Marathon Weekend 2020

[flav]

That is going to be my plan too.

Last year I decided to run for fun and stop frequently for photos. But, I noticed once the sun really started beating down on us, that was the end of my stopping for photos. I feel like maybe I got that backwards! This year I will still start slow and take walk breaks from the beginning, but no dinking around until after sun rise...when I will need the breaks!

My plan for the Full is just to enjoy it. I am used to running in cold temperatures so I know that I will be at my slower paces. You mentioned sunrise... At which point did you find that the combination of heat, sun and humidity was becoming a challenge? 7AM? 10AM? That answer will help me adjust my strategy.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Hi runners! Just posted in TPAS, didn’t know this section existed. I’m sorry this is probably repetitive, trying to gather info as fast as I can and didn’t see a sticky with this.

Have a family member who is planning a last last last minute trip next weekend. What does she need to know about marathon weekend? They are likely driving. What routes should be avoided, what parks (especially on Sunday), and anything else to be aware of going over a race weekend?

Crowds for Marathon Weekend are not usually beyond what can be expected on most weekends. It is not occurring while schools are out of session this year, so unless the Rise of the Resistance hype continues at huge levels I’d say there isn’t really anything Marathon Weekend related to concern themselves with re:crowds.

The parks should be unaffected by races on Thursday and Friday. There may be some traffic delays getting to Hollywood Studios early depending on how quickly the 10k course clears out on Friday, but I wouldn’t think there would be much difficulty. Magic Kingdom is the only park that is run through on Saturday but it should be clear by opening. Roads will be closed for the course on Saturday, but I’d guess they will have things well marked. The Half finishes at Epcot so it could be the most affected as far as times entering the park. Sunday is the big day. There will be a lot of road closures and while MK will be cleared (probably) before opening all of the parks will likely be impacted in some way by the Marathon. AK, HS, and Epcot all have the race going through parts of them in the morning/early afternoon. The race starts earlier this year, so things should be mostly cleared from all parks by about noon, but there will still be some impact.

I’m not super familiar with the roads and what closures will likely be in effect, but that can probably be found in guides. Overall, Marathon Weekend has never been terrible for crowds or park experiences other than when it has directly overlapped with winter break; they should have a good chance to navigate the parks with little inconvenience if they plan appropriately.

 

[jeremy1002]

If I am in Corral A for the 5K, will I be able to leave immediately after I'm done running, or will I have to wait for all the corrals to go off (As I have heard that the busses do)?

 

[Sir Aaron]

Racing is a strong word for what I am looking to do, LOL... I'm looking for a nice pace to finish my first marathon in 4:30
I plan to stick with the Galloway 4:30 pace group in Coral D.

This is my first full marathon. I talked to Jeff Galloway for some time about strategy for your first race (which at the time was a HM but I was training in the 8 minute mile pace range). His advice was "your goal for your first race should be to finish." That's it.

 

[Sir Aaron]

Back at ya! From DopeyBadger's list I see that you (@FawnJD ), @baxter24 , @DerTobi75 ,@TCB in FLA , @disneygpa and I are all in corral D and have a 10-11 minute target pace. Maybe we can all stick together between the 4:30 and 4:45 pace groups.

I'm off on my training plan and way over weight. I've run over 20 miles at a sub 9 minute mile (and half at a sub 8 minute). But I'm thinking I'm going to shoot for 10 minute miles.

 

[Sir Aaron]

My plan for the Full is just to enjoy it. I am used to running in cold temperatures so I know that I will be at my slower paces. You mentioned sunrise... At which point did you find that the combination of heat, sun and humidity was becoming a challenge? 7AM? 10AM? That answer will help me adjust my strategy.

I joined a Saturday morning running group. We usually finish by sunrise. But on days where I've missed it and "slept in", the sun starts affecting me around 8- 9 AM. If you look at the temps, the temp gets the lowest around 6AM then stays somewhat steady till 8AM. It might go up by 2 degrees between 6 and 8. But at 8AM the temp will start rising at 2 - 3 degrees per hour. By 10AM it will certainly be in the 70s, if not in the mid 70s.

I will say it also depends on the wind. If I'm running into a light wind or have a cross wind it tends to feel a bit cooler.

 

[LdyStormy76]

My plan for the Full is just to enjoy it. I am used to running in cold temperatures so I know that I will be at my slower paces. You mentioned sunrise... At which point did you find that the combination of heat, sun and humidity was becoming a challenge? 7AM? 10AM? That answer will help me adjust my strategy.

Going off of 2019 Marathon. Just before dawn the air was so thick it felt like a damp blanket. I was a G start and on the road to MK, so that would have been just after 6 am. As the sun rose I could see the moisture hanging in the air, and was fogging my glasses, that would have been the TTC parking lot, mile 3 at about 6:45/7 am. Started struggling with the heat in mile 16, so best guess about 10 am and by the time I was handed the sponge in WWOS (mile 20) sometime after 11 you could see people starting to drop and the aid tents were full.

 

[DopeyBadger]

If I am in Corral A for the 5K, will I be able to leave immediately after I'm done running, or will I have to wait for all the corrals to go off (As I have heard that the busses do)?

Corral A releases at 5:30am. The buses back to the resorts don't start until 6:30-6:45am. So if you finish the 5k in less than 1 hour, and if you want to head back sooner, then you'll need to plan for transportation other than the resort buses. I don't believe an Uber or a rental car would have an issue leaving the parking lot prior to 6:30am. The issue is the resort bus route is on the 5k race course, thus it waits until the course clears that section of road.

