complaints aside, I did have a good time and even placed third in my age group so I have a nice trophy to remember the race by. If you do not have to travel a great distance, like me, to get to the race, I would recommend it. Since it is no longer an inaugural event, I would not recommend the race to those who are traveling from out of town unless they happen to be at Disney for other reasons.

Hockeychic

10-30-2007, 09:50 AM

Charging for refreshments at the post-race party. Don't call it a party if you are going to charge people to eat and drink. I also thought the markup on a can of beer was a bit high even for Disney.

Agreed, paid $4.00........for a can....yup a can of coke!!!!

goofyinohio

10-30-2007, 09:53 AM

Agreed, paid $4.00........for a can....yup a can of coke!!!!

WOW really? I didn't buy anything after the race just had the water and the powerade. I can't believe it was that much for a can of coke. It's normally $2 for a 20oz.

princessrunner

10-30-2007, 09:58 AM

Beer was $6 and DH said it was the best $6 he had spent in WDW believe it or not. His first race....can you tell???

Hockeychic

10-30-2007, 09:58 AM

Ya I thought that was a bit crazy but I needed a sugar rush.....lol

Kim

ultramickeymouse

10-30-2007, 10:02 AM

I paid $7 for a CAN of Heineken:scared1:

Plus they only took cash. No CC or Room Charge:confused3

Heading to airport in about 30 min:sad1:

princessrunner

10-30-2007, 10:06 AM

Have a good trip home Robert...sorry I missed you! :goodvibes

Mark214

10-30-2007, 10:09 AM

andromedaslove

10-30-2007, 12:25 PM

I stuck with the bottle of water, banana and brownie that they were giving out at the finish. A beer would have been nice, but the price turned me off. If they had charged the same price as at the resorts, I would have purchased one. It just really felt like you were being taken advantage of.

I forgot to note that I was pleased with the baggage service provided. They were taking any size bag you gave them which was nice.

I too felt that Disney was just using this as an excuse to rip people off. We paid $25.00 for my DH and $15.00 for Michael to come in and cheer me on, and they got to ride 1 ride before we left. I mean seriously, I don't want to compare it to MNSSHP, but should I at least be able to compare it to the Marathon?! I mean same general idea right?! At the Marathon DH could have cheered me on inside MK, or outside AK for nothing. If he did decide he wanted to pay admission to watch me inside AK, MGM, or EPCOT he wouldn't have been hugely over charged for a beer. Or at least would have been able to charge it to a CC.

I can easily say that Disney made a killing off of the people who were there. They put almost nothing into the entertainment, did anyone see the upside down cow?! I saw that costume at Target yesterday, seriously. I mean the crazy CM's were kind of cute, and I liked the dead kid on the track, but there were NO characters out whatsoever. I thank goodness that DS2 fell asleep because I had told him that Mickey was sure to be there, yet no appearance from the mouse that I saw.

I also didn't get my Pin that I paid for. I'll admit that I didn't check my package to see if my Pin was there, but I was kind of stressing about the fact that my Chip wasn't there. I never saw anything that said where to go to pick up our pins, or anything to that extent. There was nothing in my packet that told me where to go, and the guy I picked my packet up from didn't tell me anything either. So I am out a Pin. I have emailed Disney twice and still haven't gotten a response.

All in all I have to say I enjoyed the "RACE", but the organization of it really sucked. I am glad I did it but probably won't do it again. I felt kind of duped afterwards!!

Dana

disneybelle

10-30-2007, 12:35 PM

Just got home last night...

While it was a great time and we enjoyed the course I am surprised that Disney couldn't have worked out more kinks as they've been hosting races for many years.

By pure luck we didn't encounter the traffic jam as we had gone to MGM early and ate dinner at Brown Derby. A good last minute decision! We finished dinner about 8:30, said goodbye to our cheering section and headed to the start. I discovered later that my family was asked to leave MGM get in line for re-entry and have bags re-checked. What were the bracelets for?

We did love the course. DD prefered it to Minnie. I was a bit annoyed at the finish when I was told I could only Power Ade OR water, but not both.

As we headed to find a taxi we saw WDW busses loading. The transportation women said they "hadn't anticipated so many participants staying at WDW resorts" and that the race organizers would be getting an earfull from her. She was keeping a list of the number of people and their destinations. Our bus headed to DTD resorts.

All in all it was a good, fun experience and we will probably return next year.

Next focus is Goofy 2008!

Kristi1357

10-30-2007, 12:37 PM

Chad & I won't be going out of our way to do this race again. Like everyone said - POOR organization, lack of any characters, same medal for both races & no mention of "inaugural." Thank God I didn't go try to buy a diet coke for my headache - I would have had a fit if I had to pay $4 for a can! :eek:

We also didn't care for running at night. I am a night owl and thought this would be awesome. Somehow eating Disney junk during the day kinda slows you down. :rotfl: I guess we both just thought this race was missing the disney magic that the others have.

If we ever happen to be in WDW during this race for another reason, I would do it again. I won't do a trip specifically for this race.

Duanerice

10-30-2007, 12:50 PM

I had a great time. Race wise it was one of the best ever. There were circumstances surrounding it that put a dampener on things, but I loved the actual race.

The registration went great for me. I got there around 3:30 and was out around 3:40. Very quick. There was a long line outside and finally one of people working said, you don't need to stand in line, just get one of the forms and go inside. I did and there were maybe 5 people in front of me. I picked up my additional band for the party and was out in a flash. I didn’t buy any of the merchandise nor did I buy the pin so I didn't have to stand in that long line.

