Which race for 2013?

[helloirishkitty]

Hi all!

I am in the midst of vacation bidding for 2013, and am unsure how my fall race schedule should look. I am doing Princess in February, and hopefully Disneyland in September so that I can get my coast-to-coast offtopic: If i wait until 2014 and do Tinkerbell, do I still get the coast-to-coast?).

Besides those, I am torn between the ToT and Wine and Dine. ToT was my first run-disney race, and I had a lot of fun, and would like to keep doing it every year. However, I've heard wine and dine is a lot better, and I can't justify three disney related trips in less than 3 months.

Which would you do?

 

[cewait]

C2C is a calendar year medal. So the 2014 Tink would require a 2014 WDW event. Sorry...

With regard to the ToT and W&D it really depends on what your goals are. For me personally, I do not travel for anything less than a half (possibly a 10 miler) . If you are comfortable with the half, the WD is a nice and unique course. Like most DIsney events, it tends to have a couple crowd issues but the mouse does a lot to entertain you along the course. The tour through the Studios is the longest run through that park of all races. You get the full effect of the Osborne lights as you run down NY Street. You may want to try the WD and then in 2014 decide between the ToT and WD.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

Hands down the Wine & Dine. With all the changes this year, including the date so you ran through Christmas in Animal Kingdom, DHS and to an extent, Epcot, it was so much better than it used to be. Definitely a lot better than the Tower of Terror 10 miler. I will never do TOT again. What a waste of money and time. I can't even donate the medal.

 

[helloirishkitty]

C2C is a calendar year medal. So the 2014 Tink would require a 2014 WDW event. Sorry...

With regard to the ToT and W&D it really depends on what your goals are. For me personally, I do not travel for anything less than a half (possibly a 10 miler) . If you are comfortable with the half, the WD is a nice and unique course. Like most DIsney events, it tends to have a couple crowd issues but the mouse does a lot to entertain you along the course. The tour through the Studios is the longest run through that park of all races. You get the full effect of the Osborne lights as you run down NY Street. You may want to try the WD and then in 2014 decide between the ToT and WD.

Thank you for replying! Thanks for the caldender year info, then I will definitely be doing Disneyland in September. With all the negative ToT reviews from last year I may just decide to do W&D and then make my own decision in 2014.

Hands down the Wine & Dine. With all the changes this year, including the date so you ran through Christmas in Animal Kingdom, DHS and to an extent, Epcot, it was so much better than it used to be. Definitely a lot better than the Tower of Terror 10 miler. I will never do TOT again. What a waste of money and time. I can't even donate the medal.

I didn't even think about the Christmas stuff I didn't mind TOT, it was my first RunDisney race, so I guess the best is yet to come from them!

 

[JCH]

I've been thinking about the same thing. I liked ToT and want to be able to be a legacy runner for an event, but WnD just looked awesome! I also liked ToT as far as the timing on my training calendar as it got me up to 10 right before all of the half marathons started here. It was like an awesome last training run before switching gears to a half each month. But...W&D had laser lights at the finish!!!

I am also hopeful that ToT will improve next year...there were a few miles there where I was just dragging. I honestly thought I was just too slow and they had already pulled the entertainment, but apparently there was nothing in that stretch. I'm still bitter about "saving" my character stop for the Red Queen, who I was SURE would be out there since I saw the cut out driving in, only to have it be just a cut out.

 

[Haas4Concern]

Give the TOT a couple years for disney to dial it in. I ran this W&D and loved it, but ive heard past ones didnt go so well. It seems disney takes a few years to work out the kinks for each race.

 

[cewait]

Though, talking on the other hand for just a second...

If one ran the ToT in the inaugural year, there is some merit to keeping a streak moving forward. Disney has a great way of rewarding runners who are perfect in finishing usually starting with the 10th anniversary. Though, this assumes that a 'B' level race is carried 10 years. To date, that has not happened.

Before throwing spears... I consider half mary's and the full to be 'A' levee and the shorter races to be 'B'. It's not about the runner's effort, it's about the distance with my grade on this.

 

[helloirishkitty]

Give the TOT a couple years for disney to dial it in. I ran this W&D and loved it, but ive heard past ones didnt go so well. It seems disney takes a few years to work out the kinks for each race.

