Castaway Cay 5K run start

[Stratus22]

Hi gang. Just wondering, we are on the Fantasy coming up and All ashore time is at 9:45. Is that when the start of the 5K begins as well? I don't want to spend that much of my morning running in the event when I can be spending it with my family. But if it begins much earlier then I'm all in
Thanks

 

[KristiMc]

You usually meet at a location on the ship about a half hour before all ashore time so not much earlier. On our Dream cruise, my sons and I had been on the beach for at least a half hour before the runners showed up to start the race. It seems like some times the runners get off the ship before everyone else but on our Dream cruise last year, my sons and I were on the beach for a half hour before the runners showed up to start the race.

 

[raindb82]

Hi gang. Just wondering, we are on the Fantasy coming up and All ashore time is at 9:45. Is that when the start of the 5K begins as well? I don't want to spend that much of my morning running in the event when I can be spending it with my family. But if it begins much earlier then I'm all in
Thanks

On our recent cruise in December we met at 8:45 am in a specific location on the ship. Then they somewhat organized us. Runners that had to drop children off at scuttles cove at the front and everyone else in the back.

We disembarked around 9:00 and the race began at 9:15. One thing to note... Pay attention to directions because it may seem like you can't get lost on an island that is only a few square miles, but it is pretty easy to run 5 miles over the 3.1 miles that is initially intended . There aren't many markers letting you know where to go once you are on the track.

You should be done pretty quickly where you will have plenty of time to enjoy the island. We did all we want and were still back on the ship by 2.

 

[Saamh]

I've done it twice and both times (most recently this December) the runners were off the ship after regular guests. The onboard meeting and picking up bibs seems to take longer than they anticipate. I wish they would give out bibs when you register at guest services.

 

[MaleficentRN]

Time lost with your family depends on how fast you run and when your family gets off. Our 5K group got off just as non running guest were disembarking. I was finished a good 15 minutes before my family showed up.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Both times we have run this we have been some of the first off the ship, but as you can see from other posters, this is not always the case. You do walk straight away to the start, with just a few moments to use the restrooms and drop off any children to Scuttles. Then they start the race. How fast you run or walk the course is up to you. We are not the fastest bunch, but we finished by 9:30/9:45. Plenty of time to spend the rest of the day on the island. It's fun, always meet some really nice people to chat with beforehand or run with. I hope you enjoy!

 

[AileeSom]

I've run the 5K a few times over the years and we were among the first to get off the ship. Start time was usually around 8:15-8:30, depending on weather, docking time. It's been a few years since our last cruise, so things may have changed.

Do you register for the 5K with guest services now? When I have done the race, it was a show up at this time to get a bib and run. Are they giving out finisher medals for the 5K now? I've run the 5K 4 times and they never had medals. I'm hoping to get a medal on our cruise (1.29.16).

 

[Shelebeen]

Yes, you register at guest services for the 5K. Yes, they gave out rubber type medals to everyone - they are really nice!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Both times we have run this we have been some of the first off the ship, but as you can see from other posters, this is not always the case. You do walk straight away to the start, with just a few moments to use the restrooms and drop off any children to Scuttles. Then they start the race. How fast you run or walk the course is up to you. We are not the fastest bunch, but we finished by 9:30/9:45. Plenty of time to spend the rest of the day on the island. It's fun, always meet some really nice people to chat with beforehand or run with. I hope you enjoy!

On our last Fantasy cruise, the 5K people were the first ones off the ship via the aft gangway. Everyone else had to use the forward one until they were all gone. This was as soon as the island was ready for people to get off the ship.

 

[TheCultOfSkaro]

My family did it on the Dream in January 2015 and runners were first off the ship then. I slept in, had breakfast on the ship and met them around 10 or 1030. Still had tons of time to enjoy Castaway Cay together.

 

[Stratus22]

i just might do the 5K run then....thanks for the reply's all

 

[Shanti]

We did the 5K two weeks ago on Magic & regular guests were off the ship before us. Wish they started the race earlier because it gets hot & humid quickly on that island, even in January. My son and I were amongst the slowest, but still finished before 10am. Didn't miss anything but it did tire us out a bit. We still enjoyed waterslides & bike riding later on.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

A lot of it seems to depend on when the ship is cleared by customs. When I did it last, we (the runners) were off the ship after the guests.

Note: we were ready before. they just had us all sitting there because Customs hadn't cleared us yet. Storms had us arrive late and we were docking at the same time the 5K runners were gathering. Had the ship docked an hour earlier, we surely would have been off first.

 

[1buckeyegirl]

In November we got off the ship just before everyone else. I finished the race just as my family was getting off the shuttle though, so it worked out.

 

[smilezlie]

I did the Castaway Cay 5k a few days ago.

Our scheduled meet time was 8:15am. They went over the rules and info then walked us off the ship and to the start area. Once there it took us 52mins to walk the course. Then again, the last 1/3 it started to rain so I don't know if that sped us up or slowed us down.

We were back on the ship by about 10:30am... but had to battle a mini hurricane (long story, short version: we stupidly walked back to the ship, the sky opened up, and well...).

It was a great experience and I highly recommend it. We had plenty of time to enjoy the Cay when we were done!

 

[bethann2103]

Im curious about the age limit for this run, i've heard conflicting things from different posts and websites. Does anyone know the minimum age to run? My 9 year old daughter is an avid runner and runs a 5k in under 27 minutes and really wants to do this run!

 

[smilezlie]

Im curious about the age limit for this run, i've heard conflicting things from different posts and websites. Does anyone know the minimum age to run? My 9 year old daughter is an avid runner and runs a 5k in under 27 minutes and really wants to do this run!

The minimum age is 10 and they are pretty strict with it from what I could tell. They will let her go along with you but she won't get a bib or a medal.

That is really impressive though!

 

[bethann2103]

The minimum age is 10 and they are pretty strict with it from what I could tell. They will let her go along with you but she won't get a bib or a medal.

That is really impressive though!

Thats what I was afraid of she will be heart broken... oh well she can have my medal!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thats what I was afraid of she will be heart broken... oh well she can have my medal!

That's the same answer you got when you asked before:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/castaway-cay-5k.3474478/#post-54972325

 

[bethann2103]

That's the same answer you got when you asked before:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/castaway-cay-5k.3474478/#post-54972325

I have read some blogs where they said the age was 8 and was looking for other opinions. Didn't realize I wasn't allowed to seek out other peoples input on this topic... but thanks so much for being a decent human being and alerting me to the fact that you can never ask a question more than once on these boards. I am new and excited about my cruise forgive my inconsiderate reposting of a very innocent question. I hope you have a wonderful evening.