2018 Princess Half Marathon

[jdd]

They've done this new way (fewer corrals, more per corral, multiple wave starts) for a while now - I've been through it for Dark Side 2016 and 2017, W&D 2017, and Dopey 2018. I've been in the second-to-last corral for each and it's worked fine. DS and WDW Half/Full worked the best, IMO: they did many waves for our corral of 6-7,000. W&D was less successful with only a couple waves for 6,000 people. Since that was the one-off and they went back to multiple, smaller waves for marathon weekend, hopefully they saw that fewer, bigger waves wasn't so great.

FWIW I refuse to take part in the Hunger Games at the front of a corral and have been starting from the middle to back of my corral at all of these races - no issues at all.

That's great to hear - thanks! Makes me feel much better. We have a local race where there aren't any corrals at all, and though I love the race itself, the "jockeying for position" before it starts is really annoying to me.

 

[joan4mickey]

I'm sorry - not trying to be argumentative at all! But I would think with say 16 corrals (which they had for the Princess half in 2015), you would have smaller pace groups. So (and I'm totally making up these numbers) corral C would be 9:00 to 9:15, corral D would be 9:15 to 9:30, corral E would be 9:30 to 9:45, and so on. Now, if you have half the number of corrals, you have corral C being 9:00 to 9:30, and the 9:30 runners can easily be up front, and the 9:00 in the back. It just seems like a larger discrepancy in pacing groups. Like I said, I'm sure I'm just overthinking it, and it really won't make a difference!

I understand what you are saying. I am speaking from my experience...First this race over the past ten years has had some changes...the first year we only had three corrals and the past few years many more. For the past couple of years the faster pace runners have been divided between more corrals and the corrals size grows in numbers further back. I was in corral A a few years ago and the past couple of years I have been in C---even though my finish/pace has gotten faster. The two hour pace group has been starting in C the last couple of years. I have no idea what goes on beyond corral C, but all seems to run (pun intended) smoothly from where I have been starting.

 

[Livelovedance]

Anyone planning costumes for the weekend? I’m realizing I never put any thought into it, and now I’m slightly stressed! It’ll be my first runDisney event, so one part of me feels like I want to just wear my regular running attire and take it all in. Another part of me feels like I’m going to be disappointed if I’m one of few people that don’t wear a costume!

I found Sparkle Athletic online and considered doing a simple Disneybound as a character with one of their sparkly skirts (over my regular leggings), but I’m still not sure. I thought about Minnie Mouse with the red and white polka dot skirt, but idk how I feel about running with ears on. Do a lot of people wear costumes? Will I feel out of place without one?

 

[bumbershoot]

I found Sparkle Athletic online and considered doing a simple Disneybound as a character with one of their sparkly skirts (over my regular leggings), but I’m still not sure. I thought about Minnie Mouse with the red and white polka dot skirt, but idk how I feel about running with ears on. Do a lot of people wear costumes? Will I feel out of place without one?

I don't have even an estimated percentage, but there are both costumed people and non costumed people. I don't think anyone should feel out of place either way.

I adore sparkleathletic. . They are sooo nice. And soon (follow their FB!) they'll have expo-pickup open, in case you're brave enough to run in something you just got... (I personally advise others to not do it, but then totally do it)

My cousin and I have managed to run the 5&10Ks with quite substantial tiaras on (from Charming Charlie's), and I bet she's going to encourage me to wear mine with her for the Half this year (it's her first Half). So it can be done. You'd be amazed at the things people run wearing and carrying!

Ooh if SA has red pompoms for your shoes, those are super-fun.


I had decided against a costume, but then cousin said she was going to be Elsa (because my cousin is always cold) for the 10K and Cinderella (because she's always cleaning up after people, but when she goes out she dresses to the nines) for the Half. And I realized that Anna (sister) and Anastasia (evil stepsister) have very similar colors of costumes, have a redder version of my color hair, and wouldn't be hard to 'bound... And now I'm wondering.

 

[bumbershoot]

I have another question!

Finally got my whole main stay at Grand Floridian Villas, which I am so beyond excited about I can't even deal. I'm not usually a giddy type of person, but I loooooove GFV.

If they follow the last two years, I think for the Half that they, as a monorail resort, will ONLY have transportation by monorail, right? That's how it worked at Bay Lake (except a whole bunch of us totally forgot, got on the bus with the sign *that still said Contemporary/Bay Lake*, and some vocal heroines got the bus driver to actually take us to Contemporary) last year. Does anyone know?

