Calling all Princesses! (2014 Princess Half Marathon Weekend)- thread #2

[paxsarah]

I thought I'd get something from looking at DDD bibs, but not so much - they didn't seem to do corrals for the 5K. WDW 5Ks have started doing corrals, but I'll be darned if I can tell what they're based on! I was put in A for 2012 Jingle Jungle, despite putting in an estimated pace of 13:00/mile. I used the same PoT for the WDW Half and GSC - a 1:16:23 10K - and was in J for the WDW Half... I think that might equate to the same for GSC, assuming they assume a slower pace for GSCers as they did for Goofy and Dopey. My GSC bib is 23xxx.

I think this is a misconception. What they did for Goofy and Dopey, as best I could tell, is they insisted on using a single bib for both the half and the full, and assigning bib numbers/corrals based on the marathon expected finish time. Because the marathon has a tougher field of runners than the half, this led to people being corralled several corrals farther back than they should have been for the half. This ended up being an unintentional "penalty" in the half for the Goofy/Dopey runners, but I don't think it was an intentional attempt to slow people down or assumption of a slower speed.

As an aside, I'm pretty sure this was always the case with Goofy (or at least as long as they've issued a single bib) but because there used to be fewer corrals, people were only about one corral from where they would have been for the half and pretty much rolled with it. Now, with so many corrals, it was clear some people were 3-4 corrals away from where they would have been if they were running the half only, and they were pretty annoyed by it. I hope rD fixes it by issuing two bibs next year.

I looked at DDD corrals, since that was a 10k and 13.1, so I figured it might give me at least a little reassurance I'm not in the back (need a cushion since I plan on going much slower than expected due to injuries). I know they've added a lot of corrals since then. But to me it seems to make some sense. My estimated finish based on my 10k submitted (1:02:xx) was 2:20. Last years DDD had corral C (of A to G) <2:25 as bibs 21535 - 22349. I got 216xx for GSC. I just assume this year it will be a later letter, because they are spreading out the corrals, but it will still be more middle than back. Am I crazy grasping a straws here?

Regardless of what letter corral it actually gets you, the time you've submitted will definitely net you a spot ahead of the middle. Your 10K supports your estimated finish, and I'm guessing that GSC number is about 1/4 of the way back. You will have a big cushion!

Ok that's encouraging. I am SLOW LOL. I would be a fraud. Now I will probably get dirty looks from people thinking I am a fast runner in a slow corral LOL.

You are not slow - you're getting it done! And in my experience, no one really looks twice at someone moving back a corral or five. They will not look too kindly at jumpers who try to move forward, and I will admit to severely rolling my eyes at the woman who adamantly tried to state her case for moving up in the corrals to the volunteer at my corral entrance the morning of the marathon. Because surely that individual was authorized to make an exception on her behalf.

 

[DVCFan1994]

I don't think your corral estimate is off base at all. I'm 222-something (22,2xx) doing the GSC and submitted a 1:07 10k. I figure middle-front of the pack, given the way I ended up in B (only out of A-E there though) for Tink based on that same proof of time.

I sure wish they would put up some more info though! I'm getting super excited. Like yours, my DS is asking about his race too. For now, he's running around the house doing "laps." I'm not sure its ever going to get warm enough for him to run outside before then.

Had to laugh at your 23 laps record. My treadmill times out at 100 minutes but if I restart it quickly enough, it will keep the stats going. Sadly, I've had this experience SEVERAL times....

Thanks for the reassurance. These injuries are playing with my head as much as my body, so I am doubting myself even though I know deep down I'll be okay. Its just jitters. The treadmills I use stop you at an hour. I have to very slowly warm up for a mile before I get going due to my rehab, so that hour seems to be over fast. I'm jealous of your 100 minutes. When I did my 12 miles on the mill I ran out of time once, and then barely finished the remaining mileage the second hour. Then had to reset it to cool down It is like a mini race against the clock.

Regardless of what letter corral it actually gets you, the time you've submitted will definitely net you a spot ahead of the middle. Your 10K supports your estimated finish, and I'm guessing that GSC number is about 1/4 of the way back. You will have a big cushion!

Thanks for this information. I am new to all of this and I appreciate the input immensely!

