Official Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend - The Dark Side 2017

Last year I did both Lightside and Darkside challenges and was surprised to get both the C2C and Kessel Run medals. The same thing happened to my wife who ran the Princess 1/2 and Tinkerbell 1/2 and got not only a C2C but the limited edition pink C2C medal after doing both races. I personally think we'll be getting the same again in 2017 but if I don't and just get a Kessel Run, that's fine.

I've said this before on another thread, but here goes...per Disney representative, there is only ONE Coast-to-Coast medal - the Blue one. That medal is given for completing one race in Disney World and one is Disneyland (in calendar year). The other medal you think is a C2C because it looks the same, but is Pink, is actually a Challenge Medal for Women's weekend races (Tink/Princess) - it is NOT a C2C medal. Same for the Kessel Run Challenge Medal for Star Wars races (Light/Dark) - is also NOT a C2C medal.

Which is why you can get 2 special medals for only doing 2 races in a year - like Princess/Tink which gets you the Blue C2C and the Pink Challenge (which looks like a C2C). Same think happened for people running light/dark star wars - they got a C2C (Blue) and a Kessel medal.

That's at least how they rationalized to me the new change of policy that started this year. Prior to this you would have had to run 3 races to get those medals - now only 2 is enough (just the right 2).
 
In years past I thought you couldn't reuse races so to get both blue & pink C2C medals you needed 4 races. The new thing for this year was being able to reuse a race, but reusing 1 or both races is where the confusion lies. In the email I was sent it specifically says you will need 3 races to get Kessel & original C2C. On http://www.rundisney.com/coast-to-coast-race-challenge/ all the medals are called "Challenge", so seem to all be of the same level to me. I just know I wouldn't want to be one basing race registrations on getting certain medals.
 


In years past I thought you couldn't reuse races so to get both blue & pink C2C medals you needed 4 races. The new thing for this year was being able to reuse a race, but reusing 1 or both races is where the confusion lies. In the email I was sent it specifically says you will need 3 races to get Kessel & original C2C. On http://www.rundisney.com/coast-to-coast-race-challenge/ all the medals are called "Challenge", so seem to all be of the same level to me. I just know I wouldn't want to be one basing race registrations on getting certain medals.

I know for sure that this year people did ONLY the Light side and Dark side star wars and got both the KESSEL and the BLUE C2C. They didn't need 3 races. I noticed this because they had wristband for the kessel and c2c and I was confused because I had already did DisneyWorld weekend, followed by Disneyland Light side star wars and got my Blue C2C. I then arrived at the Disney world for dark side and got kessel but was confused that someone was there that was getting both that day. The reason is that there had only been one Disneyland race before Darkside (which was the light side race). So my confusion was, how can these people be getting the C2C just now and be getting the Kessel run. The only way to get the Kessel run means you've run Disneyland, and if you've run Disneyland and are getting the C2C now then it means this is the first Disney World race...which all means that was their second race of the year (one on each coast). [I know the above diatribe is confusing]

So I went to the disney representative and asked for clarification and that's where I learned that Kessel is for Star Wars, Pink is for Women's races and Blue C2C is for any combination of world/land races. Oh, and you can't get multiple in the same year....which techincally would only be an issue for the Blue C2C. Which kind of sucks because that means if you can get your C2C and Kessel/Pink medals all before Disneyland, Avenger and Wine and Dine weekends and if you happen to do all of the races those last 3 don't give you any more bling...and it is all about the bling!
 
I just know I wouldn't want to be one basing race registrations on getting certain medals.

Yeaaah.... Our original plan was Light/Dark for Kessel, then Wine & Dine for the C2C. But we were given both at Dark Side, so we were off the hook for W&D for the C2C medal (which is gorgeous, by the way).