And for the expo and other races, does the bus pickup outside of GF, or does it swing by the villas as well? I highly doubt if it comes by the villas, but I figured someone would KNOW so I don't have to simply assume.


Thanks!!!!

 

[jdd]

I understand what you are saying. I am speaking from my experience...First this race over the past ten years has had some changes...the first year we only had three corrals and the past few years many more. For the past couple of years the faster pace runners have been divided between more corrals and the corrals size grows in numbers further back. I was in corral A a few years ago and the past couple of years I have been in C---even though my finish/pace has gotten faster. The two hour pace group has been starting in C the last couple of years. I have no idea what goes on beyond corral C, but all seems to run (pun intended) smoothly from where I have been starting.

Thanks for your input - makes me feel much better knowing that others have had good experiences with this setup! Looking forward to a great race

 

[jdd]

as a monorail resort, will ONLY have transportation by monorail, right?

I'm sorry, I don't have an answer to your question, but just wanted to say we're at the Polynesian and are so excited about riding to the half on the monorail

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I have another question!

Finally got my whole main stay at Grand Floridian Villas, which I am so beyond excited about I can't even deal. I'm not usually a giddy type of person, but I loooooove GFV.

If they follow the last two years, I think for the Half that they, as a monorail resort, will ONLY have transportation by monorail, right? That's how it worked at Bay Lake (except a whole bunch of us totally forgot, got on the bus with the sign *that still said Contemporary/Bay Lake*, and some vocal heroines got the bus driver to actually take us to Contemporary) last year. Does anyone know?

And for the expo and other races, does the bus pickup outside of GF, or does it swing by the villas as well? I highly doubt if it comes by the villas, but I figured someone would KNOW so I don't have to simply assume.


Thanks!!!!

Monorail resorts will only have monorail transportation for the half.

It will be buses for the 10K.

 

[Luv2Run]

I have another question!

Finally got my whole main stay at Grand Floridian Villas, which I am so beyond excited about I can't even deal. I'm not usually a giddy type of person, but I loooooove GFV.

And for the expo and other races, does the bus pickup outside of GF, or does it swing by the villas as well? I highly doubt if it comes by the villas, but I figured someone would KNOW so I don't have to simply assume.


Thanks!!!!

Congrats! That's awesome!

We stayed at GF for W&D weekend, and the expo bus only picked up/dropped off outside of the convention center. I'm not sure how it'll be for PHM weekend, but I would assume it'll be the same since the same bus also services the Poly, as well.

 

[Bree]

I have another question!

Finally got my whole main stay at Grand Floridian Villas, which I am so beyond excited about I can't even deal. I'm not usually a giddy type of person, but I loooooove GFV.

If they follow the last two years, I think for the Half that they, as a monorail resort, will ONLY have transportation by monorail, right? That's how it worked at Bay Lake (except a whole bunch of us totally forgot, got on the bus with the sign *that still said Contemporary/Bay Lake*, and some vocal heroines got the bus driver to actually take us to Contemporary) last year. Does anyone know?

And for the expo and other races, does the bus pickup outside of GF, or does it swing by the villas as well? I highly doubt if it comes by the villas, but I figured someone would KNOW so I don't have to simply assume.


Thanks!!!!

I stayed at GF last year. You take a bus to the expo, 5K & 10K. The bus only had one stop for the resort & DVC and was at the convention center. I want to say we stopped at Poly for the races, but I honestly don’t remember. I took Uber to and from the the expo. For the half you take the monorail. You can take a bus or the monorail back after the race. If you opt for the monorail you will need to go through Epcot bag check since the entrance is located inside the fenced in area of the park.

Do you have others to pack up the room?

Are you fast? Will you have time to enjoy it after?

I have no idea who is coming with me now. My 12yo daughter is running the 5K with me and it was to be a mother & daughter weekend. I’m running the 10K & half. My original plan was to leave her in the room, have her lock the deadbolt and safety latch when I left, run my races and go straight back to the room. With the new “security” checks I no longer feel comfortable doing that and may bring her home Friday afternoon, but that defeats the purpose of staying at Beach Club (stormalong bay & epcot!). My other option is to have my husband & son join us, but that’s the worst option if I’m to keep my sanity. I only have a standard room booked at Beach Club. I will not get any sleep with all four of us crammed in one room. When all four of us travel together we never get anything smaller than a one bedroom suite at hotels.

I have access to the Autism Speaks tent. Are those heated if the temps are low? My biggest concern is freezing temps before the race.

