Marathon Weekend 2016

[semejorado]

Quick question. I was able to get a bib for the Walt Disney World Half via a travel provider. Has anyone utilized Magical Enchanted Vacations for a rundisney event?

Thanks!!

 

[rteetz]

Thanks for those awesome pictures!

 

[Ariel484]

@SunDial I've seen your pictures before and let me say again (or for the first time in case I didn't say it before) - they are awesome! So cool to see the races from a different angle. What a great friend you are! Thanks for posting.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks so much for all the spectator info. This is DH's first Disney Marathon (he's doing Dopey) and we somehow thought that BCV was the place to be to be a spectator. We may keep our reservation at OKW after all!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Thanks so much for all the spectator info. This is DH's first Disney Marathon (he's doing Dopey) and we somehow thought that BCV was the place to be to be a spectator. We may keep our reservation at OKW after all!

I'll be staying at OKW for the weekend too! I'm doing Dopey with my Dad and Sister but my Mam will be spectating.

 

[kevdad]

I saw this in another thread and thought I'd post here since many of you may be arriving in Orlando 1/4 or earlier.

The Southwest schedule is now open through January 4th. One of the many advantages of Southwest for me is that if your return leg is still outside of the current booking window you can book your outbound flight as a one-way for the same price as if the entire schedule were open because they price by one-way legs not by round-trips. That sounds confusing, but as an example our trip is 1/1-1/10 and we can book the outbound 1/1 flight now as a one-way for the same price as if the 1/10 return were also bookable, then book the return when the rest of January opens on 6/30. It helps alleviate the concern that the cheap (relatively speaking, anyway...) outbound seats will fill before the return leg is available.

Plus, it's exciting to get the trip planning underway!

 

[BwoZoo22]

Getting super excited about this race! This will be our first marathon. As of today, we have run eight half marathons. So, of course, we registered for the Dopey. Our goal is just to finish all the races, walking if we have to. We asked Jeff Galloway for advise last weekend at the Tinkerbell. He said walk the half. That will make the full much more doable, and fun. Not sure I can walk during a 'race,' but we may do a super slow jog. I think I'm even more excited about this form of torture than the upcoming Dumbo!

 

[AmynVal]

I was wondering how much stuff you guys bring as far as nutritional supplements go. I was using one package of cliff blocks or Gatorade chews for the halfs that I've done but I'm sure it's not as simple as just double that for a full. I prefer chews over gels but I will use the gel they tend to give out on course. I'm a kind of a minimalist I don't like carrying a bunch of stuff with me so I'm trying to where I will put things

 

[FFigawi]

I wouldn't plan on using what is provided unless you know your stomach can handle it. Not all gels and flavors work well for everyone, and you want to experiment with them during your long training runs. The last thing you want is to grab a new-to-you gel part way through the full and realize it's upsetting your stomach with 10 miles left to go. Disney hands out Clif gels, so grab a few and see which you can tolerate in your training.

As for how many to bring or have, that varies by person. Personally, I use fuel once an hour when running a full for fun and every 30-45 minutes when racing for a PR. I use a mix of gels, bloks, and beans to avoid having the same thing over and over again. For anything longer than a full, I eat salted potatoes and PB&J as often as I can.

 

[MeridaAndAngus]

I was wondering how much stuff you guys bring as far as nutritional supplements go. I was using one package of cliff blocks or Gatorade chews for the halfs that I've done but I'm sure it's not as simple as just double that for a full. I prefer chews over gels but I will use the gel they tend to give out on course. I'm a kind of a minimalist I don't like carrying a bunch of stuff with me so I'm trying to where I will put things

I'll preface this by saying I'm speaking from experience as a back of the pack runner, and also from the half rather than the full. In addition to the great advice from @FFigawi, another thing you need to consider is the fact there might not be any gels left by the time you get to the Clif shots table. That was the case for about the last 1/3 of us running in the half last year, and I believe there was a similar experience in the full.

I always err on the side of bringing a touch more fuel rather than less, and I basically assume I'll need to be fully self-sufficient throughout the race (mostly for my own self confidence and knowing that I'm prepared). So, I would recommend carrying a little more fuel than you think you might need. You never know what you're stomach will feel like the day of the race. Also, you could accidentally drop some fuel, or end up offering some to a fellow runner who is struggling (saw a lot of that in the half), so in my mind it's always better to have a little extra.

 

[cavepig]

I would Bring some of your own fuel & a couple different things. I brought dried apricots for the full, which is how I trained for their high potassium, well I had the flu and that was the last thing I could stomach so held out for the gu on course, which was perfect for how I felt that day. I don't like bananas which they have out for the full so passed on those. They do had out little chocolate bars at Studios which I ate. Next January I am packing at least 4-6 of my own Gus for the full and half probably 3, and something salty which I haven't figured out yet, maybe a few pretzels just in case I need the pick me up. I actually took m&ms from a stranger on the way to ESPN in Jan cause I was so hungry, the flu sickness really messed my appetite up which is something I hadn't prepared for and isn't something you can train for happening, so in my opinion bring something of your own and extra as you never know how you'll feel that day and don't want to be stuck waiting for the on course gu.