That night we went to the Halloween Party. First time as we usually go to the Christmas party. It was fun, but definitely geared towards the younger kids. But I did go trick or treating! Lots of good candy. Parade and fireworks were pretty cool too. Saturday we had errands to run so we didn’t get to meet up with anyone.

We left POP a little before 8:00 and got to the park after 9:00. What is that, 3 miles? Ask the attendant where to go and he told us to go to the light. Now I have seen enough movies where you don’t want to go to the light. That is not good, but we followed directions anyway. When we walked up we found a bunch of WISHers very easily. After a few minutes Robert said to follow him so we were off trying to keep him in sight (not as easy as it sounds). Low and behold he led us to a bunch more WISHers. I almost needed my sunglasses because of the shirts :) Got to meet lot's of nice people and put faces to names.

As everyone mentioned, the race started late. They were trying to make the best of it but could have been a bit more honest about why. I always try to start near the front as long as there is an area so I can move over for some of the fast runners. The start line opened up into a 6 lane road so that was not an issue. It is just so exciting at the start. My problem is keeping my pace down so I don’t burn out.

Can't say much more about the race except; the nighttime run was awesome. Best time to run. I wonder why more places don’t do this. I really didn’t think I'd like the course because it looked like it was too much highway. But it was great. Thought it was neat that they ran through the gravel road, a nice change of pace. Also enjoyed running through Wide World of Sports. I have been going to Disney for 20 years and had never gone to WWoS until this month. Now between the RFTT and the ToT race I feel like a WWoS veteran. We actually spent a lot of time running in the park. It was so great coming down the "street" with all the people lined up cheering you on. I get turned around a lot so I have no idea where we were at but it seemed we went down 2 "streets" with a lot of people. You can't help get pumped up running through that.

Around mile 6 I was behind the 9 minute mark by about 30 seconds. I said OK, let's pick it up a bit to see if I can make it under 9 per mile (I'm not real fast). So I picked it up and ran for what seemed like 2 miles. I am dying thinking I haven’t even hit the 7 mile marker yet. Well later I found out I missed it. Psychologically that killed me because I thought I had at least another mile after the 7 mile marker. Then I hear someone say 1/2 mile to go. And shortly after I saw mile marker 8. Anyway, I made it just under 9 min per mile with at least 8 seconds to spare :)

Again, I LOVED the race. Couple of issues of course was the traffic. All Disney's fault. They tell you that you have to drive then they provide no support to get people into the park. I mean how many lanes of traffic and it all funnels down to 1 lane in the parking area? They need to take blame for this one. Not an ideal way to start a race.

The 20 minute delay, although a bummer, was not an issue because if I was still in the road at 9:30 I'd be a little bit upset.

Catching up to the 6.5 K people was a bummer. That was dangerous. It's not like they could even stay to the inside or outside because the course weaved so much in MGM. But I was with a group that was running about 8:45 and it was tough getting around a lot of people. These were not the walkers that normally come to a race, they were the "I'm going to walk around Disney" walkers. There is a big difference. That's OK, but just know what to expect. At one point the guy in front of me tried to be polite and said "a group of runners coming through" and the reply was "ohhhh runners" very sarcastically. I know I was weaving a lot the last mile or so. No ones fault but the race organizer. At the end I wanted 2 bottles of water. I was told I could have only 1 bottle, not 2. But they did give me Powerade. Yahoo.

This is the first time my wife could actually see me run as she is usually asleep when I run. Anyway, she was there at the start and I told her, somewhere around 1 hour and 20 minutes I'd see her at the finish. Well I finish and am looking all over for her. Finally called her and she is on the Great Movie Ride! Long story shrt, no pictures and she still didn’t see me run :) TO be fair, I did tell her to go have fun and I'd see here at the finish. I guess I never said "when I finish".

On the way out of the parking lot we passed an a couple walking and asked them where they were going. They were going to the Hess station so we put them in the car and drove them over. She said she had to park there and run over to the start becasue she wasn't going to make it on time sitting in the traffic. I wonder how many didn't make the start?

I am sure they will learn from this and make it a great race. If I had to decide between this and the Race for The Taste I'm not sure which one I'd do. I like this race better as it is at night and it is more of an "event". But, I didn’t care for the Halloween party that much (Christmas sis much better). On the flip side, even though the Race for the Taste is not as cool of a race, the special tickets to the Food and Wine Festival are better. Decisions, decisions…..

Had a great time and enjoyed meeting everyone.
Duane

goldcupmom

10-30-2007, 12:50 PM

First off, I'm SO GLAD I finally got to meet some 'WISHers!' And, my DD has decided we're all NUTS!!! (I take that as a huge compliment from a 15 yo)

First off, I don't run, so I was one who was in the back on the 13K most of the time.

I was impressed with it overall, but I've only done 1 race - 1/2 here in NM - & it was pretty awful! You got about a 1/2 x 1" pin for finishing, 1/2 full dixie cups of liquid at the end & 1" sections of banana. And when I was past the 8 mi mark, they were out of liquids of any kind & tearing down (& many were behind me as I was sub 14's)`

Anyway..... Love the medal, but it should have said inaugural & should have been different for the 6.5K. T shirts should have said it, too! But the pin I bought does have 'inaugural' in the design - I think someone goofed! Dana(I think), you had to go to the bar to pick up your pins separate from your packet. Not sure why they couldn't have integrated all that.

