Official 2016 Disneyland Half Marathon Thread

[derekleigh]

A little before lunchtime today.

Thanks. Shockingly long for it to sell IMO. but at least it gave people a longer chance to sign up

 

[Keels]

Thanks. Shockingly long for it to sell IMO. but at least it gave people a longer chance to sign up

Totally agree. I think the $80 price point may have something to do with it. Though, if they make some changes to the race swag to fall in line with that (tech shirt vs. cotton or metal medal instead of rubber), then it would easily be justifiable.

 

[derekleigh]

Totally agree. I think the $80 price point may have something to do with it. Though, if they make some changes to the race swag to fall in line with that (tech shirt vs. cotton or metal medal instead of rubber), then it would easily be justifiable.

Yeah, at $80 for a 5K, a metal medal should not be out of the question. I've done the 5k at marathon weekend a few years (in addition to other races) and I like the cotton shirts. It's a nice change as I have way too many tech shirts from various other disney and non-disney races.

 

[chrisaman]

I have two questions that I thought you guys might be able to answer, first when does the 10k end because we would like to book some sort of character breakfast? Also does Disneyland hotel in their fitness center have a foam roller? Thanks!

It really depends on how fast you want to run it. If you finish around an hour then you should be safe for like an 8 am reservation. I would go with 9 am to give you time to cool down and maybe change before breakfast.

 

[BwoZoo22]

Wow, DD is open today, this is crazy. They must of hit the point it is too expensive. I am glad I got the 10k through TA, that still went really fast. I also wonder if people do not think it is worth paying all that money for the 1/2 Marathon and 1/2 is not in Disney. I know if I ever do a 1/2 marathon it will be at WDW so that way I will stay in Disney. Disneyland seems the perfect size for 5k and 10k.

Having run the half in DL and WDW, I found I like the DL ones better. Yes, in WDW, you never leave the property, but between the parks there is NOTHING entertaining (IMHO) except for an occasional character (Osceola Parkway, anyone). However, at DL, we have run through Angels Stadium, the walking district around Honda Center, a mile or two long display of classic cars, five blocks of Red Hat Society cheering squad, a half mile of cosplay characters (no lines for photos!), multiple marching bands and cheer squads, on and on... Anaheim really supports these runs. I personally enjoy WDW more than DL as a park, but like the DL half marathons better. Not to mention the ability to walk to the DL start line rather than the 30 to 45 minute bus ride in stop and go traffic at WDW (and that is when staying on property!).

I think it is different for the 5K and 10K though. Those are short enough to focus on park scenery.

 

[zanzibar138]

Having run the half in DL and WDW, I found I like the DL ones better. Yes, in WDW, you never leave the property, but between the parks there is NOTHING entertaining (IMHO) except for an occasional character (Osceola Parkway, anyone). However, at DL, we have run through Angels Stadium, the walking district around Honda Center, a mile or two long display of classic cars, five blocks of Red Hat Society cheering squad, a half mile of cosplay characters (no lines for photos!), multiple marching bands and cheer squads, on and on... Anaheim really supports these runs. I personally enjoy WDW more than DL as a park, but like the DL half marathons better. Not to mention the ability to walk to the DL start line rather than the 30 to 45 minute bus ride in stop and go traffic at WDW (and that is when staying on property!).

I think it is different for the 5K and 10K though. Those are short enough to focus on park scenery.

I totally agree! Of course I can't compare to WDW, but I loved running the DL half - never went half a mile without some sort of entertainment, the cars were amazing, running through Angel Stadium was definitely a highlight, and I couldn't believe the support from the local community! The 13.1 miles actually went pretty quick with all those distractions.

 

[tidefan]

2nd half of the year (after WDW) is up this weekend. I'll be running the Mercedes Half Marathon. It's funny that I used to think of this as my "race of the year", now it's just prep work for the Disney races

 

[RunningPrince]

In for the 2016 Dumbo Double Dare (and then Paris 5k/Half three weeks later...) I took a break from running after my 2016 Dopey Castaway Rebel Coast-to-Coast Challenge but starting training back up - have a local Shamrockn Half in three weeks and Dark side Challenge in April.

Agree with the comments on liking DLR Half more than WDW Half due to entertainment on DLR half course - other big factor is lower humidity at DLR especially if you're not used to higher humidity environments at WDW - for example, I ran the WDW Half in 2:11:55 and a week later (after WDW Full, two Castaway 5Ks (Cay Challenge and normal one) and DLR Star Wars 10K) I did the DLR Stars Wars Half in 1:58:52 - humidity was definitely a factor!