Oh I hope they do! I love the medal, and the race theming has such promise.

 

[es45]

Though, talking on the other hand for just a second...

If one ran the ToT in the inaugural year, there is some merit to keeping a streak moving forward. Disney has a great way of rewarding runners who are perfect in finishing usually starting with the 10th anniversary. Though, this assumes that a 'B' level race is carried 10 years. To date, that has not happened.

Before throwing spears... I consider half mary's and the full to be 'A' levee and the shorter races to be 'B'. It's not about the runner's effort, it's about the distance with my grade on this.

How does Disney reward legacy runners? Still trying to decide if I'll commit to running ToT every year. I liked the timing but I didn't like the race. I could see me enjoying it provided that Disney makes some changes next year.

 

[Ariel484]

Give the TOT a couple years for disney to dial it in. I ran this W&D and loved it, but ive heard past ones didnt go so well. It seems disney takes a few years to work out the kinks for each race.

I was going to say this. If you look back at reviews for the inaugural W&D Half they are pretty awful, and it sounds like they have really improved that race. I'm expecting ToT reviews will be much better next year! In fact, someone that ran ToT told me she was sent a survey to fill out post-race...they really listen to runners' complaints, for the most part.

If I've learned nothing else from reading this and other boards, it's to skip inaugural Disney races and let them work the kinks out before I sign up, unless I want to do the legacy thing Coach Charles mentioned...

How does Disney reward legacy runners? Still trying to decide if I'll commit to running ToT every year. I liked the timing but I didn't like the race. I could see me enjoying it provided that Disney makes some changes next year.

I know Perfect 19 (ran every marathon) and Perfectly Goofy runners get special lanyards for their medals...anything beyond that?? Maybe a special pin?

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

I've been thinking about the same thing. I liked ToT and want to be able to be a legacy runner for an event, but WnD just looked awesome! I also liked ToT as far as the timing on my training calendar as it got me up to 10 right before all of the half marathons started here. It was like an awesome last training run before switching gears to a half each month. But...W&D had laser lights at the finish!!!

I am also hopeful that ToT will improve next year...there were a few miles there where I was just dragging. I honestly thought I was just too slow and they had already pulled the entertainment, but apparently there was nothing in that stretch. I'm still bitter about "saving" my character stop for the Red Queen, who I was SURE would be out there since I saw the cut out driving in, only to have it be just a cut out.

TOT was like the Wine & Dine used to be. Not a lot on the course, the entertainment was few and far between, and so it was more a typical race than a Disney one. I am sure they will add more to TOT, but I still don't think it will change as significantly as Wine & Dine did with the date change. Ultimately, that made the race so much better. Sure, they added entertainment, but if they didn't, that race would still be better. I can't say the laser show at the end was the greatest part because for me, it was nice until you had to run into it, so it was kind of blinding. Granted, I did speed up to get away from it, so maybe they should keep that!

I have my legacy with the Tinkerbell, so I will just stick to that. I really do like that race.

 

[cewait]

Marathon

Starting with the 10th
Recognized the Perfect 10 with a special meal, a spot in the MK parade and a couple other things. The big hook was a 10-12" tall running Mickey Statue.

With 15 - the Perfect 15 received their original bib, for as long as their streak continues. They also started receiving the special lanyard.

With 20, there are a few surprises. The ones I think I can share are a special dinner and parade. Obviously, the mouse has more in surprise for these folks and we all know the mouse is fairly good at keeping secrets. Note there are about 90 perfect 20 candidates.

Half

Well, seems like there are no runners to complete all 10 races. The 2007, tenth anniversary actually slipped past the Mouse, also. No special 10th medal. There are only the 5th and 15th special medals

Goofy

Starting with 5 (10 races) the Perfectly Goofy received a special lanyard, and a bunch of pre-race swag. Post race, we received a Mayor McCheese sash. Ik, it's an orange sash with Perfectly Goofy written on it. There were 189 in 2010.

The current count is in the 160 range. I would expect WDWDM to have a little better celebration for 2015 and the Perfectly Goofy folks.