Help - first time WDW Marathon Weekend Participant

[pmcue]

Hi. I am running the 5k and the half marathon at WDW in January. We are staying at Beach Club. I have been trying to see the best way to get to start of race. I know they say they provide transportation, but am wondering if I can walk or drive, easily. Also, what is the best way for spectators to see you? Thanks to anyone that has participated in past.

 

[ironz]

Disney will provide busses to the expo and the race starts (and back to your resort). Or you can drive, but people will tell you to arrive early, as traffic can back up. You cannot walk through Epcot to the start of the 5K or from BC to the start of the half. You may walk back through Epcot after the half (if you are done after 9 am) if you use your park ticket. The 5K will finish too early to go through Epcot after you finish.

As for spectators...their best bet is to use the busses (or you drive) for the 5K, and for the half, either bus somewhere or watch the start/finish after you drive them. They can also monorail over to a mid-way point of the half to see you go by near the TTC or Poly, I believe.

 

[SmartGuyCEO]

First welcome to one of the funniest race weekends. You will not be able to walk from BC to the start line. Disney doesn't open up the entrances to walk through the park. Depending on weather, you can drive to the race, but most people will take the Mears buses that are provided. There is a section on the Run Disney website that will give spectators information on the best places to see you run by. Most people will be at the Ticket and Transportation Center and few on Main Street. Enjoy your experience.

 

[cewait]

Echoing....

First, just want to make sure that you do know - No walking to the start from the Beach Club. Sadly, every year a runner will not realize and end up having to scramble for the start.

Busing or driving works equally well. I would say that if you have a car, the 5k sets itself up as a race easy to drive to as there are no road closures to deal with. For the half, should you decide to drive, make a Left out of the BC parking and drive by the Swan and Dolphin. Then right on Buena Vista and right onto World. The other route (going by CBR is closed off for the start).

Either way, plan on leaving your resort in the 0330 range (for the half). One can actually drive a little later but you can get hung up in traffic. I will go out on a limb and say that traffic will not be all that bad this year for any of the three races due to course changes... Saying that, I would rather be safe than sorry. Besides, if you drive, you have a nice shelter.


Spectators.

5k - they should come to the race with you. The 5 k uses a start near the finish line and heads out to the edge of the parking lot then circles back around to a back stage road. so in short, your crew will be able to see the start then head to the stands for the finish.

Half - I would have your crew come to the start with you. They can ride the bus, but the closer to 0400 (last bus) you push, the more crowded and more likely to not allow a runner onto a bus. The crew can hop a bus after the 0400 last runner bus as the buses will run a little longer. However, I find that the race course really lends itself to having the crew head off to the course as soon as runners are called to their corrals.

Pre-race you can hang out together in the staging area. It is also the family reunion area. So while you wait it is a great time to pick out a meeting up point. Once the runner heads through the gear check tent they are in a runner's only area. From there, the crew can walk over to the monorail and head north.

Two real options exist for spectators. The neat one is for them to camp out on Main Street USA and wait for their runner. This lends itself to only one viewing on the course. (two if you happen to catch them in the runner coming out of Cinderella Castle... this is limited unless they have the ChEar Package.

The other option for the half is to camp out at the TTC. Once the runner passes, then they can walk a quarter mile to the Poly or a little further to the GF (Though the DVC construction makes this difficult). After seeing the runner at the Poly, then they can head back to Epcot for a finish.

The spectators should seek a corner where they can stand and see runners coming. This also gives the runner a better chance to see the crew. Make sure you know what everyone is wearing as frankly, all runners look the same and from the runner's side, the crowd is a blur.

Hope this helps

 

[SmartGuyCEO]

Not to take you away from the nice people on Disboards, if you are on Facebook, you can join a group that I'm a part of and ask as many questions as you like. http://www.facebook.com/groups/PacebookRunningClub/
and http://www.facebook.com/groups/DisneyMarathonWeekend/
We have runners staying at the Beach Club and pretty much the whole property. No question is a dumb question.

 

[mufasa0505]

Will my husband be able to track me on his iphone during the race? He's really nervous about being able to see me on the track.

 

[Ariel484]

Will my husband be able to track me on his iphone during the race? He's really nervous about being able to see me on the track.

What race are you running? For the half and full marathon, yes, there will be runner tracking (it works pretty well, I think). They'll post a link to it on runDisney.com a week or two before the start of Marathon Weekend. There's no b-tag timing for the 5K, so I don't think he'll be able to track you there if you're running that race.

ETA: Just re-read your post and I see you're talking about him seeing you "on the track"...so I guess that means you're running the full. Disney will also release a list of place that spectators can see the race soon, so keep an eye out for that.

 

[cewait]

Tracking has worked well the last couple years, but it is not always timely.

RunKeeper is an app that you can plug into your phone. As an app, it will give you the runner pacing cues and overplay your iTunes. If you upgrade to the pro level, your crew can watch you live. It works well, at least as well as the race timing but we noticed in the last race that the RK system wonked out.

So, given all that, the best way for him to follow you is really old school. You will know your corral/wave which will give you an approximate start time. Through training, you know your pace window. You also know where these spectator stops are located.

Hope that helps...