Merchandise - Someone decided to order a woman's shirt style that didn't come any larger than an XL. Said I just needed to buy a man's - which were different & did not fit a short woman with a chest the same as it would a man. And there was nothing smaller than a S for my DD15. She was disappointed, but I wasn't to spend $28 on a shirt she would end up not wearing. The T shirts should have been wicking of some type.

Entertainment - wasn't impressed with the psycho people. Was hoping to see some characters, at least when we entered MGM or near the finish.

Route - was great (but what do I know?)

Traffic - was HORRID!!!! And, being a Dis NEWBIE, I got to the parking lot & had no idea where to go, park, etc. No one was there assisting - we arrived about 7:45. Panicked as we entered the general area as the side roads were already closed off - wondered if I had my clock set wrong & had missed it.

Food - was glad they had the powerade, water, etc. Would have been unhappy if my DSis had come & spent $25 for a basically nothing party.

They started us late, they should have kept things open late. DD was not thrilled she got to ride/do 1 thing only.

Didn't buy any food/drink, but at the prices I'm seeing here, I wouldn't have.

Medical was good - DD iced her knee & had a bleeding torn blister on her foot & they were really nice to her.

More later in my WISH journal w/ pics. I'll try to remember to cross post.

goofyinohio

10-30-2007, 01:01 PM

I forgot about the merchandise. I didn't like that we got a cotton shirt, but I did like the shirt. I bought the hat, the tech shirt and the Jacket. $120 or so for the 3, but it was my first Disney race and I loved the merchandise. Can you blame me? :rotfl:

Hockeychic

10-30-2007, 01:23 PM

Robert and Linda have a safe trip home!!!

The PIN thing, when I picked up my number etc. I asked where to go to get my pin, they told me it was in the package...fortunatley I checked my packet as it was not in there, had to get in very disorganized line and pick it up there.

Kim

HMHunters

10-30-2007, 02:45 PM

Hi all! Sorry I didn't get to meet more WISHers, but I was trying to herd my entire family around as well. I should be more available at the marathon! Anyway, here are my thoughts on the ToT:

Overall we really enjoyed this race but had lots of disappointments. Biggest disappointment BY FAR was no characters. I kept hoping for some - at least at the finish? My other problems with this race: ~Lack of information/late information before the race weekend. I got home to find an email with all the updates. Too little, too late. ~The late start. ~The lack of organization at the start; I was about 1/4 of the way back from the start line and had LOTS of casual walkers ahead of me. We were dodging all over the place for at least the first 2 miles. They should have at the minimum asked walkers to start farther back. It just wasn't safe, esp since the course was so narrow in so many places. ~Merging with the 6.5 folks - again, a safety issue with runners having to weave between groups of walkers and lots of little kids. ~The finish area. Too small.

I did not mind getting the same shirts/medals as the 6.5K.

The good stuff: ~Running the whole way with my DD and DH (well, until the last 2 miles when I sped up a bit) ~Running through MGM ~The medal - great bling! ~Frequent, well stocked water stations ~The course ~I also really enjoyed running at night, even though the race ended up starting when I'm usually going to bed!

I ended up in 1:21:51 and DD and DH finished in 1:22:57. DD ran the whole way and I am very very proud of her. She did great! We only walked 2 water stations and the rest of the time she ran. Every step after 5 miles was her longest run ever, so she is feeling good!

I might do this race again, although the time of year is tough for us. If I had to pick, I would pick marathon weekend over this.

Renee

JimB.

10-30-2007, 10:29 PM

Agreed, paid $4.00........for a can....yup a can of coke!!!!

That's why I smuggled a bottle of Dr Pepper in my change of clothes bag.

I am SUCH a REBEL!!!!!

padisneyfan

10-31-2007, 09:02 AM

We got back late Sunday night as we had an 8:45pm flight and it was a killer to get up and go to work on Monday morning. I have been playing catch up since then.

Both DH and I had a great time. We were already there for vacation so staying the extra 2 days to meet new friends and visit with Jeanne and John was well worth it. A special thanks to Robert and Linda for all the mini golf prizes. We enjoyed meeting so many WISHers you are all such special people. It is great to now be able to place faces with so many of you. I just wish I could have meet more of you, but there is always Jan.

This was only my 3rd event and it was far more disorganized than my previous ones which I was so surprised since this is Disney. I would not have known about change in package pickup or the bus transportation after the race if it were not for fellow WISHers telling me about them. When we left the park around 1am, we went to the regular bus stop and the 2 CM there were organizing people into zones to transport to several resorts on one bus similiar to ME. The male CM appeared to be a higher up in the transportation system and said he had been getting emails and phone calls all day to try to put some sort of transportation together for after the race. He said the only reason they were able to pull this together in such a short time period is that there had been a special event at MK until midnight and those bus drivers volunteered to stay and do the transportation. We all gave a big round of applause and thank you to both him and the bus driver. It appears that Disney Transportation wasn't involved in any of the planning event since there was also a traffic issue. I do hope they learned from this experience and will have better transportation next year, but I plan to stay at BW next year.

This was DH first and probably his only race as he is a slower walker than me so he was near the end of the race, but he did enjoy the race and wore his medal proudly. He said that people were being picked up by a van that were way back and then dropped off again further up the road as he passed the same group of people 3 different times and it took him awhile to figure out what was happening. So instead of sweeping people up they just kept repositioning them. I have a mixed feeling about that, I realize this was a fun race but my DH worked really hard to actually walk this race. Just doesn't seem quite right to me.

I would gladly do this race again as I thought it was so much fun, plus with all the other fun activites at WDW this time of year this just added to a wonderful time.

