For those that did Dopey would you do it again?

[jlovesee]

Title says It all, just finished the Dopey and was talking with husband (who was Dopey too) about whether we would do it again. We had ran all the distances before but the combo of all 4 made the full harder then usual, plus it ate up 4-5 days of vacation time... Not sure if I want to exhaust myself like that again. Of course when it goes on sale for 2015 There will probably be enough time for me to remember how fun it was and forget the pain

BTW. Did anyone see the guy running with the sousaphone? That was nuts! Kudos to the guy though!


Jennifer

 

[limabeanmom2003]

Sousaphone guy was the best costume! I kept thinking he was dressed as Bert from Mary Poppins. I saw pics of him from the half and when we were on our way to watch the Panthers game at ESPN Club I saw him run by beach club.

I didn't do the dopey, so I can't answer your question, but the fact that we would have to get here on Wednesday to do all the races makes it hard for us. Congrats to everyone who ran any of the races this weekend!

 

[J3nn78]

Nope. I'm glad I did it and finished all under official time, but it was too time consuming both in training and in being away from kids and work. One and done for me. Congrats to ll who did it!

 

[DisneyRunnerGirl]

Nope. I'm glad I did it and finished all under official time, but it was too time consuming both in training and in being away from kids and work. One and done for me. Congrats to ll who did it!

Congrats on your finishes, but does this mean that runners who did not finish under the official times like you did not get swept if they were Dopey runners? Confused....

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[jlovesee]

No Dopey runners had to keep the same pace requirements as marathon only runners, we saw the balloon ladies once, we had just left Espn (mile 21) and they were heading for the entrance (between mile 16-17) there were several runners behind them too but the sweepers were not far behind. That was scary just to see them! Even though we were about 5 miles ahead, I feel horrible for the Dopey runners in that position to get THAT far and be swept...

Jennifer

 

[cewait]

Congrats on your finishes, but does this mean that runners who did not finish under the official times like you did not get swept if they were Dopey runners? Confused....

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

A couple thoughts on this...

I think that anyone who finished all four races regardless of whether they were within the official time or not should and do receive the medals. Race results will be reviewed and cleaned up in the next few weeks they may not be counted as 'official' if there times were out of bounds too far.

For those who get swept I believe that Disney furnishes a medal for that race but it disqualifies you for the multi-race medals.

For me, there is a need to stay within the official times for the half and full to assure the Goofy streak continues to be counted. I cannot say that I would lose the streak by finishing one of these two races slower than a 16mm pace but I would hate to have the streak break due to that.



In answer to the OP question - today I am saying no. If the weather would have been more cooperative I may have a different answer but I ducked out of a lot of family activities to avoid being in the humidity and on the feet. Plus, getting up 4 days in a row was really sucky. Note that for the Goofy, the first one had great running weather and the second was rather hot and humid. I said in 2007 that if the weather were reversed I would have been a once and done on Goofy as well.

 

[miker1251]

I am glad I did it, but will not do it again. I think it is a great accomplishment for all who completed the Dopey. Part of the challenge of the Dopey is the commitment. Not only training, but here at WDW. Having to get to bed early enough then getting up early for the races was taxing. Next year I will be doing "only" the Goofy. Got to get the anniversary medal.

 

[rachlovestv]

I'm definitely glad I did it, but it's a one and done for me. Coming from the West Coast, it's too much of a major vacation to do every year. I'd also like to eventually do the other WDW races, and I definitely can't do more than one WDW trip a year.

Also, I agree with those that said the time commitment really intruded into vacation time. I'm lucky that I was with my parents, and they didn't mind eating dinner every day at 4:45 and going to bed at 7:15. It just left very little park time because I was always exhausted. I tried going to MK yesterday, but only lasted 3 hours, and 2 of those were at dinner!

My running buddy, who did the marathon with me this weekend, has said he wants to come back and do Dopey in 2016, and I told him I would consider coming with him and doing the marathon only. But we will see!

 

[katybug34]

Title says It all, just finished the Dopey and was talking with husband (who was Dopey too) about whether we would do it again. We had ran all the distances before but the combo of all 4 made the full harder then usual, plus it ate up 4-5 days of vacation time... Not sure if I want to exhaust myself like that again. Of course when it goes on sale for 2015 There will probably be enough time for me to remember how fun it was and forget the pain BTW. Did anyone see the guy running with the sousaphone? That was nuts! Kudos to the guy though! Jennifer

I am definitely doing it again! The Dopey was a much bigger challenge for me than the Goofy was last year. I was really surprised at the effect of the 5k and 10k on the final two races. I just wonder what they will come up with next....

 

[Ariel484]

So mostly "no" responses so far?! Uh-oh, planning on this for 2015

Congrats to all of you for making it through!

 

[Sarah_Rose]

I'm also a no. I'm SO GLAD that I did it and I had a really great experience. But I will not be doing it again. Too many days committed to the races (as opposed to actually spending vacation time with my family, or even just spending time in the parks), too many 3:00 mornings, too many nights freaking out because it was 8:00 and I wasn't in bed yet. I was lucky enough to be able to leave the kids at home with my husband, because the Dopey Challenge would have been a real hassle with two young kids in tow. And it was fine for a "once" thing, but I couldn't ask my husband to stay at home with the kids while I go to WDW again.