 

[PrincessV]

I think this is a misconception. What they did for Goofy and Dopey, as best I could tell, is they insisted on using a single bib for both the half and the full, and assigning bib numbers/corrals based on the marathon expected finish time. Because the marathon has a tougher field of runners than the half, this led to people being corralled several corrals farther back than they should have been for the half. This ended up being an unintentional "penalty" in the half for the Goofy/Dopey runners, but I don't think it was an intentional attempt to slow people down or assumption of a slower speed.

As an aside, I'm pretty sure this was always the case with Goofy (or at least as long as they've issued a single bib) but because there used to be fewer corrals, people were only about one corral from where they would have been for the half and pretty much rolled with it. Now, with so many corrals, it was clear some people were 3-4 corrals away from where they would have been if they were running the half only, and they were pretty annoyed by it. I hope rD fixes it by issuing two bibs next year.

Aaaaahhh, that makes sense - thanks for the explanation!

 

[Tybalt]

So, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and I all submitted estimated PHM finishing times of 3:15:00 (with no proof of time) and all got 95xx bib numbers. I wonder what that means. Can't wait to see the corrals!

Thanks for posting the waver link!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

So, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and I all submitted estimated PHM finishing times of 3:15:00 (with no proof of time) and all got 95xx bib numbers. I wonder what that means. Can't wait to see the corrals!

Thanks for posting the waver link!

Who knows. I submitted the same time with no proof of time and I got 25,000+. But I'm doing GSC so I wonder if those people got larger numbers to keep better track???

 

[PrincessV]

Who knows. I submitted the same time with no proof of time and I got 25,000+. But I'm doing GSC so I wonder if those people got larger numbers to keep better track???

GSC starts at 20,000 and seems to go up to around 27,000ish.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I added my bib number range to the "Where are you staying" thread.

It makes sense. If there are 7000 GSC runners, then it serves a purpose to tack them all on the end so their numbers could be easily spotted for the race bracelets and the additional medals.
I'm assuming they are giving out the plastic bracelets like they did for the Goofy/Dopey. I always wondered how they kept track.

 

[rpcvpanama]

Does anyone know if you can use your AP discount when pre-ordering a Dooney bag? I called RunDisney and they said no but I thought I read somwhere that you could use it?

Oh, 2 GSC runers here with 24,xxx numbers!

Thanks...

 

[Figment1990]

GSC starts at 20,000 and seems to go up to around 27,000ish.

Does that mean there are 27000 runners? Or do the 1-19,999 numbers not go all the way up to 19,999. Gosh that's a lot of people!

 

[PrincessV]

Does that mean there are 27000 runners? Or do the 1-19,999 numbers not go all the way up to 19,999. Gosh that's a lot of people!

I've seen the number 7000 tossed around in a couple places for GSC, and I've defintiely seen a bib number in the 26xxx range, so probably around that. Figure PHM and WDW Half average around 25,000 participants, so yeah - another 18,000ish PHM plus the 7000 GSCs!

 

[Figment1990]

I've seen the number 7000 tossed around in a couple places for GSC, and I've defintiely seen a bib number in the 26xxx range, so probably around that. Figure PHM and WDW Half average around 25,000 participants, so yeah - another 18,000ish PHM plus the 7000 GSCs!

Oh wow.... sounds like another picture-free race for me. Any lines longer than 4-5 people tend to cause "issues" for me later in the race. I ran by the Characters at Tink waving instead. So glad I got Darth Vader and Capt Jack (and Barbosa) at W&D last year!

 

[evenstar]

Most will say 10 miles is long enough for training, but you need to do what you feel good about&#133;physically and mentally. I like the honey stinger chews. You should try both and see how your belly takes it. I like the chews as I will take one pack and start chewing on one about 5 miles in and then chew another every mile or so. I use the SPIbelt to keep my personal items in&#133;I don't carry much just room key, not this year as I will just wear my MB, and my chews and maybe a small point and shot camera. There is water on the course, gels around mile 8 or 9 and first aid tents if you need a tissue.