I don't like to carry a lot either but do wear a belt and have pockets in my skort shorts I use.

Oh And carry in a secure spot, right at the start so many gu packets were falling out of people's belts ahead of me, I kept hearing and seeing them, thinking back I should have picked them up, hahaha, but may have been trampled on at the get go.

 

[SunDial]

@SunDial I've seen your pictures before and let me say again (or for the first time in case I didn't say it before) - they are awesome! So cool to see the races from a different angle. What a great friend you are! Thanks for posting.

Thanks. I have enjoyed shooting the events. I have a friends wife that has gotten into running and her first half is going to be the marathon weekend. I told him and his family and friends that are going that I would shoot this for them.

Deal will be that they will have to get up Sunday morning and shoot the full for me

 

[AmynVal]

Thanks for the input. I just don't like gus it makes me feel like a dog eating peanut butter. They don't bother my stomach I just don't like the texture. I usually just cut a pack of chews in half and put a half in each pocket but my shorts might get a bit annoying swinging back and forth with so much in my pockets. You guys are right though I would rather have to much then not enough.

 

[derekleigh]

I was wondering how much stuff you guys bring as far as nutritional supplements go. I was using one package of cliff blocks or Gatorade chews for the halfs that I've done but I'm sure it's not as simple as just double that for a full. I prefer chews over gels but I will use the gel they tend to give out on course. I'm a kind of a minimalist I don't like carrying a bunch of stuff with me so I'm trying to where I will put things

I too don't like carrying a lot of stuff with me while running. I usually have my phone (for emergencies) and watch. If I am running long runs (10+) I usually will wear my nathan belt with one bottle filled with water/gatorade/electrolyte drink, more so because I don't run past too many passes that I can get water.

For my half and full marathons I've always worn shorts with pockets (items in these don't swing back and forth while running). I will usually pack a GU and chews in one pocket, phone in the other, 2-4 GUs in my belt.

Some races will have only a few stations while others have many. Thus I plan accordingly. Disney races tend to be the latter so I don't carry as much for them. As John already stated, how much and what you bring is personal and will vary from one person to another. This is another point to longer training runs; finding out what works best for you. BLOKs are alright, but I prefer Stinger Chews. BLOKs tend to be harder and dry whereas STinger chews are easy to chew and disgest (for me anyway).

 

[Neoflynn]

I haven't checked in, in a few days and wow did I miss some fun stuff

@SunDial Your pictures are great, were you using any kind of zoom at the start area? My wife will be there with me and I'm curious if she will be able to get a good shot of me, I'm thinking ill be easy to spot as ill be wearing Bright Yellow/Green and if I take your advice and line up on the left of my corral I should stick out. Also for the marathon how many chances could she conceivably see me on the course? I figure to be running around a 10 minute mile with no character stops

On the topic of gel/gu/nutrition on the run, I've used Gu's pretty almost exclusively they work for me (but I know some people cant stand the texture) I recently picked up some GuChomps to try but haven't had the chance yet, Is it 100% that Disney uses the cliff gels? if so ill have to get some to try. I tried the Honey Stinger once and nearly expelled it immediately so I don't want to take any chances as for hydration I almost always bring my belt along with me to races I like to take a little water every mile and very few races have that frequent of stops so I just bring mine along, I always use it when training anyway so its something I'm used to running with

 

[FFigawi]

Yes, Disney hands out only Clif shots because Clif is a major sponsor. They have several different fllavors, both with and without caffeine, though some may be out by the time the slower runners get to the stations.

 

[michigandergirl]

Hello everyone! I am signed up for the 2016 marathon and this is my first marathon and first RunDisney event. I'm still in shock that I'm doing this...

Anyways, I'm curious as to where everyone is staying? Do the resorts fill up fast? When should I book a room? I have been to Disney before and I'm a Disney Visa cardholder, so I know a fair amount about booking, but just wondered if certain resorts are better to stay at for this event weekend?

Thanks in advance fellow runners!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

We still have not decided where we are staying. My wife now wants to stay at Coronado Springs, but I would prefer one of the Epcot Resorts. We have ruled out a few places, including the monorail resorts. My wife gets the final vote - my compromise to get her to go with me while I run in these races. She likes WDW, but we are also going in September and next April - this extra trip is pushing it with her.

 

[Neoflynn]

Hello everyone! I am signed up for the 2016 marathon and this is my first marathon and first RunDisney event. I'm still in shock that I'm doing this...


Thanks in advance fellow runners!

The nice thing about marathon weekend as opposed to the smaller events is that EVERY hotel is a host hotel so you will have the transportation no matter where you stay so it really comes down to personal preference, Our family usually stays at Pop Century for our regular trips (we would rather save on the room and have money to spend elsewhere) but for this one we are doing Art of Animation instead. If you want to be closest to the action than Epcot resorts would be your ticket but again it really just comes down to preference. As for booking if you know where you want to stay I would say the sooner you book the better

 

[sunshinecruise]

We are renting DVC points for the first time for the marathon weekend. We will be staying at Animal Kingdom Kidani Village.