Official 2013 Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare, Half Marathon, 10k, and 5k Thread!

[Figment1990]

Omg this does not bode well for the Glass Slipper expo and merch.....


Well, merchandise and expo aside I hope everyone is having a great race weekend and GOOD LUCK!

 

[satman1962]

Well my fellow runners it was mighty warm out there! This is my first experience west coast, so not to sure if its the norm or not. My first thoughts.... The staging area seemed a bit confusing and cramped as the officials tried to shuttle the 5k runners to their corrals while they held back the 10k runners but once we were allowed to get to the corrals it seemed to smooth out. As for the course I thought it was a bit of a bore, at least compared to the Disney World runs. Only highlights were the portions in the parks. Donno, maybe I'm just crabby from the heat! Hope everyone had a good race. Time to rest up for tomorrow !

 

[StarGirl11]

So first race down one to go! Hot one yes but better than Princess. Think I maybe sitting on a PR depending on tomorrow's weather and how much effect today's running has on tomorrow. Which is a surprise to me. It's all going to depend on how my body handles the weather as the miles add up. Denver is dry as heck. I'm not used to a 60 percent humidity. So hoping for temperature and humidity drop. And continued cloud cover!
Posting because we have two pasta party tickets and we have decided not to use them. Ditching the party for a local restaurant a friend introduced us to on last trip here. The tickets are free you would just have to come to the Disneyland Hotel where were staying to pick them up from me. No they don't have the park tickets with them its just the wristbands into the party.

 

[Disneycouple99]

So first race down one to go! Hot one yes but better than Princess. Think I maybe sitting on a PR depending on tomorrow's weather and how much effect today's running has on tomorrow. Which is a surprise to me. It's all going to depend on how my body handles the weather as the miles add up. Denver is dry as heck. I'm not used to a 60 percent humidity. So hoping for temperature and humidity drop. And continued cloud cover!
Posting because we have two pasta party tickets and we have decided not to use them. Ditching the party for a local restaurant a friend introduced us to on last trip here. The tickets are free you would just have to come to the Disneyland Hotel where were staying to pick them up from me. No they don't have the park tickets with them its just the wristbands into the party.

Still have them? If so, we would really appreciate it.

 

[Bephus]

I have to say that I am a little disappointed in the west coast races so far. I have run all of the 1/2 marathons and the marathon plus one 5k and done the kids races at WDW over the years and have always felt there was good organization, entertainment and communication.
Not so far today. The expo was very poorly signed and I made 2 wrong turns to get in yesterday. The holding area today was ok but it was not clear where to exit to got to the corrals. The time between the 5k and 10k was insufficient (and I knew that before race day!). I had to run to my corral after leaving the staging area exactly when I was directed to. Then there was no good way to leaving the finish line area after the race! We should not have to walk all the way around the hotel to get back. I ended up not getting a chance to return to my hotel between my race and the kids race because I wasn't sure if I would even be able to get to my hotel without walking way more than I wanted to. Then the kids races! Ugh! They shunt us into the finish area with no entertainment, no instructions, and no real organizations. For more than 30 minutes! Kids are crying, losing their minds and NOT having fun. In FL they have a DJ with dancing and games and they don't corral the kids until it is their turn! So much better. This sucks. And cost us more.
Not impressed at all. I hope tomorrow goes smoother.

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[StarGirl11]

Still have them? If so, we would really appreciate it.

Replied to your message.

 

[pixarmom]

I have to say that I am a little disappointed in the west coast races so far. I have run all of the 1/2 marathons and the marathon plus one 5k and done the kids races at WDW over the years and have always felt there was good organization, entertainment and communication.
Not so far today. The expo was very poorly signed and I made 2 wrong turns to get in yesterday. The holding area today was ok but it was not clear where to exit to got to the corrals. The time between the 5k and 10k was insufficient (and I knew that before race day!). I had to run to my corral after leaving the staging area exactly when I was directed to. Then there was no good way to leaving the finish line area after the race! We should not have to walk all the way around the hotel to get back. I ended up not getting a chance to return to my hotel between my race and the kids race because I wasn't sure if I would even be able to get to my hotel without walking way more than I wanted to. Then the kids races! Ugh! They shunt us into the finish area with no entertainment, no instructions, and no real organizations. For more than 30 minutes! Kids are crying, losing their minds and NOT having fun. In FL they have a DJ with dancing and games and they don't corral the kids until it is their turn! So much better. This sucks. And cost us more.
Not impressed at all. I hope tomorrow goes smoother.

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Agreed, and I really appreciate your post! I ran the 10K this morning with our teen boys and my husband. It was our first runDisney experience and the boys and I are already registered for PHM weekend events in February. I loved the 10K today, but can see the need for some additional organization. I expected more signage for both the 10K and the expo. Our boys said they would definitely do another runDisney 10K, and my husband is definitely up for another 10K, but not Disney.

Our youngest son ran the kids races this morning and wow - I really hope it's better for the PHM kids races at WDW in February. He had fun today, but I was surprised by the extraordinary wait time with no entertainment. We arrived at the staging area at 9:30am (as instructed) and finished at 11:30am - for a 200 meter dash. Yikes! On the other hand, when I approached a CM in the finish line area because I could not find my son, they were on it immediately and located him within about 30 seconds. But that would have been avoided if the entire event were more organized with more clear instructions. From the loudspeaker announcements, it sounds like we weren't the only family having difficulty reuniting after the kids' run.

Still love runDisney and looking forward to the PHM - just hoping things go a little smoother with the kids run, and looking forward to spending race weekend in the "Disney bubble" at WDW.

