Expedition Everest Challenge May 5 @ 9:30 2012

[PrincessV]

...found it a lot more crowded than last year

I wondered about that. We were in Wave 4 and every step of the race was packed.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

I wondered about that. We were in Wave 4 and every step of the race was packed.

About 1,500 more people finished this year than last year (I compared the numbers to last year and all categories got atleast 200 new runners- some categories had 500+ new runners)

I felt bad for the later waves as you then had the clue runners back on the course and the lines like bag check got really bad for awhile..

Overall I still liked it and prob will run it again (moreso that I have friends that want to run it next year) but if they have that many people run they need to adjust the course so they dont overlap...

 

[Cripey]

Finally back at work today and so exhausted...which is the mark of a great Disney vacation, right? I knew running a race at the tail end of vacation was a bad idea...not one cell in my body had any desire to run saturday night after days and days of park touring...but I sucked it up and enjoyed the experience! Team Jelly Belly came in with 40:22 for the 5k and 30:24 for the scavenger hunt. The little one with me did great! Our 5k time was a couple of minutes faster than the practice run we did together a few weeks ago. I'll agree that it was really chaotic since we were in the last wave and by the time we got into the park there were scavenger hunters darting everywhere...VERY confusing on which way to go at some points in the park if you were still running the 5k. You really had to be alert! My teammate was pretty tired after the run though, so we really just "fast-walked" the whole scavenger hunt...we blew through the clues...they were much easier than I expected, thank goodness! The first one had me stumped for a minute or two though while we headed to the next check point, until I could get my brain to switch gears and start reading between the lines...and of course once the lightbulb came on, that one was probably the easiest of them all...it was a DUH moment I didn't care for the lack of a 5k finish line. You kind of didn't even know you were finished with that portion! I actually heard a cast member yelling, "If you've gotten to me without getting your first clue you need to turn around!" So I think alot of people were missing it. Maybe a "get clue #1 here!" sign or "5K finish!" would have helped. I was kind of disappointed with the actual finish line too...it was sooooo narrow and by the time we finished there were just hoards of people crowding around there you couldn't get to the water/powerade table and you had to push your way through to even get a medal...the medal line was backing up to the finish line. My teammate was really disappointed that they just handed her a medal...no "congrats" or no one actaully putting the medal on her like they do at the other races. It was kind of sad really because it was her first and I think she was expecting a big deal...it was a little bit of a let down for her I think. I think the volunteers there were overwhelmed though...this race may have outgrown itself now. Of course, this was my first year doing it, so maybe it's like this every year? Who knows. We did have a blast riding rides at the after party though. After waiting about 30 minutes in the bag pick up line, most of the ride lines thinned out and we didn't wait any more than 10 minutes for anything...practically walked on EE the second time around. And I'm so bummed! We got a great shot on EE in our race outfits and I went to go purchase the digital download of it...the CM scanned my photo pass card, I paid, and he said the pic would be on the card and available to download up to 10 times. Well, it's not there I've emailed them, but not sure what they will be able to do. I paid cash too...and I really really doubt I still have the receipt. We finally crawled into bed at 2:30am and then had to get up only 4 hours later to get ready, eat and be out front for our 9am ME pick up. We were sad to leave, but we had such a fun time. Her favorite thing of the trip was the afternoon tea service at the Garden View Tea Lounge at GF. She says we now have to do that every time. Fine with me...I loved it too!

 

[Qltrgrl2]

We (my DD and I) are anxious for some of you who participated in Expedition Everest to post a few comments on our blog. We were not able to attend the race and would love to incorporate some feedback into the blog. Any information would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[GaRain]

Home and in recovery mode.
So sorry I wasn't there to meet anyone!
Diane and Mallory convinced me to ride Kali River Rapids - and who got soaked? Me of course!!!
What a fun race. Have read a lot of complaints and I do think there were some organization issues - but it was fun and that is all I care about!
I hope everyone had a great time!!!