 

[CDKG]

My plan for the Full is just to enjoy it. I am used to running in cold temperatures so I know that I will be at my slower paces. You mentioned sunrise... At which point did you find that the combination of heat, sun and humidity was becoming a challenge? 7AM? 10AM? That answer will help me adjust my strategy.

Last year it was that long unshaded stretch of Osceola Parkway into WWS. That was about 9:30 am or so...

 

[jeremy1002]

Corral A releases at 5:30am. The buses back to the resorts don't start until 6:30-6:45am. So if you finish the 5k in less than 1 hour, and if you want to head back sooner, then you'll need to plan for transportation other than the resort buses. I don't believe an Uber or a rental car would have an issue leaving the parking lot prior to 6:30am. The issue is the resort bus route is on the 5k race course, thus it waits until the course clears that section of road.

Thanks! I meant to include that I would be driving and parking my rental car...oops, kind of important to the question.

 

[SheHulk]

I know it's too early to know for sure what the weather will be, but these predictions for T&D look real similar to the Star Wars races this past April, which was downright soupy. I had my sunglasses sitting on top of my head at the beginning of the half, when it's dark, but by the time the sun came up they were foggy just from sitting on my hot sweaty head. And I did not have a single item of clothing on that was dry enough to wipe them off with. Good luck to all of us and I'm hoping the forecast turns a little cooler.

 

[pluto377]

Last year it was that long unshaded stretch of Osceola Parkway into WWS. That was about 9:30 am or so...

Same for me last year. I rode Everest at 8:58am and it was after that that I started to feel horrible. Probably between 9:30 and 10.

 

[rdelar01]

This is my first full marathon. I talked to Jeff Galloway for some time about strategy for your first race (which at the time was a HM but I was training in the 8 minute mile pace range). His advice was "your goal for your first race should be to finish." That's it.

I hear you...and I know whatever time I do, will be a PR, but I wanted to have a time goal to shoot for

 

[CDKG]

Same for me last year. I rode Everest at 8:58am and it was after that that I started to feel horrible. Probably between 9:30 and 10.

I drank a LOT of water, so I fortunately never felt sick from the heat. (I carried my handheld and refilled it about 5 times plus carried extra nuun for some of my refills.) But, I did feel the sun and heat zapping the little bit of energy I had left.

 

[mbrittb00]

I know that we won't get our Corral assignments for the 5k and 10k until we get there. How do they determine those corrals if all we submitted with a 1/2 marathon PoT for Dopey? Are they completely random, or is there some method to it?

 

[PrincessV]

Going off of 2019 Marathon. Just before dawn the air was so thick it felt like a damp blanket. I was a G start and on the road to MK, so that would have been just after 6 am. As the sun rose I could see the moisture hanging in the air, and was fogging my glasses, that would have been the TTC parking lot, mile 3 at about 6:45/7 am. Started struggling with the heat in mile 16, so best guess about 10 am and by the time I was handed the sponge in WWOS (mile 20) sometime after 11 you could see people starting to drop and the aid tents were full.

This was my experience, too, starting from near the back of F. I started at 6:01am and hit Osceola around 9:30am - the heat started getting uncomfortable around the time I entered AK, and really hit me hard around 15-16 miles. One of my most clear memories of the race was exiting DHS, when we made a left off Hollywood and then a right behind that building backstage? The building was throwing just enough shadow to shade 1 person if that person hugged the side of the building while running past. A CM was at the corner yelling and pointing "Stay close to the building for shade!" And we did. Hundreds of us walking single file, moving at whatever the prevailing pace was, just to catch a tiny bit of shade!

 

[PrincessV]

I know that we won't get our Corral assignments for the 5k and 10k until we get there. How do they determine those corrals if all we submitted with a 1/2 marathon PoT for Dopey? Are they completely random, or is there some method to it?

We were asked in registration to select a pace range we expected to run for the 5K and 10K - corral assignment should be based on that.

 

[mbrittb00]

We were asked in registration to select a pace range we expected to run for the 5K and 10K - corral assignment should be based on that.

Ah, my wife had registered us, and didn't realize it asked for those as well.

 

[StarGirl11]

Honestly with the way the forecast is trending a questions occurred to me. At what point do they consider calling a race. More particularly at what point do they consider calling the full for everyone’s safety?

I was at DL I know they kept going despite the absurd temps the last year. But that was for a half. What’s the breaking point for the full where runDisney decides it’s simply not safe enough to have runners out on the course for 5 plus hours after the suns up. Because let’s be real that’s where the concern really starts. What happens when the suns up.

 

[cesj90]

I'm curious to know this too, how warm is too warm? Looking at historical temps, this is on track to be similar to the 2013 Marathon. For those who ran that one, how was it?

https://www.findmymarathon.com/weather-detail.php?zname=Walt Disney World Marathon&year=

Honestly with the way the forecast is trending a questions occurred to me. At what point do they consider calling a race. More particularly at what point do they consider calling the full for everyone’s safety?

I was at DL I know they kept going despite the absurd temps the last year. But that was for a half. What’s the breaking point for the full where runDisney decides it’s simply not safe enough to have runners out on the course for 5 plus hours after the suns up. Because let’s be real that’s where the concern really starts. What happens when the suns up.