keahgirl8
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2005
- Messages
- 4,101
Sorry I'm pulling old quotes here! I didn't come on the boards the whole time I was gone, so I'm catching up.
Exactly. It's a family fun run and it is untimed. Unless you're going to start at the front of corral A, this is just going to be the experience. If you manage your expectations, you can have a lot of fun!
I think maybe they do this so that the lines won't be totally out of control. I remember when they had the Frozen weekend, they put Elsa up on the overpass as well.
100% rumor, not based on any fact at all. Unless they start pushing things back and back, like they did with Tink and Light Side, I'll believe it when I see it from runDisney. I wish this had never gotten started, and people hadn't freaked out and spread it like wildfire.
Agreed. Unless someone really impacts your experience (ie. shoving, cutting you off or stopping in front of you, so that you can get hurt), you just can't worry about what other people are doing. I'm not going to let a few rude people ruin my race experience. So many of these stories get passed around and it really scares people away from doing Princess weekend.
Just because someone is "larger" doesn't mean they cheated.
Truth! If you prepare, it's absolutely doable. Just please, please train. I know life happens, but you just have to really commit to it, or you'll really regret it. I pushed during Christmas vacation to keep up with my training schedule. It was hard, but I came out of this weekend pain-free.
Pointing out people's size is irrelevant and unnecessary. It is not "cute." There are people of all shapes and sizes that can probably run circles around me, and I'm bigger than others who are slower than I am, I'm sure. Is shoving cool? No, but I was shoved by many people that morning, and most of them were small, which is also irrelevant.
Right. I would say the only thing that affected my time beyond my immediate control was that I was further back, due to the fact that I didn't turn in a POT. There were a lot of people who were slower than me back there, but they were where they were supposed to be, so that's on me too.
Pictures lines are always bad for the runDisney 5K. Sorry you had a rough experience.
I think part of the issue with corralling for the 5K is there is not PoT or timing. It's a family friendly race and people will lie about their anticipated finish times or pace to get in a better corral for pictures or whatever.
Exactly. It's a family fun run and it is untimed. Unless you're going to start at the front of corral A, this is just going to be the experience. If you manage your expectations, you can have a lot of fun!
Also, Merida was on the overpass just after the start. I was super disappointed the signature princess for the race wasn't available pre or post race for photos, and also wasn't really a photo opp on the course! I went and stood in line in the hot sun that afternoon for 30 minutes to get a pic. Bonus though, she signed my medal and we had a nice little chat.
I think maybe they do this so that the lines won't be totally out of control. I remember when they had the Frozen weekend, they put Elsa up on the overpass as well.
Seeing a rumor on Facebook that Princess Half Marathon will not take place in 2019 due to road construction.
Again, it seems to be a rumor at this time. Anyone have any solid info?
100% rumor, not based on any fact at all. Unless they start pushing things back and back, like they did with Tink and Light Side, I'll believe it when I see it from runDisney. I wish this had never gotten started, and people hadn't freaked out and spread it like wildfire.
Anyway, thought I'd post in case someone was debating doing the race in future. A lot of the previous posts about the expo and race left me with the impression that things would be out of control like some spring break expose. Honestly, it's still a Disney run event, and if there was bad behavior it was an exception, not a rule. During the two races I met a wide variety of dedicated runners who happened to be crazy about Disney and were out there to have a good time.
Agreed. Unless someone really impacts your experience (ie. shoving, cutting you off or stopping in front of you, so that you can get hurt), you just can't worry about what other people are doing. I'm not going to let a few rude people ruin my race experience. So many of these stories get passed around and it really scares people away from doing Princess weekend.
I ran the 5k and 10k. I was considering signing up for next year’s half specifically because I saw older, larger ladies wearing half marathon medals. We felt so good after the 10k that we thought we might be ready to try a longer race.
Now I’m questioning that decision. It never occurred to me that there may have been cheating.
Just because someone is "larger" doesn't mean they cheated.
I think you will find very few people at Disney/on this board with perfect runner physiques.
Unfortunately, yes - people do cheat at these races. But many more people achieve what they never thought possible honestly (without course cutting or corral jumping) and through hard work.
If you pick a training plan that works with your life/schedule/body and stick to it, I have no doubt that you can do it!!
Truth! If you prepare, it's absolutely doable. Just please, please train. I know life happens, but you just have to really commit to it, or you'll really regret it. I pushed during Christmas vacation to keep up with my training schedule. It was hard, but I came out of this weekend pain-free.