 

[Goofydiane]

Home and in recovery mode.
So sorry I wasn't there to meet anyone!
Diane and Mallory convinced me to ride Kali River Rapids - and who got soaked? Me of course!!!
What a fun race. Have read a lot of complaints and I do think there were some organization issues - but it was fun and that is all I care about!
I hope everyone had a great time!!!

I had a great time as well and next year, I'll try and get soaked on Kali River Rapids!

I have two issues with Organization which I'm sure Disney will fix - there wasn't a posting or clock at the end of the 5K and I didn't like getting in the way of people still running to complete the scavenger hunt.

Either way, it was a great first Run Disney event. Next up....planning for the Tower of Terror 10 miler!

 

[cloudnut220]

I had a lot of fun with EEC. I actually finished 15th in the female division, which I was super excited about. And my friends won the coed division! I would be interested in doing it again next year, just because it was so fun and I would like to improve my time.

I do hope that next year they decide to group the waves by time and not by division, because even though I was in Wave 1 there were a lot of walkers who lined up at the very front, which meant lots of weaving.

 

[GaRain]

I had a lot of fun with EEC. I actually finished 15th in the female division, which I was super excited about. And my friends won the coed division! I would be interested in doing it again next year, just because it was so fun and I would like to improve my time.

I do hope that next year they decide to group the waves by time and not by division, because even though I was in Wave 1 there were a lot of walkers who lined up at the very front, which meant lots of weaving.

I will tell you, I have heard a lot of complaining about the walkers. Me being one, I take it to heart. But I also know race etiquitte. I walk all the way over to the right of the course. But I still had runners clipping me as they went by and even going around the cones to the right of me.
It is a 5K, and lots of people do 5Ks - not just the serious competitive runners. I just hope that someone doesn't get discouraged from participating as a walker after this experience.

I also agree with Diane - the criss crossing of runners and scavenger hunters we really weird. I know you have limitations with the park set up.
Also would have loved a clock at the end of the 5K portion.

But all in all - I met some wonderful people, I had a great time and I finished!!!!

 

[PrincessV]

I didn't care for the lack of a 5k finish line. You kind of didn't even know you were finished with that portion!... I was kind of disappointed with the actual finish line too...it was sooooo narrow and by the time we finished there were just hoards of people crowding around there you couldn't get to the water/powerade table and you had to push your way through to even get a medal...the medal line was backing up to the finish line. My teammate was really disappointed that they just handed her a medal...no "congrats" or no one actaully putting the medal on her like they do at the other races.

I have two issues with Organization which I'm sure Disney will fix - there wasn't a posting or clock at the end of the 5K and I didn't like getting in the way of people still running to complete the scavenger hunt.

^^ I could not agree more with all of the above - none of it ruined the event for us, but it did take it down several notches from the amazing experience we had with the Princess 5K. The Finish line was just awful when we arrived at it; a total let-down.

I had a lot of fun with EEC. I actually finished 15th in the female division, which I was super excited about. And my friends won the coed division!

AWESOME work - congrats to you all!

 

[APrunner]

I really enjoyed it as well.

One thing they should consider...
Run the 5K outside of the park. Finish at the entrance to AK, then have the scavenger hunt and party in the park. This could solve alot of problems. The scavenger hunt and run will not get in each others way. Running outside the park could make the running lanes wider, so that runners (and walkers) are not getting in each others way as much. There were times in the AK where there was no where to go to get out of the way.

May make the run less scenic, but add some characters, parade floats, local high school bands, etc., and it will be fine.

Just a thought. Otherwise, the only other solution I can think of is to make the race smaller. It is oversold now.

Still, despite the issues, I really did enjoy it. I approached it to have fun, not to get a great time.

 

[cloudnut220]

I will tell you, I have heard a lot of complaining about the walkers. Me being one, I take it to heart. But I also know race etiquitte. I walk all the way over to the right of the course. But I still had runners clipping me as they went by and even going around the cones to the right of me.

It is a 5K, and lots of people do 5Ks - not just the serious competitive runners. I just hope that someone doesn't get discouraged from participating as a walker after this experience.

I also agree with Diane - the criss crossing of runners and scavenger hunters we really weird. I know you have limitations with the park set up.
Also would have loved a clock at the end of the 5K portion.

