Expedition Everest Challenge 2014

[smeagol14]

Just got back to the hotel. Very disappointed the the cross crossing btw the runners, scavenger hunters and spectators. The signs near Asia for runners to go one way and scavenger hunters another was not very visible. Did the race back in 2011 and liked the layout and organization better then. But that being said it was a nice race even with the rain.

 

[bwvBound]

What a blast! My group of six, running as individuals, all completed! All us were first time runners, all from San Diego ("Greetings to the CA OP!"), and all in corral F. Four in our group were first-time visitors to WDW. As it turned out, we finished in groups of two. I, as the oldest of our group, finished with the youngest. Loved that.

 

[faneuil]

Had the best time last night. My first event, and I'm definitely addicted. Everyone was so cool, so supportive. I also finished way below my training average, and somehow maintained a 12 minute mile. SOO proud of myself and everyone!!

Only thing that was frustrating was the wait. Being in a low corral gives you too much time to think and get antsy. But I just have to get faster! complete motivator.

 

[lsa999]

Can anyone explain clue 2 to me? I puzzled over it for 10 mins last night, and even the CM hint (she told me to look at the first and third lines) wasn't helpful. I got through b/c I just randomly started guessing.....adding prime #s and odd #s, two was my first guess, and four was my second guess.

I'm sitting here staring at it now, and I still don't get it.

 

[Mikelly1221]

Just home from Everest weekend. Our family participated in the family challenge and I ran the EEC so FWIW, I'll give my perspectives on both events.

Regarding the family challenge...well, let's just say we were challenged! For some reason we couldn't get our act together and figure out the correlation between the map with the stars and the clues in the book. About halfway through we figured out that we had been doing it wrong and was able to finish but had to totally guess on the final answer! Thankfully while we are terrible scavenger hunters we must be really good guessers because we got it right! The rain didn't help us because our book and map got soggy and fell apart. We were one of the last groups to finish I think, so it must have been us and not the set-up. All in all, I'm not sure it was a good fit for our family and possibly better explanation could be given in the instructions, but it seemed like everyone had a good time.

The rain continued off and on right up through the start of the EEC that night, but it stopped at some point during the race. I thoroughly enjoyed myself that evening with the race and the party. I will agree with a PP that said that crossing was a bit of a challenge-entering Africa the scavenger hunters were to be on the left while the runners were to be on the right...entering Asia the lanes were reversed so there was a bit of crossing back and forth. It was also tricky when you were finished and trying to enter the party at Dinoland-you had to wait for a break in the runners to cross the road. I told my family that I would find them and for them to enter to the party as soon as they were allowed to get in and ride, ride, ride! And they did...Dinosaur 2x without exiting the vehicle, Primeval Whirl (roller coaster?) I think 4-5x, and after I met up with them we all rode Expedition Everest 2-3x, all with low waits. We left the party fairly early as it had been a very full day for us. The family consensus is that the evening race and party were very fun and they would love to do it again.

 

[Mikelly1221]

Can anyone explain clue 2 to me? I puzzled over it for 10 mins last night, and even the CM hint (she told me to look at the first and third lines) wasn't helpful. I got through b/c I just randomly started guessing.....adding prime #s and odd #s, two was my first guess, and four was my second guess.

I'm sitting here staring at it now, and I still don't get it.

I was stumped too, it took me a while to figure it out. I don't have the clue in front of me but you were looking for the numbers "one" and "three". "Three" is in the word "reenergize" and the word preceding it that ends in "th". "One" is in a word that only has four letters with "one" the last three, but I can't remember what the word is.

Hope this helps!

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

Home!! I am exhausted! Great race despite the cold rain. we were in corral J but I was really happy with our finish. Not bad for not being able to run for the last month

I am checking back in next Friday for a girls weekend. It won't be the same without all my race peeps!

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

Pictures are up!
http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http:...ao7OtoS3N9H5vEKfXJao08uKgkUz_SP_7oRIrqUuQ&s=1

 

[Mac4life30]

are the results up yet?

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

Yep.. Results were up Sunday while we were at the after party

 

[MannyB]

We had a great time despite the rain. Didn't have any issues with the course but definitely could see where someone would have had an issue with the crossover thing they did in Asia.

Improved the time by 17:00 over last year . Second clue was tough.. but the final clue was much easier than last year.All in all a very good time. Starting in a higher corral made life a lot better.

Last year was in Corral H and this year was in D. The difference was night and day! Didn't really have walkers to avoid, didn't have traffic to navigate due to course overlap in the park, obstacles were not jammed up (kudos for moving the tires to a different spot to eliminate a bottle neck), and once we finished it gave us quicker rides. End result is getting to the truck a full hour and a half earlier than last year.

What an amazing weekend! Got engaged on Saturday morning and my surprise was executed perfectly! Took my soon to be niece and nephew to Disney for the first time and they loved it. Never had a wait time over 25 minutes and rode all the headliner rides and got a FP so my future niece could meet Anna and Elsa. Probably logged over 10 miles on these feet over the weekend but it was more than worth it!

 

[Mac4life30]

How do I find them? The only thing i see is a huge list were you have to scroll and scroll and look for your name. Is that it?

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

How do I find them? The only thing i see is a huge list were you have to scroll and scroll and look for your name. Is that it?

yep. If you have an iphone, open in ibooks and do a search. If you are using a computer, search with your pdf reader

I had a yeti hat on at the start and soooo glad. That rain was COLD!!

