Corral Question

[silmarg]

I did my 2nd runDisney 10k in a decade and have a question about corral placement. I am pooh sized and 16 min mile is about all I can muster right now. When I signed up I was truthful and ended up in the last corral - near balloon ladies for most of the 10k. Last time I did a runDisney 10k I was similarly placed and I let the balloon ladies pass me (by a considerable margin) and I was not swept but it appears that folks that were just a few steps behind the balloon ladies this go around were getting swept this time which is a shame (in my opinion). I do think RunDisney should put a little buffer between the balloon ladies and the last corral as it would make folks like me who were truthful about runtimes when signing up have a more enjoyable experience.

My real question is when I look at results... I assumed I would be at the bottom or the list, but I finished around the midpoint of finishers! There were hundreds and hundreds who were far slower than I. Clearly these folks were in better corrals. They may have stopped at a bunch of character spots etc. I would love to be able to have that sort of experience too (and not have the threat of getting swept being the main theme of this event). Does everyone just lie when signing up about their pace to get a better corral? I just want to enjoy the race a bit more and it not be so stressful. Whats the secret sauce?

 

[FlyingDonut]

The 10k does not require a proof of time. Without judging the should / shouldn't of it, there have been several reports of people claiming faster anticipated times than they could perhaps sustain for the purposes of corral placement. (If you're really curious, find people who's doing a challenge and compare their start time for the POT race to the non-POT races). There are some sites that have analyzed RD finisher data; I'm not sure if this is something they've dug into.

I believe RD Platinum gets you B corral placement for the 10k, so that would be another way to get high corral placement independent of time estimates.

People estimating their times (or even reporting a POT for longer races) are making some kind of representation for a race many months in the future. They might have been entirely truthful when predicting their pace, and then weather, injury, or deciding to run with a friend slowed them down on race day. Other people might put a time that they truly estimate they'll be able to run in 9 months, which is slower than their present capabilities. (eg when I registered for my first Marathon 10 months before the race, I wasn't capable of running that distance at any pace yet. I still submitted a half PoT that would put me into A. Then I trained. I hit my goals, but what if training hadn't gone well, especially for the new distance?) Not trying to judging any way here. There are lots of ways these discrepancies could come about.