Disney race question.

[ShortyNBug]

How do the marathons and half marathons affect the park hours if at all? We are planning a trip in early Oct and I just saw the new wine and dine race so I was curious.

 

[SAHDad]

It definitely affects transportation, since there are some significant road closures. For both the marathon and the half-marathon, the MK is the first part to be cleared of runners. The half basically runs from Epcot to the MK and back. Since the runners have to maintain a 16-minute mile, the MK should be cleared of runners by 8 or 8:30.

For the full, you run from Epcot to MK, then to AK, then to DHS, over to Boardwalk and then to Epcot. You might run into runners at AK, DHS or Epcot, depending on how early you get there and where you are. DW was a bit behind me in 2008, and she said that AK was very tight, since its pretty narrow anyway, and sharing the space between runners and park guests was difficult.

Now, for the Wine & Dine half - your guess is as good as mine. Until they announce the course (and the race start time), it's all just a guess.
The route the runners take is pretty well marked, and if you are visiting MK, or Future World at Epcot, you should have minimal interactions with the runners. If you want to hit AK or DHS, you will see more of them, but even so, by noon, they'll be about done.

 

[ShortyNBug]

I thought that wine and dine one was a night race?

 

[SAHDad]

I thought that wine and dine one was a night race?

It is, but without a map and a start time, there is nothing to base it on. My guess is that the parks through which it runs will close early to accomodate the runners.

I see my earlier answer was unclear - the races don't really affect park hours, but they play merry $$&& with the transportation system.

 

[FireDancer]

I thought that wine and dine one was a night race?

Yes, it is a night race but it is Disney's first night race of this distance and all the details aren't out yet. It is hard to say what effects it will have until all the details are known. You can count on road closures but until the times are set there is no way to know how park hours will be effected.

 

[cyberbox2]

Looking forward to signing up for this one, hope the yet to be released details are favorable.