 

[sightline]

Just got back to the hotel. Very disappointed the the cross crossing btw the runners, scavenger hunters and spectators. The signs near Asia for runners to go one way and scavenger hunters another was not very visible. Did the race back in 2011 and liked the layout and organization better then. But that being said it was a nice race even with the rain.

I loved this race once again, but, man, that crossing almost completely ruined my race. My 5K was one of the best I'd ever run, and I was really doing well with the clues, but I never saw that turn.

I made it all the way down to the Nemo Theater before I realized that something was amiss. I started yelling at any volunteer I could find as to where the clue station was, and everybody looked at me like I had five heads. (The card just said "Asia". Volunteer: "You're in Asia.") I finally got back to the crossing point, and somebody pointed down the correct path. But, by then, I'd lost at least three minutes of time.

If anyone was still waiting to start and heard the announcer say: "Oh, he missed a turn." - yeah, that was me. Hate to say it, I was almost in tears. I was comfortably in second place before the turn, and nowhere near placing after that. (I felt for the volunteers who were trying to congratulate me for finishing - I don't think I had the kind of reaction they were expecting.)

I noticed later that none of the Maps for the race showed (or mentioned) that turn. I remembered the turn last year, but I didn't know when or where it was.

Once I had some time to recover, I felt a lot better, especially because of how great that first 5k felt. I was worried about the weather at the start, but I think it might have actually helped me - it felt about perfect about a mile in. And I love this course SO MUCH.

It's funny - this was my second one, and I feel like I've learned something from each one on how to run the next one better. So, fingers crossed, next year will be my year.

And, for the record, I love this race so much that I'll take a few snafus if it means it keeps happening each year.

 

[networktek]

The 5K race and clues were amazing and so much from to run, the only down fall was the expo. It was a total disaster all Run Disney mickey shoes were all out by the 10 person in line, and they were letting people take up to 6 pairs of shoes, but other than that the race was so much fun.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

we must have lucked out..people were at the crossing SHOUTING "Runners to the left, clue hunters to the right"

But!! after the last clue, they stopped us to let a crowd of finishers cross the path!!! I was so irritated because I was ready to run to the finish and had to wait at least a minute

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

Does the MarathonFoto have group shots? I see the pictures listed under my name, but I know there are more of group shots

 

[sightline]

we must have lucked out..people were at the crossing SHOUTING "Runners to the left, clue hunters to the right"

I almost hope I had something to do with that. When I finally crossed through that area, I shouted out that I'd just gone a half-mile in the wrong direction (into the air - more out of frustration than anything), and I heard someone say something like: "Guys, we need to do a better job directing..." before I was out of earshot.

But!! after the last clue, they stopped us to let a crowd of finishers cross the path!!! I was so irritated because I was ready to run to the finish and had to wait at least a minute

BOO! Am I wrong in thinking that the route into the afterparty was more complicated than last year? I didn't remember having to cross the race path that many times - or at least having to get in the way of runners.

 

[rhettreaux]

All I can say is WOW. The 2014 EEC was my first Disney race, and I could not have had more fun!

When I first heard about this race in January, it was the race of my dreams. 5k, with obstacles, and a scavenger hunt, in the Animal Kingdom, at night, an awesome compass medal, after party, and my blood brother Craig at my side.

Then Disney took my expectations and magicked them right through the stratosphere!

When I was flying down early Friday morning, the only pain in my heart was that I wasn’t planning on going into the parks. Craig wasn’t going to pay to go into the parks for one day, and I wasn’t going to PAY to abandon him for a day either. But then, on Friday night, a magical Sunfleur grew out of DisBoards and put a 3-day park hopper directly into my hands!!!

I put the ticket on my MagicBand, set up some Fastpasses , and headed to karaoke at Kimonos. It was extremely entertaining, and when I got up and belted out Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA’ (don’t you judge me!), everyone in the place was singing along, and some were even getting up to dance with me while I sang!

On Saturday, Craig slept off his karaoke-induced exhaustion and I smiled through the pouring rain as I rode Space Mountain, Star Tours, and Toy Story Midway Mania. We had dinner at Whispering Canyon, then headed to the race, where things just continued to get better.

It was still raining, but they had music playing and there were other people in corral D who also felt like dancing was a good way to keep warm. Craig and I had Superman shirts on, and when our corral was released, we were off faster than a speeding bullet. Before we even got to the first obstacle, we were passing people in the C corral who had left SIX MINUTES before us! We finished the 5K in 23:17 and the whole thing in 45:37. Too much walking and stopping to read clues under the streetlights.

Then we met a ton of fun people, rode some rides, and danced our butts off until 3 am. (Was it just me, or did the DJ look like Fez from “That 70’s Show”?) Our car was literally the last one in the parking lot when we finally walked out of the park.

Sunfleur, thank you so much for your magical generosity.
Cleverest Everest folks, thanks for dancing with me in corral D while waiting for the race to start.
Natalia, I hope you and your friend made it back to your hotel OK. You had a little too much fun. Maybe 2 or 3 too many fun.
Great 2nd grade teacher from Las Vegas (I could not hear your name over the music), you and your sister win the dance award. You two had the dance stamina of Dancing with the Stars contestants!
I hope to see you all again next year!

 

[dsk727]

I had a great time! What a great first rD event and 5K to do! Already trying to plan my next event!!