But all in all - I met some wonderful people, I had a great time and I finished!!!!

I hope you didn't misunderstand me. I think one of the greatest things about disney races are that they are open to and encouraging of all abilities (my husband is a run/walker!) but also that at the bigger races (marathon weekend, etc) they group people by expected finish time and they enforce the corral placement. This makes for less frustration for runners and walkers, since people are generally placed with others around their general pace.

 

[twalton]

We had a blast Saturday night, too...finished the 5K portion in right at 42:00 and got the scavenger hunt done in just under 32:00. This was our second Disney race (Family 5K in January) and we're planning on doing the Half in January 2013.

However, I think a few of you have touched on some of the concerns we noticed already:

1. The end of the running portion was not well-marked. In fact, had I not noticed the volunteers on the sides passing out the first clues, I would have kept running. It was dissapointing not to know how I did with the actual 5K - I'm the kind of person who wants to know how I did ASAP, and I just assumed I would get that time right then.
2. The obstacles. Maybe my expectations were way too high, but I was expecting a little more. The hay bales were good, and the tires just OK, but the "net crawl" was a mess. Astroturf on sand? Brutal. I was hoping for a small wall that you had to use nets to crawl over...something like that. I don't know...I just felt like the obstacles were ordinary and nothing special. Which is what I'm NOT expecting at Disney (especially at that price!).
3. I don't know if I got two bad cups, but the water during the run was very WARM...almost hot, to me, anyway...
4. It was difficult to work through the Scavenger Hunt while people were still running the 5K portion of the race...I agree with others who say they should be staged in separate areas..not sure how you do that, though...and it would lose some appeal, IMO (running THROUGH the park).
5. The actual finish line was a MESS. Too narrow, and crowded. We almost missed picking up our medals (which I heard they ran out of...). And it seemed as if, after getting their medals and water/snacks, everyone decided to stop RIGHT THERE, causing even more congestion.
6. Bag check line was long. I guess that's to be expected, but it's a bummer when you have to waste 30 minutes of the party time just to retrieve your stuff.

In my opinion, this race should be capped smaller. There are just simply too many people. It was fun - don't get me wrong - but it was those little things above that made me think we might not do it again next year...

 

[Goofydiane]

I had a lot of fun with EEC. I actually finished 15th in the female division, which I was super excited about. And my friends won the coed division! I would be interested in doing it again next year, just because it was so fun and I would like to improve my time.

I do hope that next year they decide to group the waves by time and not by division, because even though I was in Wave 1 there were a lot of walkers who lined up at the very front, which meant lots of weaving.

Congrats on your finish!

 

[becky11]

I really enjoyed it as well.

One thing they should consider...
Run the 5K outside of the park. Finish at the entrance to AK, then have the scavenger hunt and party in the park. This could solve alot of problems. The scavenger hunt and run will not get in each others way. Running outside the park could make the running lanes wider, so that runners (and walkers) are not getting in each others way as much. There were times in the AK where there was no where to go to get out of the way.

May make the run less scenic, but add some characters, parade floats, local high school bands, etc., and it will be fine.

Just a thought. Otherwise, the only other solution I can think of is to make the race smaller. It is oversold now.

Still, despite the issues, I really did enjoy it. I approached it to have fun, not to get a great time.

I think this would be an excellent idea!! Heck, *most* of the Princess Half is not in a park and plenty of people LOVE this race!! Lots of on-course entertainment and adding the obstacles - and most importantly, NOT interfering with the scavenger hunt makes it the best option.

 

[PrincessV]

Pictures are up! http://www2.brightroom.com/94083

 

[GaRain]

I hope you didn't misunderstand me. I think one of the greatest things about disney races are that they are open to and encouraging of all abilities (my husband is a run/walker!) but also that at the bigger races (marathon weekend, etc) they group people by expected finish time and they enforce the corral placement. This makes for less frustration for runners and walkers, since people are generally placed with others around their general pace.

No, Beth, its all good. There are just some negative comments on the FB page and I really took them badly. The thing is, with most 5Ks that I have participated in, its about having fun and finishing and wanting to do another.