Nancy

swandiverpatt

10-31-2007, 09:58 AM

[QUOTE=ultramickeymouse;21539805]I paid $7 for a CAN of Heineken:scared1:

Plus they only took cash. No CC or Room Charge:confused3

[QUOTE]

Good thing DH didn't have his heart set on a beer after we were done -- I know we had NO cash on us!

cdn_gal_eeyore

10-31-2007, 11:13 AM

My thoughts on the Tower of Terror race... Overall a little disappointed for a few different reasons.

The merchandise wasn't available for purchase if you arrived right at 3 pm on Friday to pick up your packet. They were having issues with the cash registers. The pin pick up was a bit messy as you were supposed to stand in a line based off of your last name, but this wasn't being announced. Some signs would have been good because the pin pick up wasn't clear at all. Also I was dissapointed with the shirt - no tech shirt and no year on the t-shirt at all? Is Disney going to use those shirts for next year's race?

The traffic issues...thank goodness I had gotten to MGM early to catch Fantasmic, but my parents, cousin and her husband were frantic about the slow moving traffic and making it to the start. My parents left SSR at 7:45 and made it after 8:30 pm. I also would have liked a bit more of a self seeded start. It was too congested and I had to weave through big groups of walkers that made it difficult to get in a groove. My legs were definitely feeling the half marathon I'd run the weekend before and coupled with the humidity I felt pretty blah for the first 4 or 5 miles. I liked running through WWoS but thought the CMs through there were interesting... I did get a laugh out of a few of them though! I thought given the humidity that there should have been Powerade at all water stations. I didn't see the point of just having it at the final stop. Very well stocked water stations and enthusiastic volunteers though! The final two miles through MGM I loved! It was such a boost. The medal is amazing...! Thought the food at the end wasn't that great. Brownies - and only one - and an over ripe banana? The brownie didn't sit well in my stomach and I felt super naseaus on the Great Movie Ride so I had to call it a night.

I would have loved to see some Disney villains out there on the race! I don't think I'll run this one again, but mostly because I loved the Nike half so much that I really want to run it again next year. I did love MNSSHP and F&W though.

Final time: 1:29:07.

katerkat

10-31-2007, 12:01 PM

I agree with most of the above with the disorganization - I've run a race with 50,000 people and this one with 5,000 people and the bigger one was definitely better organized!! Luckily we were driving our own car and turning right at the light, so I think we missed a lot of the traffic hassles. (Mind you, it still took a good while to get in and parked!!)

I enjoyed the race and did really well for me, however, I'm kind of disappointed that we paid $80 for my parents and sister to get into the park and they only rode one ride while I was running and one ride after I finished. There was no way we were going to wait 30 minutes for the RNRC after running!! When we walked out at 12:15, the awards ceremony must have finished and the band was packing up!! Party didn't end for another 45 minutes but the band was leaving. Nice.

And I, too, would have liked to see "inauguaral" and 13K/6.5K on the medal - something to differentiate it!

Also, changing the packet pick-up on us. We arrived in Florida on Monday, expecting to pick up the stuff at WWoS. Didn't have internet access. Luckily met a friend at PI the night before and she told us about the change - otherwise we'd be driving around WWoS on Saturday!

Oh and Florida needs to work on their humidity problem. :rolleyes1

wtpclc

10-31-2007, 12:26 PM

HI all!

Just back yesterday. Still exhausted from ToT then MNSSHP teh next night.

SO bummed that I did not meet more WIShers. I always miss out on teh early meets and then feel dumb asking everyone who they are. It was great to see/meet the ones I did.

My favorite meeting:
I am wandering near teh entrance to MGM lost adn this nice woman in a cool shirt tells me where to go. As I am about to compliment her on her shirt, she says, "I'm getting thinner BTW."

Here's me thinking that's great, very happy for you, now why did she tell me that???

Duh......

She was gettinthinr! lol. A little too much stress for me, I think.

Random thoughts:

I loved the lights and the way people could cheer at MGM.

The sharp turns were very scary.

I don't do humid, so I ran for crud, but loved the medal. ;-)

They need real corrals.

RnR after a race where I may have dehydrated slightly is a BAD idea. I was ok, but not as fun as usual.

LInes were a little long for me after running 13K.

WIll I do it again? Probably not, just because I have to tame my number of trips. If I were to go, it would only be so I could do MNSSHP again!! And to get a WISH fix. ;)

cobbler

10-31-2007, 05:38 PM

Carrie-
Ha, you were down for the race too and we have yet to cross paths. That makes me laugh.

ultramickeymouse

10-31-2007, 05:53 PM

I missed Carrie again too. I think she is the invisible;)

Tiger Lily 03

10-31-2007, 06:59 PM

I'm enjoying reading everyone's take on this event.

Robert, Carrie had the invisibility cloak on I think. Sorry I didn't know you had not met her. She was standing very close to you as we waited in line for the race to begin.

DianeL

10-31-2007, 08:10 PM

I saw Carrie & Scott!!! I saw them!!! Honest! I yelled at them twice as we passed on the course. Speedy little devils! :thumbsup2 Poor Carrie she kept having this funny look like 'why is this strange woman (not wearing a wish shirt) yelling our names?'

I 'ran' (walked really) into Wendy (getnthnr) towards the start of the 13K. I don't know how I recognized her since she wasn't in WISH nor her Chesire Cat visor. She was sneaky blending into the darkness with her black shirt. She pulled up next to me and then away as expected. She can move like the wind :teleport:

I met Susie and I'm soooo sorry but I can't remember your friends name. Saw their amazing NIKE Race 'medals' It was really kewl spending time with them waiting for the merchandise (our little travel parties 2nd visit to the Expo).