Again, I LOVED it and I consider miles 24-26.2 to be one of the highlights of my entire life. My running partner (Kirsty_Leigh on this board) and I got into this groove where we were pushing past the pain and pulling out miles that would have been fast for a 5K pace for me, right at the end of the Dopey. I felt so powerful and accomplished and it is really the best feeling ever. But I think it has to be a one and done thing.

But that's ok, because I think my 2014 Dopey would be nearly impossible to top.

 

[cewait]

talking it over with a few running buddies at lunch we all seem to agree on a few things that Dopey did bring to the race weekend.

1) the new starts did seem to spread the course out quicker and benefited most runners - at least in the full. There are a few of the slower multi-race runners who were negatively effected in the half but it was still manageable.

2) the race seemed to step up the management of the event this year. Maybe it was due to the effects of Boston but there was a seemingly renewed effort on the Race Director's and Disney's part to bring us a safe and secure race. As a result, there was a noticeable increase in the overall organization through the weekend.

3) with the Dopey, the huge throngs of folks were moved out of the expo earlier. The added day reduced the Friday and Saturday crowds tremendously. They also opened up the expo to both the coliseums as well as the ball field. Though I think my masseuse posted on Facebook that he was less than please to be outdoors for the event.

4) The added race(s) gave more parties in the family more opportunity to try on an event. Previously it was just the 5k for the not so serious runner but now they have the 10k to set as a stretch goal if the word marathon makes them shudder.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I will be back next year. For sure. Running Dopey 2014 has changed the entire way I think about myself, about Disney and about running. Due mostly to the large group of Facebook Dopey Challengers who have become good friends, but also because I had such an amazing experience. I have run tons of Disney races, and these were by far the best organized. I felt tons of support the entire week, and can't wait to start training for next year.

 

[IamTrike]

I'm not sure. I really enjoyed it this year, but as other have mentioned it is a big commitment. For us it meant more time away from the kids, another night in a hotel, more meals at Disney and bigger race fees. I would do it again, but I don't know that I'll do it next year.

 

[ReindeerMom]

Another one and done here. I am so glad I did it this year, but the time and cost involved in training, traveling, and running make this too difficult to do every year. Those 3:00 am wake-ups 4 days in a row are just too much for a west-coaster like me. I think that was the hardest part of the Dopey Challenge for me.

 

[SAHDad]

I would do it again, but I had a couple of criticisms:

I submitted a 2:01 half, and got put in corral J. It's frustrating when you are starting in the corral behind the 2:45 pace team. I got stuck behind large groups of walkers, who were walking from the starting line, and walking 6-8 abreast. The road is not that wide, and really people, I'm fine with you run/walking. Not a problem with that. No problem with race walkers either. But these were walking about 4 mph, and caused some serious congestion.

The lack of merchandise. If I did it again, I would go on Tuesday, because you apparently need to be there about the same time as for the shoes, if you want to score and Dopey gear. By the time I got there, Wed afternoon, they had the "I did it" shirts with the map on the back (and I bought one of those), some of the long sleeve Dopey shirts, and six of the red Dopey jackets (all XL or 2XL). I was prepared to drop $200 or so on Dopey merch, but only had one thing I could buy.

It would be a lot easier without spouse and kids in tow, because they had to make some sacrifices for me getting up at 3 each morning, and it took away from some park time (though I did see parks on every day except Wed, which was expo day, and yesterday, which I spent at DTD).

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I would do it again, but I had a couple of criticisms:

I submitted a 2:01 half, and got put in corral J. It's frustrating when you are starting in the corral behind the 2:45 pace team. I got stuck behind large groups of walkers, who were walking from the starting line, and walking 6-8 abreast. The road is not that wide, and really people, I'm fine with you run/walking. Not a problem with that. No problem with race walkers either. But these were walking about 4 mph, and caused some serious congestion.

.

Were you very late submitting your time? I submitted a 2:15 half with my registration and was in H, which I thought was fair.

 

[SAHDad]

Were you very late submitting your time? I submitted a 2:15 half with my registration and was in H, which I thought was fair.

Nope. I submitted it when I registered, because I just took the 2:01 from the Goofy in 2013. (To be fair, I ran a 5:52 in the full for the Goofy, but I started that race with my wife, who was injured, and had to walk/run, instead of run/walk). The problem is that there is no way to know where you are corralled until you get your number, and then there is no way to contest it.

If I do it again, I will submit a race time from a half where I race it - a 1:35 (or less) should have me much farther up.

ETA - I talked to several Dopey and Goofy runners who had the same issue - that we submitted somewhere in the realm of 2:00 to 2:15 at signup (or a corresponding time for a full), but got put in J, because we used a time from a race like the Disney marathon, instead of a normal race where you don't stop for characters.

 

[flatlandcycle]

The current system is less than good. In prior years you would have had a fix at runner relations. Now it's mostly, "Get in line, get with the program."

 

[cewait]

I think the mess up in the system came with converting the goofy runners (and now Dopey) runners to one bib for both the half and full. We are seeded by the full time and most goofy/dopey folks I talked with thought they were well placed in the full. Where the rub comes is that the half is a slower paced population on average so an I, J, K or further back placement put you well behind similarly paced runners.


I do think the race needs to go back to a separate bib for both the half and full so that all runners are placed in their appropriate corral.