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.

 

[silmarg]

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.

Appreciate your thoughtful response

 

[fatmanatee]

1. Some people do lie, not sure how many but wouldn’t say all of them
2. The character stops can add a lot of time to the results, particularly for the shorter races, so I’m not sure how much I’d read into them.

I was in B via POT and timed myself, ended up finishing in 1:40 but my active run was 1:03. 37 min of waiting in photo lines, and I skipped a couple of them. Was hearing reports of people waiting 15-20 min for some photos, that adds up.

 

[jmasgat]

Related…..there is a difference between “best capable pace” and “what I’ll do at Disney” pace. So a person could put their true best pace in for placement, but do the race slower/with more character stops.

The 10k corral placement is the worst of the races since there is no POT. And even if you’re honest, there is still wide variation in corral placement because of the size of the time buckets. You could be in C or F with a 8-10 mpm pace, which I found out the hard way at W&D a few years ago. I don’t know if they’ve made any improvements in the last couple years, but I doubt it.

 

[KCO5988]

Related…..there is a difference between “best capable pace” and “what I’ll do at Disney” pace. So a person could put their true best pace in for placement, but do the race slower/with more character stops.

The 10k corral placement is the worst of the races since there is no POT. And even if you’re honest, there is still wide variation in corral placement because of the size of the time buckets. You could be in C or F with a 8-10 mpm pace, which I found out the hard way at W&D a few years ago. I don’t know if they’ve made any improvements in the last couple years, but I doubt it.

What's crazy to me is how they added the sub 7, made the next one 7-8 and then kept 8-10. I feel like the number of people that would have a POT for sub-7 paced 10k (if they required POT) is very minimal and we are in the same corral as the sub 8 anyway. I don't know why they don't have 8-9 as an option and then 9-10. 8-10 is a huge pace range.

 

[The Expert]

The character stops can add a lot of time to the results, particularly for the shorter races, so I’m not sure how much I’d read into them.

I was in B via POT and timed myself, ended up finishing in 1:40 but my active run was 1:03. 37 min of waiting in photo lines, and I skipped a couple of them. Was hearing reports of people waiting 15-20 min for some photos, that adds up.

This! I did the SS 5K last week, started in B (wave 3) and ran between character stops. I averaged 11:30 minute miles and my "moving" time was 35 minutes, but my total time was almost 90 minutes. I only waited for two characters -- Clawhauser took at least 30 minutes and Mickey/Minnie was only slightly less.

What's crazy to me is how they added the sub 7, made the next one 7-8 and then kept 8-10. I feel like the number of people that would have a POT for sub-7 paced 10k (if they required POT) is very minimal and we are in the same corral as the sub 8 anyway. I don't know why they don't have 8-9 as an option and then 9-10. 8-10 is a huge pace range.

They used to split runners into many more corrals (ie my first Half I think it went up to P), but the staging got super complicated. Post-Covid (iirc) they started doing larger corrals and broke them up by starting with the mini-waves within each one. It just means that if you want/need to be closer to the front, you need to enter your corral earlier and claim your spot.