Who were the 2 ladies wearing the witches hats? Cathy and I came across you on the way to WWoS just before we all came up to Robert's group.

QUESTION : When Susan went thru the WWoS it sounds like the 'patients' were getting in her way and causing her to slow down and move around them??? I haven't had a chance since to ask her more but I know she was really upset about it. Did anyone else have issues like that? For me they kept away from Cath and me but maybe interacted verbally (do you like my hair?) sort. Nothing troublesome. Course I'm easily freaked out had i been back with Susan but by myself I would have freaked out.

73 days!!!!

ultramickeymouse

10-31-2007, 08:17 PM

The 2 women were jeanneg(Jeanne) and PaDisneyFan(Nancy) who took mini golf to the next level").

It was funny hanging with them. Great people!

DianeL

10-31-2007, 08:23 PM

Thanks Robert!!! They were very nice :goodvibes it was great fun seeing everyone on the course.

Jen I was looking back and have to say your daughter is adorable! Love her posing for the photos LOL The one with her hand out is too cute! 'And this is Disney World' says the young WISH Tour Guide princess: Looks like she had a blast :)

hoosmi

10-31-2007, 09:31 PM

Thanks Diane! I guarantee she will be perfectly posed in the official pictures and I'll look like a lumbering clod! Some people are just born knowing how to pose; unfortunately, I'm not one of them. ;)

Here's something funny- we saw Robert and Erica in the group, but the 13k people were moving forward so we didn't say anything. I pointed them out to Emma who knows them from the millions of times I've shown her pictures from Robert's site, and she was speechless. Seriously, speechless, eyes wide.

Before I forget, I think I saw Wendy in a tour at MK on Saturday. If it was her, she was over by Pirates. They all had on little earpiece things and looked very official. I walked by and did a doubletake, but I didn't want to wander up to a stranger and start asking if she was "getting thinner!" :laughing: I really think it was though...

Oh, and Carrie wasn't invisible! I saw her! I didn't speak because I was having one of those "I can write to these people daily, wear a shirt that glows, but can't possible speak in person" moments. Maybe January! :rolleyes1

Jen in GA

TnTsParty

10-31-2007, 11:35 PM

Got back earlier today. Stayed an extra day and we had a great time.

There were things that dissapointed me in the race planning but not really in the race. We had no issues with the packet pick up on Saturday around 11 AM except we were almost all the way out to the parking lot and I realized the pin was not in the packet. I turned around and went back and realized that it was off to the side, would have been nice if they would have mentioned that or had a bigger sign noting that it was over there. We also had no issues with traffic thankfully but that was because I told my DH we needed to leave All Star Sports around 6:30PM. I also think it was no problem for us since we came in from the west and turned right into the park. We drove past an empty toll both and really wasn't sure where to park. I looked for the Stage lot or whatever they said in the final instructions but we couldn't find it. We did go toward the lights and white tents set up. Since we were so early we were able to find a spot close to the packet pick up that was set up at the race (thought the final instructions said that there was not going to be packet pick up at the race???) My DH was a little frustrated by being there so early but we passed time by sitting in the truck and then finally moved to the starting line. The delay in starting time was dissapointing especially since they did not bother to anounce that it would start 20 minutes later after the race was already supposed to have started. Instead of blaming it soley on racers trying to still get there they should have noted that it was due to traffic issues and that way it wouldn't have seemed like people were irresponsible and didn't leave their hotels in enough time. I am not speedy by any means but I had to go off into the grass a few times in the beginning (I started the race on the left hand side as I knew I didn't want to be crunched in the middle) I was not at all impressed with the so called "entertainment" on the course. I would have been really upset if one of those "crazies" would have messed up my pace.

I didn't really end up meeting any WISHer's except Cam's DH and his friend that I saw at almost mile 1. That was seriously the first and only chance I had to say hi to any WISHer.

I was also dissapointed that I paid $25 for my DH to get into the "party" - he at least was able to ride RNR 7 times - but that was the only ride he rode (we ended up doing it 5 more times in the next 2 days) I was only able to ride RNR one time and then his foot was bothering him (you would have thought he just ran the 13k!! LOL - but he has problems with it as he broke it REAL bad years ago at work) I hadn't planned on going back to MGM so it was kind of dissapointing that I was only able to ride RNR and didn't even get on TOT that night - I did make my DH go with me to the TOT store to get the merchandise as I was NOT going to stand in line at packet pick up. I ended up going back to MGM Sunday night for EMH and after getting off the TOT saw the race merchandise still up for sale. It was not there yesterday when we got off the TOT. I also was dissapointed that they did not accept the room key charges at the park - my DH only brought $12 with him in cash to the race since we assumed they would accept the room key - since it WAS in the park.

Luckly we were staying at BCV and it made it easy to go back and forth to MGM. Another high point of the trip was that when we checked into BCV we got a $100 gift card for dining (it was the AP rate) I actually had to ask because the CM didn't mention it at check in. The manager had to get it from the "manager's vault" in the back. It came in very handy for Food and Wine festival - and we tried lots of things I wouldn't have tried if it wasn't for that "free" money.