A lot of people getting back into exercising use a 5K to motivate themselves - I did with the Family Fiesta 5K in January. But I went into my correct corral during that event and still had runner nearly knocking me over. I hate to say it, but I think it seems to be the way of the world these days "All about me" attitude and not paying attention to Runners Ettiquite.

But also imagine this - if I had started in Wave 8, and it took me as long as a walker (I finished in about 52 minutes) that means that all those runners in Wave 1 were at the party for over an hour before I even crossed the finish line.

Perhaps a seperation along the race....like a lane for the walkers? Just a thought.

 

[PrincessV]

Perhaps a seperation along the race....like a lane for the walkers? Just a thought.

I would love to see something like that. I, too, witnessed an awful lot of "me first!" attitudes along the way. Aside from being annoying, it's dangerous. We run and walk our races and I have to say I see the subject from both sides... we encountered an awful lot of walkers spread 3-4 abreast, blocking us from getting by when we were running and acting put-out when I said, "Excuse us - may we pass?" We also were clipped several times by runners passing us by darting between cones and not giving any notice that they were passing. The rudeness wasn't confined to one group.

 

[disney_runner]

Also a run walker here. (I've heard the term "ralker" and I like that) While I've finished 7 runDisney events, this is my first 5K. And it was interesting. I guess I'm used to the corrals and organization and timeliness of the Half's and Full. I was surprised, genuinely floored, that by 9:20 (10 minutes before race time!!!!) we were still sitting in the parking lot. Still!!! Are all the 5K's like that?

We were in wave 6, and there was no solid checking of the bibs to ensure that everyone was starting in their proper wave. (for the half's and full, there's definitely corral police monitoring every single person) I mean, yes, there was 1 man there casually looking at bibs and robot speaking "wave 6," but he didn't look like the serious bouncer type that would kick people out if their bib said wave 7 or wave 8. That almost made me wish we had tried to sneak into an earlier wave.....

Crowded. Holy people, batman! I guess it's just that with only 3.1 miles, there's not a lot of time or distance to weed out the fast runners vs. power walkers. I guess I'm used to the longer runs where once you pass some of the power walkers, there's a ton more room for weaving in/out of traffic. But then, that usually happens somewhere after mile 3 anyway.... Plus, with virtually the entire race taking place within the park, it's extremely narrow.

The Running Etiquette rules just weren't happening and it's a shame. I agree there were plenty of walkers who were 4-5 abreast which made it hard to pass.... anywhere! That kind of made it hard to get anywhere during certain parts of the course. And you know how when you're in a good running groove and you just don't want to stop? Well, that's likely when some walkers (or slow runners) got elbowed here and there. Nothing personal, it happens at every race I've ever been to - I've been elbowed many-a-time! But there should at least be a courteous wave with apology, and I didn't see that going on much either.

The finish line. At both the 5K section and the final section, the finish line was a huge letdown! My DD was running her first 5K ever with me and I saw the mats coming up so I knew it was the end of the running portion, but she didn't have a clue. I stopped my stopwatch and told her we were done and told her our finish time, but she was not sure if that was it since there was no sign!!! Silly, I tell you, silly. Confusing organization to the scavenger hunt too. And sooooo very glad we didn't do bag check. Yikes!

I also agree that Disney better cap this event out and maybe even reduce it for following years. There's no way any more people could be managed for this event. There were way too many people for such a small venue!

Overall, I'm glad I did it and would likely do it again -- but not as part of a team. I'd want to run as an individual soley for the purpose of being in one of the first waves. I can see how it pays to be in the front - even as a ralker.

 

[Cripey]

hahaha, ok, not gonna lie, just posting to see if our cute finisher photo showed up correctly in my signature

 

[scion5220]

hahaha, ok, not gonna lie, just posting to see if our cute finisher photo showed up correctly in my signature

Cute pic! Was that taken with your own camera or are the photos already online?

And also...has anyone really looked at the compass on the medal? Is mine the only one that has the NE and SE reversed? Is this some sort of intentional quirk or just a printing mistake?