 

[NicoleLarson]

Anyone planning costumes for the weekend? I’m realizing I never put any thought into it, and now I’m slightly stressed! It’ll be my first runDisney event, so one part of me feels like I want to just wear my regular running attire and take it all in. Another part of me feels like I’m going to be disappointed if I’m one of few people that don’t wear a costume!

I found Sparkle Athletic online and considered doing a simple Disneybound as a character with one of their sparkly skirts (over my regular leggings), but I’m still not sure. I thought about Minnie Mouse with the red and white polka dot skirt, but idk how I feel about running with ears on. Do a lot of people wear costumes? Will I feel out of place without one?

As others have said it's personal preference whether or not you want to have a costume on. Most will do disney bounding, so if snow white....blue shirt, yellow skirt and red bow in hair. I think more people do costumes for this race then others. I've done W&D and marathon weekend. Ears can be tough to run in, it seems like you either get a pair that's too tight or too loose. I prefer my Minnie mouse baseball cap when wearing my Minnie skirt, you can find that on the shop disney parks app. But yes, you will be amazed by the things people run in and with. One person was carrying a plate full of real pancakes last year!

 

[NicoleLarson]

I stayed at GF last year. You take a bus to the expo, 5K & 10K. The bus only had one stop for the resort & DVC and was at the convention center. I want to say we stopped at Poly for the races, but I honestly don’t remember. I took Uber to and from the the expo. For the half you take the monorail. You can take a bus or the monorail back after the race. If you opt for the monorail you will need to go through Epcot bag check since the entrance is located inside the fenced in area of the park.



I have no idea who is coming with me now. My 12yo daughter is running the 5K with me and it was to be a mother & daughter weekend. I’m running the 10K & half. My original plan was to leave her in the room, have her lock the deadbolt and safety latch when I left, run my races and go straight back to the room. With the new “security” checks I no longer feel comfortable doing that and may bring her home Friday afternoon, but that defeats the purpose of staying at Beach Club (stormalong bay & epcot!). My other option is to have my husband & son join us, but that’s the worst option if I’m to keep my sanity. I only have a standard room booked at Beach Club. I will not get any sleep with all four of us crammed in one room. When all four of us travel together we never get anything smaller than a one bedroom suite at hotels.

I have access to the Autism Speaks tent. Are those heated if the temps are low? My biggest concern is freezing temps before the race.

Sorry not much help with your dilemma but will say the odds are in your favor for not freezing temps. I've done this race for the past 5 years and only 1 year it was super cold...it was Frozen themed that year, go figure. They will put out heaters if it gets that cold.

 

[PrincessV]

Do a lot of people wear costumes? Will I feel out of place without one?

Many wear some level of costume at all rD races, but in my experience, it's a lot more at PHM - you'll see tons of people in, at minimum, a themed outfit, and plenty in all-out costumes! But you'd also be perfectly fine without one. Remember, we're talking about 25,000 people; we all kind of blend together out there.

Personally, I have a couple outfits in mind that are "costume-light" - weather will dictate what I wind up wearing, though, and we won't have a handle on that until a day or two out.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

My husband's customer for the half:

 

[Crystalpistol]

My husband's customer for the half:

Power to people that can run in a wig. I did a half in an orange wig as the main character from the movie 5th element...it was so hot race day I will never try that again. I can't even do the spray color with all the chances of rain or humidity induced sweat...I will venture out to use the glitter hair spray to add a little sparkle. Holy moly I think we only have 5 weeks...man I need to start sewing.

 

[Luv2Run]

I've decided on Tinkerbell for the 5K, Merida for the 10K, and Anna for the Half.

 

[Livelovedance]

I don't have even an estimated percentage, but there are both costumed people and non costumed people. I don't think anyone should feel out of place either way.

I adore sparkleathletic. . They are sooo nice. And soon (follow their FB!) they'll have expo-pickup open, in case you're brave enough to run in something you just got... (I personally advise others to not do it, but then totally do it)

My cousin and I have managed to run the 5&10Ks with quite substantial tiaras on (from Charming Charlie's), and I bet she's going to encourage me to wear mine with her for the Half this year (it's her first Half). So it can be done. You'd be amazed at the things people run wearing and carrying!

Ooh if SA has red pompoms for your shoes, those are super-fun.


I had decided against a costume, but then cousin said she was going to be Elsa (because my cousin is always cold) for the 10K and Cinderella (because she's always cleaning up after people, but when she goes out she dresses to the nines) for the Half. And I realized that Anna (sister) and Anastasia (evil stepsister) have very similar colors of costumes, have a redder version of my color hair, and wouldn't be hard to 'bound... And now I'm wondering.