I know I will be doing this one again next year. Really enjoyed the night running as I don't get to do that in training since I don't run at night for safety reasons. It will work out perfect next year with DH's annual pass valid until Oct 27, 2008. I hope by next year they can get the kinks worked out and put on an AWESOME event next year. I also would like to see different medal for each race - would have been nice to know who was running what race. Oh well all in all it was a good experience for my longest race yet and my first Disney race. Looking forward to the Minnie Marathon weekend.

ironz

10-31-2007, 11:52 PM

Hi gang!!

I had a pretty good time at the run on Saturday.

It was a very quick trip for my friend and me...we each left our homes by 6 am on Saturday morning (due to work schedules), and...my friend arrived on time by noon or 1 pm. My plane was delayed, and I was completely freaking out about missing packet pickup and therefore the race!
When I got to MCO, I was on and off the phone with my friend--should I just take a cab to PI, rent a car, or try to do ME?--turns out she was at packet pickup and they allowed her to get my packet and my pin (I reminded her to get my pin...so sorry for the previous poster who didn't get hers). That saved me much stress and the question of getting a rental car.

We met at POP and had a bite to eat and took naps to rest for the race.
We got over to MGM on the bus by 730. We didn't want to wait too long, in case busses weren't running there any longer after park closing. Wish we had been smart enough to bring something like a plastic bag to sit on...the 2+ hours on our feet took its toll. Lots of portapotties...so that was great! We didn't have trouble finding where to go. People were able to tell us. But more signage would be nice.

We were very happy to have our photos taken with several people...if y'all saw two girl bellhops with the striped hats, that was us! :goodvibes We only saw one other set of bellhops, and they didn't have the hats. It was really great fun to have a themed costume on. :cool2:

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee7/ironz08/TOT13K008.jpg

The delay was really aggravating...since we had planned ahead and gotten there with plenty of time to spare. I'm sure the traffic situation was compounded by the bus situation--had they bussed more people in from resorts, etc, they probably could have controlled the traffic flow better. And...I didn't realize (from the *lovely* race map) that the race course blocked the main traffic entrance to MGM. Brilliant. :confused3

Was happy to start running....I felt pretty good starting out, but the time on our feet and the humidity got to me by mile 3 or 4. Thank goodness, my friend was a little patient, and I had a little incentive to keep running with her, as I wanted us to run through MGM together to show off our outfits. ;) We averaged under 10:30 a mile for the first 6, then slowed down a bit due to my legs not wanting to go more, and the twists and turns through the park once we entered. I just kept willing myself to hold the pace...would have been a little more comfortable at 11/mile, but I'm glad I got pushed.
Had to dodge a few 6.5K walkers....but not too bad...I've seen much worse foot traffic at other races. And, really...good on the people who are just starting to get active to actually sign up and carry through with an event like this. Nice for the ones who are aware to not block people who may have other goals, too. Thanks for that. I liked the course...even though I never got to the part where we went down the slide through the hat like the pic looked. heehee! I agree that having at least a few characters out would have been fun and something to look forward to. And to whoever said they liked our Haunted Mansion outfits....duh! It was the Tower of Terror run! besides, the HM girl CMs wear little doilies on their heads. :)

Post-race....it was great to have been able to check a bag. I liked the brownie. Was more interested in fluids and was able to get a water and a powerade. (wonder why some didn't get one of each?) Had a banana, too. Didn't feel like eating much else. Glad about that, once I caught a glimpse of the outrageous pricing for beer, etc. !

We rode TOT--of course, we had to, we were freakin' Bellhops!! The CMs were funny when we walked up. After the first time through, we were greeted by 3 CM bellhops and they said they heard about us running. And offered us a second time on TOT....so we got to go up the back elevator and straight back onto the ride! very cool! :thumbsup2

We rode RNR once, and that was plenty. I think riding rides so soon after the race effort and continued need for hydration made us both a little queasy. (and I can usually ride anything) We were ready to go find a cab by that time, and were pleasantly surprised that someone in transportation was smart enough to not leave all those participants stranded at MGM or be forced to take taxis. I really hope they learned their lesson with that. I had already sent WDW sports an email about that. (note: EMMI did not produce this race, though they do produce others, like the marathon, I believe. WDW produced the race. EMMI just timed it.)

The next day we went to AK, MK, and Epcot....then had a tiny break before a 9:30 ADR at California Grill, which was quite yummy. But very tiring, as our ME pickup was at 3:45 the next morning. ow!

Love the medal...not worried about no difference between the 13K and 6.5K (truthfully, that there is a medal at all, esp. for the shorter race, is nice, based on my 8 or 9 years of running). Having the word "inaugural" would have been cool, though. But we all know it was. Like the race t-shirt.

If I did it again, I would allow more time for the whole trip...took me a bit to recover, and I'm not sure we enjoyed Cali. Grill as much as we would have if more rested.

jeanneg

11-01-2007, 07:44 AM

Who were the 2 ladies wearing the witches hats? Cathy and I came across you on the way to WWoS just before we all came up to Robert's group.

Hi Diane!
Robert was correct....it was Nancy and I. We are walkers and so do most of our posting on (crazy)Dave's "Walkers Want to Compare Notes" thread. We do pop up on the main thread from time to time and are in awe of all you runners!:thumbsup2

CarolA

11-01-2007, 09:58 AM

I hope all of you are writing Disney and letting them know....

I spoke to a "suit" after the race and he seemed to be amazed that I could possibly have complaints!:lmao:

Mark214

11-01-2007, 12:59 PM

I still have to write my email. Has anyone written to Disney and gotten a response?

My basic suggestions are:

1. Provide transportation. I think they learned their lesson on this one.

2. Publish what was in the final instructions document when registration opens. Most of what was in that document should be known well in advance of the event. It is for all of the non-Disney races I do.