 

[StarGirl11]

To the two people who never ran a west coast race please understand its never been like this before. I can't speak for the kids races since I am 20 something and have no kids. But normally the organization is a lot, lot better than this. I've attended this race three years now. The last two years it was like your average race expo. The only long line you would see would be at opening and usually the packet pick up line was a lot longer than the expo tour not the other way around. What I think happened is they added the 10k but didn't really the plan for the effect adding a race and a challenge would have on everything in general. Hopefully they now know that adding races means things get crazier and they will account for it at the upcoming races.

 

[pixarmom]

To the two people who never ran a west coast race please understand its never been like this before. I can't speak for the kids races since I am 20 something and have no kids. But normally the organization is a lot, lot better than this. I've attended this race three years now. The last two years it was like your average race expo. The only long line you would see would be at opening and usually the packet pick up line was a lot longer than the expo tour not the other way around. What I think happened is they added the 10k but didn't really the plan for the effect adding a race and a challenge would have on everything in general. Hopefully they now know that adding races means things get crazier and they will account for it at the upcoming races.

Thank you! That's very reassuring - I was thinking about the coast-to-coast in the next couple years, and your post is very helpful.

 

[StarGirl11]

Whoops on the double post! Wasnt sure the first one came through!

 

[StarGirl11]

Thank you! That's very reassuring - I was thinking about the coast-to-coast in the next couple years, and your post is very helpful.

Yeah please don't let this years mess deter you from trying a coast to coast down the road. This year has been the weirdest thing I have seen and has been a gigantic learning curve for Run Disney. Hopefully they have learned and they won't have a repeat nightmare when the Princess Half expo for the Glass Slipper Challenge or at the WDW Marathon Weekend for Dopey.

 

[DoctorK]

I don't understand why having more people participating in a new race (10K) meant that the children's races would get fouled up logistically. They knew exactly how many children to expect. The waiting in the corral without entertainment for 2 hours for a one-two minute sprint doesn't seem to have any connection to people running a Dumbo Dash.

 

[satman1962]

Wow, all done! Much better race than yesterday, lots of cheering crowds, bands, etc. special thanks to those volunteers with the orange slices and frozen grapes. Cool.

 

[StarGirl11]

I did it. Holy cow I actually did it. I was hobbling at the end. My legs decided to cramp up as soon as we were clear of the sweeps at mile 10 and so I dropped from a pretty good pace to a crawl. But I finished! Looking forward to room service at the hotel and a massage after hobbling over to the Mandara Spa.

Hoping to be back next year to try again with a lot less weight on me!

 

[Strawberry's mom&dad]

I did it!!
It was an amazing 2 races, First back to back race and first half. Both were hot and humid. I came out of the half with a small blister on a toe. Other than sore feet and being tired I feel great.
Now for a nap

 

[Bephus]

I don't understand why having more people participating in a new race (10K) meant that the children's races would get fouled up logistically. They knew exactly how many children to expect. The waiting in the corral without entertainment for 2 hours for a one-two minute sprint doesn't seem to have any connection to people running a Dumbo Dash.

I agree completely! The problems at the 10k were minor compared to the complete horror that was the kids races and the two shouldn't have been related.

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[StarGirl11]

I agree completely! The problems at the 10k were minor compared to the complete horror that was the kids races and the two shouldn't have been related.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Sorry I tried to say I'm not familiar with the kids races or what happened with that debacle. I was mostly trying to offer an explanation for the expo end of things but I guess it came out wrong. Sometimes I write weird when I'm tired. And I was tired yesterday.

 

[ludari]

I had a great time at this event even with the problems at the expo and corrals. Its so much fun to participate in race events with other fellow Disney fans. I am looking forward to Tower of Terror and Wine & Dine in the next few months. Congrats to all you race participants.

 

[Gryhndmom]

We did it! Wasn't pretty for me but I finished in the allocated time and DH and I got C2C really hot...sorry I brought the heat and humidity from TX. Off to a celebratory dinner at Napa Rose !

 

[rachlovestv]

Today was rough for me, but I'm proud that I finished, and so happy that I did the dumbo double and not the half, because I love the medal, and I doubt I'll be back to DL for this particular race. I love DL, and will do my best to be a Tink Legacy runner as long as I can keep it up, but I am just not cut out to run in the heat, especially the humid heat. I'm normally not an interval runner, because mentally, I do better if I can just keep running instead of stopping to walks, but after I got out of the park this morning and the sun started to come up (around mile 5, I think), I switched to 4:1 intervals, along with walking during water stations, and that's the only thing that got me through this race. Both my body and my mind just react poorly to heat.

I actually enjoyed the 10K yesterday, though I wish they'd had more characters out, or more main characters, I guess I should specify. My plan to keep my pace down was to stop for photos along the way, but really the only ones I wanted were of the Wonderland Gang. Other than that, though, I enjoyed that so much of the course was in the parks and behind the scenes. It felt like we got to go everywhere!

As for the expo, I usually end up going on Saturday afternoon, so I've never had to wait in line before. I just assumed that since I showed up at 11am on Friday, that's always how it is when the expo first opens. It took me an hour to get my bib, then another 20 minutes to get my shirt, then I walked around the merch booth, but when I saw how long that line was, I knew there was nothing I wanted that badly to wait in line. I left and grabbed lunch in the parks, then went back to my hotel and cooled down and took a little nap, then ran back over the expo about 6:30pm. The merch line was down to a 15 minute wait, and they still had what I really wanted: a Dumbo pin, a half marathon pint glass, and a little medal for my runner Mickey vinylmation.

So sorry to hear about the extreme disorganization of the kids' races! I have no kids, so no experience with those, but from what you are saying, I can see why you'd be frustrated and upset.

I hope that overall, everyone had an experience that made their trip and this weekend worthwhile. Now I'm off to sleep, because I've been up since 3 and I'm exhausted.