Complete Beginner Here- Need Planning Help

[naomiatx86]

Hello to all you great Disney people!

I stumbled upon the runDisney site and now I'm greatly intrigued. I budgeted out 3 trips for next year to possibly run the Expedition Everest Challenge, Tower of Terror 10 Miler and the Wine & Dine Half Marathon but well that isn't really feasible for me in both budget and running. I started looking at doing the 5ks.

My questions are...

1) If you participate in the 5k (exception is EEC) are you allowed to attend the after parties in the park?

2) How far in advance did you plan for the event? How soon were you able to register? How soon did they release the dates of the event? How did you find out registration was open?

3) Did anybody just wing it and reserved a hotel room based on the date of the last race? Would you stay in a host resort again?

Thank you!

 

[bumbershoot]

Looking at the info for the nighttime races, no, the 5K participants do not get access to the parties. They have to buy separate tickets.

An example of how far in advance you sign up, the next race "up" for registering is the Princess Half. That's next February, and registration will be in July.

If it's your first race, start preparing whenever you decide to do it. I was already running, so I was already in training. I look at the Galloway training plans on rundisney and basically follow them for the races I've signed up for.

I like being at a host resort because transportation is easy. Though they say that it's not hard to stay offsite or at a non-host for Wine&Dine as long as you have a car.

 

[MightyDuck001]

Registration for Tower of Terror and Wine & Dine usually falls in the February/March/April range depending on whether or not you have an annual pass/dvc membership since those people get early registration. Tower of Terror sells out a little slower, and Wine & Dine sold out within days of it opening to the general public this year. Was it 24 hours or something like that?

3) Epcot area resorts for Wine & Dine go really fast, so those I would definitely book as far in advance as I could. Learned that lesson the hard way. Everything else was open.

 

[Waiting2goback]

I am no veteran but hopefully I can help a bit. I can't speak to the difference of staying at a non-host resort. But, from what I have heard if you have to drive to the events you have to park of Wide World of Sports and take a shuttle bus over to the races so might as well stay at a host resort and just take the bus anyway, unless you have DVC or time share off property and can save money that way.

As far as races go. I heard the Expedition Everest is being dropped. I heard this year was the last year. Nothing official yet though. Also heard it is a very hectic race to run because of the scavenger hunt and it can be difficult if it is your first race. On top of that it is a 5K race officially but you end up running a 10K because after you finish the race you have to run the course again to do the scavenger hunt which is what adds to the chaos because people who finish the race faster are now running the course with the slower runners digging up clues, etc...

Sign-ups, from what runDisney told me when I was looking to sign up for the ToT this year, are about 8 months before the event. You can either keep checking the site or sign-up to receive an email when registration is opening.

As for training. That can start any time. If you start now and do local races you can improve your times, which will improve your starting corral for whatever runDisney race you end up doing. If you wait until next year to do a local race for proof of time you may be limited on options before the 7/1 cutoff time to submit the time. That happened to me. I had to force a race in that is over an hour from my house just to have a proof of time to hopefully not be in the last corral.

Oh, and another thing that has helped me, is listening to the Mickey Miles Podcast. Its all about runDisney events, training tips, they have nutrition info sometimes, etc... Another DIS'er turned me on to it. I learned a lot from it so far.

 

[naomiatx86]

Wow that's great information!

Thank you very much. I did sign up for email notifications.

 

[zanzibar138]

I just wanted to add (in case you were not already aware) that RunDisney events are selling out incredibly fast these days. I don't think the 5k runs are as bad, but don't delay about signing up. You'll probably have at least a couple of hours for a 5k, but if you have your heart set on any particular run, I'd be on the computer ready to go when registration opens.

I'm doing the Disneyland 10k on Labor Day weekend this year. This has pretty much been my goal since August 2012 (more for budget reasons having to get there from Australia), and I started training straight away. Turns out I had a pretty rare condition that meant I couldn't run. I spent about a year trying to fix it and was unable to progress at all in that time. Early this year I was finally diagnosed and underwent surgery to fix the problem. I was finally ready to start again a few weeks ago, but then my gall bladder started playing up and I had to have that removed Next week I will be recovered enough from that surgery to start again, about 20 months after I originally started. All the official programs started a couple of weeks ago, I have no 'running base' so it will be a stretch for me to be ready in time, and I will be in the last corral because I was never able to do a qualifier run.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you set it as your goal, you may as well start training now, as you never know how long it might take you to reach your fitness goals, and what setbacks you might have along the way. If I'd have waited until now to start training, I wouldn't have stood a chance.

 

[JennyDrake]

Hi!

My name is Jenny and please feel free to PM me! My first ever official sign up was at WDW. I never ran a step until I was 46 years old. Once you sign up for a 5K, as PPers have said, try to do at least one local event if you can. ALL races can be confusing and WDW especially so as they are SO big and SO crowded.

If you can, find an experienced friend to go w/ you to your first (local) 5K to explain how bag check works, what corrals are (Hey, I come from a farm and I was flabbergasted that the "corral" didn't look a $#@! thing like a "corral"...).

I would definitely advise staying at a host resort for your first Disney event. It will make life easier.

Again prepared to be someone what overwhelmed and don't let it get to you. The sheer magnitude of the Disney events is insane. You have to arrive crazy early: conserve your energy. Bring a trash bag to sit on and a magazine you'll throw away.

My first event was at AK in the fall, then I did ExE (solo) then the F&W half (!!!) then had a year "off" due to a ruptured Achilles (not related to running) and now this year ExE again (team this time) and I'm again signed up for the F&W half.

As Ppers have said, the runDisney events sell out insanely fast. You may hvae to decide to sign up long before you have physically conditioned.

Keep us posted!

 

[bumbershoot]

As Ppers have said, the runDisney events sell out insanely fast. You may hvae to decide to sign up long before you have physically conditioned.

I signed up for the TOT 10-miler before I had jogged even a 5K. Signed up, did the training, had faith in myself and the training, and did it!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I signed up for the 2011 Disneyland 1/2 without having ever done so much as a 5K. Race day was my first distance event of any kind, but my training paid off.

It seems nowadays that the 5K is the first event to sell out after a challenge (Dopey, Dumbo Double Dare, Rebel Challenge). So be ready to go the day registration opens.

I also strongly recommend staying at a host resort for a WDW race. Host resorts offer buses directly to the start and for an after party such as the Wine & Dine after party, you get a bus back to your resort.

 

[HBGdancermom]

Hi! Are all WDW resorts host resorts? Staying at BWI for the Princess Half next Feb. Thanks