3. Put people into corals based on their expected finish time.

4. If you are going to run two different distances in the same race, you need to keep them separate. It was really a nightmare coming back into MGM and merging with the 6.5 folks. There were young children in this group who could easily have gotten hurt by the 13k runners. In addtion, a number of the walkers were taking up the entire running path which is really unfair to those who are running the event.

5. If you are not going to offer complimentary refreshments, open a few of MGM's eating establishments. I would definitely had bought some food/drink at Disney's normal high prices, not the outrageous prices they were charging for soda and beer. It really annoyed me that they would charge so much more than there normal theme park prices.

My nitpics would be:

1. It would have been nice to have a medal and shirt that mentioned it was an inaugural event and different ones for the two races. I do understand that they want to keep things uniform so that when they hold this event in the future, they do not need to change the medal or tee-shirt design.

2. Add some Disney characters. The psychos at the sports complex were fun, but this is a Disney event.

3. I am not a prude, but I think some of the music videos being shown were inappropriate for a Disney event; espeically one that allowed children to participate.

4. That they announced the race would start late after its starting time and than made it sound like it was late arriving runners fault really is galling. That was twenty less minutes to be in the park after the race because of poor planning by Disney.

It was a fun event and I am glad I participated. I hope Disney sees what they did wrong and is big enough to send out an email to the participants acknowleding that they could have done a better job. I won't hold my breath on that one, but it would be the right thing to do.

Mark214

11-01-2007, 12:59 PM

jeanneg

11-01-2007, 01:04 PM

Mark:
How come your Mickey clippie shows up and for most of us it is just a blank box with an X?

HELP!

Lexxiefern

11-01-2007, 09:24 PM

Hey everybody! It was so great to meet so many of you!! I really loved this race. I thought it was loads of fun. I ran the 6.5k with my sister (it was only her 2nd race). I agree it was disorganized and I probably could have met more WISHers, but I didn't want to go that far up front because I was running the 6.5k. We stayed back a bit and talked with Jen in GA and her adorable dd, Emma. I also found Vicki and her boys - congrats on the move to Singapore!!!

Jen (my sis) and I ran the whole thing in a little over 46 min. I thought it was a fun course and there were so many people cheering! Carrie, I didn't see you, but your parents were awesome! :banana: They kept cheering for us the 2 times we passed them. We got to meet them on the way back to the boardwalk. Your mom was pushing your dad and said they were going to walk back to boardwalk and then try to catch a bus. I felt so bad. Sorry I didn't get to meet you!

A benefit to running the 6.5k was that we were able to ride ToT 4 times in a row with no wait and we got to sit wherever we wanted. That was worth the race fee.

I will definately be back next year! Oh, thanks Kristi for the glow bracelets! My girls were fighting over it the next morning :rotfl:

Becky

princessrunner

11-02-2007, 04:59 AM

Becky, I think you and your sister were running with DF and I the whole race. :rolleyes1 Were you both wearing WISH shirts and fanny packs?? All I could hear the whole race was something jingling in one of those packs, that's why I remember it. I was wearing red shirt, red shorts and had a red jacket tied around my waist. :scared: Nothing memorable there, blinding but not memorable!!!

Kristi1357

11-02-2007, 08:19 AM

Becky - I had more bracelets! I could not give them away! I wish I would have known you could have used more. I left some unopened at the curb before the start since no one wanted any. Oh well!

ultramickeymouse

11-02-2007, 09:56 AM

Kristi: Notice I didn't miss my photo of you again:rolleyes1 You were going to fast as we were on a casual pace so I couldn't get more of you:rolleyes:

Lexxiefern

11-02-2007, 12:20 PM

Lisa - we probably were running near you. We were both wearing WISH tanks and both had on fanny packs. My sister's was jingling the whole time (it was annoying!) I think it was from the double zipper. My pack did that at the minnie this past year and it was awful! I found a better one. I was also wearing my minnie marathon drawstring bag on my back, but around mile 3 it broke and my camera went flying to the ground!!

Kristi - Aw, I wish I had known!

Becky

princessrunner

11-02-2007, 12:34 PM

I am pretty sure it was you in front of us. Too funny. :laughing:

WDWFAN9

11-02-2007, 07:58 PM

Great reports and pics everyone!

SIL Deb and I headed down to the Pop bustop for MGM about 7PM, a car was cruising in front of the stop, a woman rolled down the window and asked us if we wanted a ride to the race. SIL yells out "YES", thinking these friendly people must be WISHers, as she had met many of us Friday night at MNSSHP. Well they weren't:lmao: :lmao: The two women had just met in the parking lot and decided to go by the bus stop in case anyone needed a ride since Disney said they weren't providing transportation. So, stranger danger aside, we caught a ride with Katie and Renee and got to MGM with no problems.

We met Deb's friend Mike (he was staying at CBR) right away, and it was easy to spot the group of WISHers and just chill until race time. It is always so cool to see everyone and I for one was glad there weren't any corrals so that we could all hang together, especially since the start was delayed for 20 minutes.

I liked the course and had a great time. Deb was having a little trouble, and Anne was kind enough to stay back with her, while I kept Mike company.

Thanks Anne, you were wonderful!

It would have been nice to see a character or two along the way, but it was great to take a different route than I have seen before. The volunteers were enthusiastic, especially the one woman handing out medals at the end - she'd hold up the medal and yell encouragement to the finishers, she was having a blast and it was fun to watch her have so much fun!