If it were me, I would peak at 10.5 two weeks out from the race, and drop to maybe 8 for the last long run a week out. To me it's less about not tapering properly - I'm a big fan of the taper, and a week can be enough for some athletes tapering for a half marathon - but more about recovering properly from the illness and time off training. Add that all up, and I don't see much benefit to running 12.5 miles a week out from the race. It might take more out of you than you want it to, too close to race day. I know going the full distance (or close to it) helps with confidence, but I'm a firm believer in "race-day magic" for that last 3 miles. In terms of gels or other in-race fuel, you should probably test using them during your last long runs. Most people find they do need some sort of fuel during a half marathon distance run. Disney uses Clif gel products, I think, so if you try those and they work for you, you can live off the course, at least in part. Or you can bring your own (which I tend to do in races). Or you can drink powerade at each of the water stations, the caveat being that the mix will probably not be the same as what you'd get out of a bottle if you trained with that.

I'd be leery of ramping up mileage that quickly - could be okay, or could be a recipe for injury. I think I'd go by feel and be prepared to cut back if anything starts feeling off. As others have said, you don't really need to get up that high for a half, and it's always better to go in a little undertrained than injured or exhausted. But you do want to go long enough to experiment with fuel - what works for one can be another's undoing, so it's best to find out ahead of time! I can't do the gels/chews without scewing up my blood sugar, so I stick with fig newtons

I use the honey stinger waffles, I like those. I also have the chews but I haven't tried them on a long run yet.

Thanks for all the great advice! I'll focus on trying to get up to 10 miles over the next couple weeks, and try out some Honey Stinger and Clif gel for race fuel on my long runs.

 

[DIS-OH]

I want to give a HUGE thank you to you!!!!!

With the weather being wholly uncooperative last weekend, I completed 12 miles on the treadmill -- without going completely -- thanks to my new China Beach DVDs!!

Only one problem... a little tough to run when you get all choked up... I that show!!

Looks like the weather might cooperate for my 13 miles this weekend... fingers crossed... but if not, back to China Beach I go!! THANKS AGAIN!!!

You're welcome! Glad I could help! I think the late 60s soundtrack helps, too. There is a lot of great music in those episodes!

 

[CynthiaC925]

Does anyone know if you can use your AP discount when pre-ordering a Dooney bag? I called RunDisney and they said no but I thought I read somwhere that you could use it? Oh, 2 GSC runers here with 24,xxx numbers! Thanks...

Hi. I've only been able to get the discount when i pick up the dooneys. The cast member returns the bags I bought and then I repurchase and get my discount. In my case it's DVC discount.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Does that mean there are 27000 runners? Or do the 1-19,999 numbers not go all the way up to 19,999. Gosh that's a lot of people!

Nope its just to make it easy to separate the runs, list corrals and not confuse the masses...

Like January it was 0-19,000 was marathon (looks like bib#s stopped at 13,000ish), 20,000+ was Goofy(stopped at 25,000ish), 30,000+ Dopey, 40,000+ Half, 50,000+ 10K, 60,000+ was 5k

-em

 

[mla2177]

Hi! I know I am late jumping in but I'm more of a lurker till show time. This is my first half and first WDW race. I am going it alone! The race itself, but my family will be there to cheer me on. Staying at POFQ.

I'm really getting excited!

 

[jmasgat]

Excellent! My GSC bib is 202XX, which at first I thought must have been a mistake because my mom (who is only running the 1/2 and had no proof of time) has a 13XXX bib number!

Hey...we may be corral-mates. I got 20113. Hoping it's A...just makes running the race easier and allows for breaks for pictures if the mood strikes.

 

[dumbo_buddy]

Hey...we may be corral-mates. I got 20113. Hoping it's A...just makes running the race easier and allows for breaks for pictures if the mood strikes.

i have 21,196 which won't put me very far up. i agree with you, A is nice because you have shorter lines and a bit more space to run during the narrow areas. i ran in A last year (had a great 10k time that i'll never get back to again, sigh) and most of the runners just went past the characters!

 

[paxsarah]

i have 21,196 which won't put me very far up. i agree with you, A is nice because you have shorter lines and a bit more space to run during the narrow areas. i ran in A last year (had a great 10k time that i'll never get back to again, sigh) and most of the runners just went past the characters!

Well, 21196 is probably old-A or old-B-equivalent, so you'll basically be in a corral with a smaller subset of the same people you started with last year who just went past the characters.

 

[minnieluvzmickey]

So I am confused. Are yall saying that if you are doing GSC you will start in the back? That doesn't make sense.....or would 20,000 start at A?