Humidity aside, I will be very interested to compare the DLR Rebel Challenge entertainment (Jedi Mickey, Princess Minnie, Ewok Chip and Dale, Darth Goofy, Stormtrooper Donald, 501st group, Star Wars specific mile markers, marching bands playing Star Wars on course, Star Wars music throughout DLR/CA, On course characters with scene backdrops including R2D2/C3PO, BB-8, Chewy, Boba Fett, First Order Troopers, Star Wars Rebels: Ezra and Sabine, Trash Compactor scene, Wampa Ice Cave, etc) to the WDW Dark Side Challenge to see which is better - perhaps WDW will have all the Star Wars Weekends backdrops and props out - regardless, it's all about the Kessel Bling which I'll complete in around 10 parsecs

 

[tidefan]

2nd half of the year (after WDW) is up this weekend. I'll be running the Mercedes Half Marathon. It's funny that I used to think of this as my "race of the year", now it's just prep work for the Disney races

Finished today in 2:22:26, a full 20 minutes better than my WDW time! All I could think is "my corral assignment in September just got better"

 

[beltwaybarry]

FYI, Southwest has now posted its flights for September.

 

[BelleWannabe4]

As an update, the half and Dumbo are still open as of a few hours ago. I just signed up today, which is probably crazy because my first ever half is the PHM this Sunday and I have no idea if I will hate it. But that's ok! I am super excited for both races.

 

[camaker]

FYI, Southwest has now posted its flights for September.

This was what I was waiting for. Got my flights to/from Raleigh, hotel and park tickets all set up! Looks like I'll be there a day longer than anticipated too. Flights out on Monday were insanely expensive (2.5x) compared to Tuesday.

 

[zanzibar138]

As an update, the half and Dumbo are still open as of a few hours ago. I just signed up today, which is probably crazy because my first ever half is the PHM this Sunday and I have no idea if I will hate it. But that's ok! I am super excited for both races.

Are you serious??? Dumbo is still open? That is crazy!

Congrats on your registration! I'm sure you'll love it!

 

[rteetz]

Are you serious??? Dumbo is still open? That is crazy!

Congrats on your registration! I'm sure you'll love it!

That is crazy. It makes me really wish I could run it.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Hmm if it does not sell out I wonder if it means the race will be less crowded, that would be nice.

 

[chrisaman]

Sounds like they opened a few too many Dumbo spots this year instead of 10k spots

 

[SarahDisney]

I just happened to look at the prices on the website (I can't help myself) to see when the price will increase ... and there's nothing there about price increases. As in ... according to the website, there's just one price.
Does anyone think that these prices will stay where they are until the races sell out? Or did they just not post the price increases for some reason?

I have a hard time believing that they're going to keep the Half and DDD at these prices until they sell out, but I also know that people will complain if they raise the price without saying that they're raising the price (I know they do it with theme park tickets, but to me the races are different, because they've always listed the price increases in the past).

Thoughts?

 

[Kathymford]

I think if they want to encourage people to continue signing up for the race, then they have to keep the prices the same. It's already high. It's not a bad thing for it to still be open, just unusual for Disney. Not everyone can plan for a race that far in advance.

I would love to say that the weekend will be less crowded, but it will fill up eventually. Although, aren't there still spots for this year's Tink, too?

 

[Kathymford]

Ok, so I was thinking about the POT for Dumbo, so I decided to check out the RunDisney website. They have updated that section for the DLH:

"If you believe you will finish the Half Marathon in less than 2:45 hours, proof of time is required for start corral placement."

So then, I wanted to see if they updated all of the races to this, so I checked all the other races and they all say 3:15. DLH is the only one that is 2:45.

Why would it be different? That is so bizarre to me!

 

[tidefan]

Ok, so I was thinking about the POT for Dumbo, so I decided to check out the RunDisney website. They have updated that section for the DLH:

"If you believe you will finish the Half Marathon in less than 2:45 hours, proof of time is required for start corral placement."

So then, I wanted to see if they updated all of the races to this, so I checked all the other races and they all say 3:15. DLH is the only one that is 2:45.

Why would it be different? That is so bizarre to me!

My guess is that there is limited space in the front corrals compared to Orlando, and maybe this has more runners than the other DL races. Just a guess though...