Afterwards we grabbed a bite at the place just outside of the RnR area. I don't know where everyone was running into price gouging, but I got a small diet coke for $1.29 and I think the fries were $1.99 (I know, not exactly the best nutrition, but it sure tasted good!).

It was about 12:45 or so and Deb, Mike, and I decided we'd better head to the front of the park to see about catching a cab back to our resorts. A bunch of WISHers kindly offered to provide transportation - Rhonda and her DH were staying at Pop, so they gave me, Deb, and Kathy a ride. It worked out great. Cam and Howard very generously offered to give Mike a ride to CBR before heading back to their place, but it turned out that Disney HAD provided buses to the resorts afterall and Mike was able to catch one.

This confusion was my biggest gripe about the race - with less than a week before the event they announce a change in the packet pickup location, they announce that no transportation would be provided (very confusing because Fantasmic was at 7:30, so of course buses would be running between MGM and the resorts until at least 9PM), they announce that road closures would begin at 8:30 and they began at 7PM, and then they did provide bus transportation after the race. I wonder how many people rented cars because they thought they needed transportation, and I wonder how that impacted the traffic pre-race. I hope this year's experience will help Disney straighten out these minor details by next year.

I'll try to post a few pictures soon!

ghoulishgirl

11-03-2007, 09:13 PM

Got back last Tuesday and was back at work on Thursday.
ScottH and Lynn: thanks for the glow necklaces and bracelets! We had so much fun talking to you and my pre-race anxiety was almost non-existant thanks to you!
Steffwalks ( and friends) great to meet you and chat.
My first thought after I finished? That was fun, I'd do that race again!

Scott H

11-04-2007, 05:17 AM

ghoulishgirl, you are most welcome, Thought about you when we heard about the earthquake, then saw your post that you were on the plane.

Our trip is almost over and on the way home, setting the clocks back last night helped.

Looking forward to the 1/2 in January, still thinking about the Minnie.

WDWFAN9

11-04-2007, 10:04 AM

ESPN Thursday

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e298/wdwfan9/TOT07021.jpg

LTT Friday

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e298/wdwfan9/TOT07067.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e298/wdwfan9/TOT07066.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e298/wdwfan9/TOT07064.jpg

ToT Group Picture

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e298/wdwfan9/TOT07104.jpg

Kristi1357

11-04-2007, 11:01 AM

Great pics, Pat!

Now where was I during the group picture? I thought we all were preoccupied and didn't do one. Oh well!

I will try to get some of my pics posted later today.
Right now, time for some xt cleaning this house!

getnthinr

11-04-2007, 11:43 AM

Just got back from Raleigh's City of Oaks Half where our own jeanneg (Jeanne) kicked my butt! She mopped up the floor with me! Now, THAT lady can walk! Wow! :teleport: It was great to see another WISHer there, though -- even though all I saw was the back of her fading into the distance! :rotfl2:

I am so far behind on my forum reading that I'm just going to have to drag up a bunch of old posts -- Please forgive me for not responding sooner! Work is CRAZY!!!!! (I'm actually working from home this weekend (between races). :rolleyes:

The medal is pretty sweet- did you see the words on the lanyard glow in the dark?!

Jen, I just noticed that the other day when I had to photograph it for the local running club's newsletter. Too cool! BTW, loved the photos of you and Emma -- what a sweetie!

I am wandering near teh entrance to MGM lost adn this nice woman in a cool shirt tells me where to go. As I am about to compliment her on her shirt, she says, "I'm getting thinner BTW."

Here's me thinking that's great, very happy for you, now why did she tell me that???

Duh......

She was gettinthinr! lol. A little too much stress for me, I think.

Carrie, that cracked me up. Yeah, I was in my "Disney Dead" wear, so I kept having to introduce myself to all the WISHers I saw -- I didn't even wear my smiling cheshire cat visor because it was night-time, so NOBODY knew who I was. Too funny!!!

I 'ran' (walked really) into Wendy (getnthnr) towards the start of the 13K. I don't know how I recognized her since she wasn't in WISH nor her Chesire Cat visor. She was sneaky blending into the darkness with her black shirt. She pulled up next to me and then away as expected. She can move like the wind :teleport:

Oh! I stand corrected -- Diane knew me! That's amazing -- Apparently I am WAY too recognizable! Glad to meet you!

Before I forget, I think I saw Wendy in a tour at MK on Saturday. If it was her, she was over by Pirates. They all had on little earpiece things and looked very official. I walked by and did a doubletake, but I didn't want to wander up to a stranger and start asking if she was "getting thinner!" :laughing: I really think it was though...

It was me! I took the Keys to the Kingdom Tour at MK and LOVED it! I am such a Disney fanatic that all that trivia and history and "backstage talk" absolutely thrills me. I can't wait to do another tour now! (And if you use your Disney credit card you get a substantial discount.)

I must be pretty easy to please -- I really enjoyed Tower of Terror. I was there waaaaaay early, so no traffic problems for me, and I spent the 20 minutes chatting with Deads and WISHers and having a grand time, so "no worries". I loved the course, though I should have prepared better mentally for all the twists and turns at Disney MGM. I keep believing all those well-meaning souls who'd say "The finish is just around this corner." Liars! ;)

I also had a great time today at the City of Oaks hilly Half. Every time I do a half I wonder why I ever want to do another marathon! A half is the perfect distance -- not too hard, not too easy, and you're done in time to go out to the Sunday breakfast buffet afterwards. :)

Congrats to all the finishers and award winners! I loved seeing you guys! What a blast!