But then still ended up signing up for W&D anyway, and decided to make it a big family event. :confused3
 


Looking forward to the challenge in 2017, as last year I did only the 5k and 10k(my first two running races ever)

No challenge yet for me, but I will be doing the coast to coast hopefullly, ran my first runDisney race with the Tinkerbell 10K, and will be doing my 2nd with the wine and Dine 10K. Am already signed up for the 1/2 for dark side, and hope to do the Disneyland 1/2 in Sept of next year to get my coast to coast
 
No challenge yet for me, but I will be doing the coast to coast hopefullly, ran my first runDisney race with the Tinkerbell 10K, and will be doing my 2nd with the wine and Dine 10K. Am already signed up for the 1/2 for dark side, and hope to do the Disneyland 1/2 in Sept of next year to get my coast to coast
I worked up to a challenge element as well. Disneyland 1/2 in 2011, and Disneyland 1/2 and Wine & Dine 1/2 in 2012 for the Coast to Coast. While I toyed with running the 5K, I opted against it since I didn't want to potentially mess up the 1/2.

However, after running the 2012 Wine & Dine 1/2, I realized that if I could tour Disney World all week long and run a 1/2 marathon at the end all while recovering from a cold 2 weeks before the race, I would probably be able to run a 10K one day and a 1/2 the next.

The Rebel Challenge proved to be the element that persuaded me to attempt a challenge element instead of merely thinking about it. And next year I'm running the Rebel Challenge and Dark Side Challenge.
 
Boy do I feel like an idiot. All of the reasons I've read about seem so much more worthwhile doing a 1/2 or the Challenge. Me, I'm a mom of two (grown & just out of college), who refuses to grow up when DS decides to throw down a gauntlet. I'm not sure that we just like to push each other's buttons, and keep raising the bar of how long and how fast, or enjoy the fact that it's our thing to do together no matter the level. Again, all I know is we just crossed the PHM 10k finish line last Feb, and DS out of breath was like, "Ya' know, we outta try for a half next time," o_O (challenge thrown). Needless to say... we're registered for DS Challenge (accepted). When will I learn to act my age?:sad2:
 
Crap crap crap. I totally forgot about our annual Easter family trip. No chance in deferring the 5k right?
 
No deferrals, so you just need to convince everyone to go to WDW for the annual Easter family trip in 2017!
I think I have it figured out! We usually go with my parents to TN, but since we will have travelled with them 3x in 2016, I think my husband will be ready for a break. We wouldn't be taking our 4.5 year old with us for the runDisney trip since he's too young for the races. We'll find something local to do as a family for the holiday, or just go to TN later in the year if we still want to!
 
OK, as much as I've tried to make sense of what I have read...runDisney photos are able to be downloaded onto the Memory Maker one can purchase for their trip. BUT...each individual running in your group still has to purchase their photos from runDisney right? So in a sense you're paying twice for the same pictures.
 
OK, as much as I've tried to make sense of what I have read...runDisney photos are able to be downloaded onto the Memory Maker one can purchase for their trip. BUT...each individual running in your group still has to purchase their photos from runDisney right? So in a sense you're paying twice for the same pictures.

I'm not sure I fully understand your question, but for Dark Side weekend this last year, I used my Memory Maker that I purchased for a family Spring Break trip three weeks earlier and was able to download all my runDisney photos at no additional charge (since I was within the 30-day window). I assume I could have downloaded other runDisney participant photos as well, but I didn't try since I was solo. You would just add the code for their bib number as well to your Memory Maker.
 
OK, as much as I've tried to make sense of what I have read...runDisney photos are able to be downloaded onto the Memory Maker one can purchase for their trip. BUT...each individual running in your group still has to purchase their photos from runDisney right? So in a sense you're paying twice for the same pictures.
No, you won't pay twice. You buy memory Maker and then plug in each persons bib and they'll show up & be downloadable. If you have park photos they'll all show up as well for the people on your reservation.
 
So Memory Maker probably a worthwhile purchase for this trip as we have three (possibly a fourth) runner, as well as significant others and spouses. Obviously plugging in the bib numbers comes after the trip, but our possible fourth will be on a different reservation. I'm not so much worried about park photos for them, but provided I still plug in that bib number run photos are downloadable for him despite not being on my reservation?
 
I'm not so much worried about park photos for them, but provided I still plug in that bib number run photos are downloadable for him despite not being on my reservation?

Correct. Also, if you connect as Friends & Family (through MDE), even the park photos will appear.
 

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