Wow, I admire your ability to run with a tiara! I’m looking forward to seeing the costumes everyone shows up in! Thanks for the heads up about the expo pickup for SA. I followed them on Facebook. I noticed they sell some of their skirts on Amazon. I might buy one for the 5K and try it out at home, and then if I decide I like it I can purchase another for the 10K with some fun accessories (I didn’t see pompoms but I found cute red and white bows for your shoes!) and do the expo pickup. Sounds like you’ll be costuming (or at least bounding) after all!

As others have said it's personal preference whether or not you want to have a costume on. Most will do disney bounding, so if snow white....blue shirt, yellow skirt and red bow in hair. I think more people do costumes for this race then others. I've done W&D and marathon weekend. Ears can be tough to run in, it seems like you either get a pair that's too tight or too loose. I prefer my Minnie mouse baseball cap when wearing my Minnie skirt, you can find that on the shop disney parks app. But yes, you will be amazed by the things people run in and with. One person was carrying a plate full of real pancakes last year!

Pancakes!! And I was worried about ears! I’m thinking the disneybound is the way to go. Thanks for the info!

Many wear some level of costume at all rD races, but in my experience, it's a lot more at PHM - you'll see tons of people in, at minimum, a themed outfit, and plenty in all-out costumes! But you'd also be perfectly fine without one. Remember, we're talking about 25,000 people; we all kind of blend together out there.

Personally, I have a couple outfits in mind that are "costume-light" - weather will dictate what I wind up wearing, though, and we won't have a handle on that until a day or two out.

Wow, I didn’t realize it was that many people! From what I’ve found it seems like the costume is a common theme, I don’t want to regret not wearing one. I definitely plan on stopping for character photos, so I want to be satisfied with my decision! I agree with the weather decision. If I end up deciding on a costume/disneybound I’ll also bring regular running clothes and make the final decision the night before or that morning.

I've decided on Tinkerbell for the 5K, Merida for the 10K, and Anna for the Half.

Nice! I’m thinking Minnie Mouse because it’s simple. I have to decide on another one. I want to do a princess but I can’t figure out which one yet.

 

[Bree]

Sorry not much help with your dilemma but will say the odds are in your favor for not freezing temps. I've done this race for the past 5 years and only 1 year it was super cold...it was Frozen themed that year, go figure. They will put out heaters if it gets that cold.

I was there that year and was miserable even next to a heater.

Costumes - I wore a tutu once and if I hadn’t paid so much money for it I would have ripped it off and thrown it to the side of the course. That was the end of costumes for me. Last year I bought sparkle skirts and that was the extent of my dressing up. This year I don’t know yet. My daughter is warming up to the idea of maybe wearing matching shirts for the 5K. I’m raising money for Autism Speaks for the half so I’ll probably end up wearing their shirt.

Race retreat - duh. Daughter starts soccer next week and will most likely have games on Saturday and/or Sunday. Dilemma solved. I can drop her off back at home on Friday. I’ll pack up Saturday night and leave extra early and drive my car over to the race. The retreat will be nice before my drive home.

 

[bumbershoot]

We stayed at GF for W&D weekend, and the expo bus only picked up/dropped off outside of the convention center. I

Off to figure out where the GF convention center is!

You can take a bus or the monorail back after the race.

Intresting that they'll have a bus back. The bus driver was NOT going to take us back to Contemporary since it was supposed to be monorail ONLY. She was going to have us get off at Poly, walk through to the boat, and go that way or something like that. There was one woman that was injured and had been wheeled TO THAT BUS by Disney staff, knowing she was going back to Bay Lake, and a bunch of women banded together to protect her from having to somehow do that. The bus driver finally said "you know, my blood pressure doesn't need this, I'll just stop there even though I might lose my job"... Eep.

If you opt for the monorail you will need to go through Epcot bag check since the entrance is located inside the fenced in area of the park.

Good to know.

My husband's customer for the half:

Be sure to get a gallon of bodyglide for the areas where the thigh highs hit and above, and where the garters will go down his legs. OK there's a sentence I never thought I'd think or write. But seriously. It's an awkward place to vaseline-up on the course, so bodyglide slathered will be a good idea.

Is he going to do a test run of this? Inquiring minds...

 

[Bree]

That’s what I was told by the CM at the GF, but I didn’t bother to check it out after the race. I took the monorail back to GF and was super annoyed at the bag check lines in Epcot. They were really long. I checked a bag in the race retreat tent so I could have my chocolate almond milk and a pair of cushioned flip flops. So I suppose if you aren’t checking a bag or using any type of pouch, running belt, etc you can go through the bag free entrance at Epcot.