I agree there is often a lack of race etiquette in many Disney races, but I'm pretty sure those women you spoke of didn't keep you from winning your age group. Slow you down for a second or two & frustrate you, sure, but not prevent you from making the podium.
Ahaha sorry, people were saying morbidly obese in the other posts. I thought better endowed was cute, I apologize if anyone found that offensive it was never meant to be!
I mean. You could be opposite and wish you were more endowed
Pointing out people's size is irrelevant and unnecessary. It is not "cute." There are people of all shapes and sizes that can probably run circles around me, and I'm bigger than others who are slower than I am, I'm sure. Is shoving cool? No, but I was shoved by many people that morning, and most of them were small, which is also irrelevant.
Okay, I'm hereby adding to my Cons list for this race "If you frequent the letsrun forums and are crazy obsessed with finish times, this may not be the race you're searching for".
Look, I watched an awful lot of the runners and walkers around me of all shapes and sizes completing the race under their own steam without cheating. That is a heck of a lot more admirable, in my opinion, than the people who shaved 2 minutes off their 2 hour half marathon PR, or whatever time goal they were aiming for. It's unkind, uncharitable and inaccurate to think that just because they're larger they didn't reach where they were under their own steam.
To address Kimberly's original point, I too found it annoying that people were shoving to the front, but that was mostly because I don't like being crowded and didn't think it was fair that they were shoving in while others had been waiting in the corrals for longer. In the end though, the only thing that impacted my time was me.
Right. I would say the only thing that affected my time beyond my immediate control was that I was further back, due to the fact that I didn't turn in a POT. There were a lot of people who were slower than me back there, but they were where they were supposed to be, so that's on me too.
In cone alley (and all course narrowing after) NO ONE was following any etiquette whatsoever and a Mary Poppins started making fun of those who wanted to run. Loudly. And she and her group refused to budge. By the time I was there the traffic was solid on the other side, and my ankle isn’t strong enough to risk holes in the grass.[\quote]
That is ridiculous, and would have made me really angry. I tried really hard to respect the fact that there were people who wanted to 100% walk, people who wanted to 100% run, and everything in between. I did my best to stay out of other peoples way, and be careful when passing. Everyone is doing their own thing in that race, and we all kind of need to work together. Luckily, I didn't encounter much rudeness on the course.
I met the male half of the creators of the Hogwarts running club on the course. That was awesome.
I didn't meet them, but I did see their signs. It was great!
Some of those mile markers seemed really off. If I was having a much longer mile but getting back on track with my mileage compared to the markers, they didn’t have them in the right places.![]()
My watch didn't match either, but I assumed it was all the weaving I had to do.
They had sports beans still by the time I got there. But it was maybe a third of a serving. I don’t feel that that’s adequate especially compared to a proper gu from previous years.[\quote]
I only eat a few at a time. It wasn't enough for me for the whole race, but it was a decent amount for me. I ate about a bag and and a half, plus what they gave us, and I usually would eat 2 bags for that length of race.
All good questions that I don't think anyone can answer with any surety. I think it's a combination of things: rD packing way too many people on a race course, a larger than avg number of new runners, more people running who are unsure of their ability and/or haven't trained as well as they'd like, more people more interested in having fun vs. running a race. And also sparkly things.Other than the first one (rD making races too full), I don't think any one of those items is a problem on its own, but combine it all together, and you get the Princess Effect, maybe.
Probably all correct. I think it's too many factors to point to just one thing. I still do it and and I still love it.
I was in Corral F, aka the giant corral, and a million people stepped over me to try to get to the front before the race had even started. We were easily in the front quarter of the corral and most of them got stuck a few people in front of me anyway lol. It was annoying getting kicked so many times that early in the morning, especially since MOST OF THEM didn't even say excuse me. Like, we're in corral f, our position doesn't matter, and you could at least be polite!
Yeah, that wasn't fun. A bunch of us tried to kind of stick together to keep people from going around, but I didn't really want to get in a shoving match when people were pushing the issue. I didn't mind letting one person through, but at one point, a whole line of people pushed through.
I don’t like the dead last start junk, though I’m on the FB page that they admin. It feels misogynistic (last year at least they called it “kills” as they went by each person, and at a female-centric race where the men KNOW they’ll be faster than most women, that feels ugly) and awful, and also like a huge pain.
Totally agree. I didn't really like that either, since a lot of those "kills" were giving it their all.
Oh and how about that ramp thing to the F corral? In the dark? With no one letting you know it’s there?
That was fun.![]()
No kidding. They did have people there warning us when I went across it, but there's no way no one fell.