For those who have run the WDW marathon~ arrival time?

[Rachel MI]

I am super excited to be running my first WDW marathon!!!!

I am not as excited about the EARLY start time. I believe the other marathons I have done started at 8. I've read a little about people being at the start line for 1 1/2 hours before the race begins. Is this really necessary? I usually arrive as late as possible.

I'm staying at All Star Sports and trying to figure out what time to leave.

Any advice would be appreciated.

TIA!

 

[goofeygirl]

All the hotels have buses that run from your hotel to the drop of point at the race (which is about a half mile from the start of the race more or less).

The buses I know run very early and I cannot recall the time the last bus leaves but it is still very early....I am sure you will be advised not to take your chance on the last bus...

If I recall...the buses start at around 3am I think...I believe the last one leaves at 4am??

 

[Bookwood]

"They" say the last bus will leave the resorts at 4am, it's always my goal for a Disney race to be on the last bus. (I've never made it yet in 8 Disney races.) There are always at least a bus load of people behind me, bu"m in line by 4 they should wait the start if there are traffic issues- or at least allow me to start.

This is just my thought though, not official Disney.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

I caught the 4:00 bus from POFQ last year. I was the only runner on the bus. By the time we got stuck in a traffic jam and I walked to the start, I only had about 5-10 minutes to wait. I don't like arriving at the last minute, so it was stressful.

Be aware that the buses don't drop you off at the corrals. You have to walk. The closer to start time you get, the more crowded and unpleasant the 'Path of Broken Down Transportation' (walk from gathering area to corrals) is.

I think 3:45 is optimal. It gives you enough time to not have to rush, but you don't have too much time to kill. Bring a cheap fleece blanket to sit on and enjoy the pre-race energy.

Good Luck on your first WDW marathon!

 

[jmasgat]

I agree with PP. My experience for the last 5 years has me wanting to do 3:45 at latest if going by bus. That leaves time for traffic (inevitable), bag check--if desired, and portapotty stop (expect long lines and go for the ones closer to the corrals).

If you have a car, you could drive. Would still need to go early, but have the option of waiting in the car and trying to relax.

 

[FFigawi]

I always head for the bus around 4 with hopes of getting to the bag check by 445. By then, most of the crowds are gone, making it an easy walk to the corrals at 5. Shorter porta-john lines too.

 

[DOOM1001]

I got up at 2am,yes 2am,I didn't sleep much and then got on one of the first buses at like 3:05.The buses run from 3-4am which is the time runners need to get on the bus but I think they keep running for another hour or so for spectators.

 

[cewait]

I am a 3:30 person. Buses run from 3-4 AM and I shoot for the 3:30 or slightly earlier bus; or I drive depending on the year and weather.

If you find yourself in a front corral (say one of the first 4 for 2014 with the expected new waves) I would err on earlier rather than later. Every year I see hundreds and A and B folks running along the sides of my corral busting tail to catch their corral.

 

[goofeygirl]

I am a 3:30 person. Buses run from 3-4 AM and I shoot for the 3:30 or slightly earlier bus; or I drive depending on the year and weather.

If you find yourself in a front corral (say one of the first 4 for 2014 with the expected new waves) I would err on earlier rather than later. Every year I see hundreds and A and B folks running along the sides of my corral busting tail to catch their corral.

Yeah there is that to consider. I am always in the caboose of the corrals but if I were in corral A, B or C...I would be there early early. There are so many people to try to get by...me? I am in the last corral or close to it so I can head out later.

I cannot imagine running later if I were in those corrals, just trying to make your way down all those gates...stress stress stress and who needs it before a 26.2 miles journey. I would rather get up early, get there early, enjoy that area where they have entertainment then go to my corral and be ready...and if its cold I am going to wear sweaters and sweatpants that will be tossed...and wait...and wait.


Speaking of corral location...they should posting that info pretty soon I think.

 

[cewait]

See the biggest fear post....

I have a less than healthy fear of not waking for one of the weekend races. For that reason I will have the alarm on my phone, the bedside alarm and a wake up call set for at least the first are of the weekend, if not all races. The funny thing is that I have only awaken to an alarm once in all the Disney races I have run.

I am a 2AM riser and need the flu 90 minutes to be ready for the race. It takes a couple cups of coffee and well you know . But then, I am also a 4 AM runner on a regular day so a 2AM wake up is not all that bad - one hour less bad this year

One of the motivational factors for me being a middle of the range or earlier arriver to the race is that I know at least one resort will have a bus issue on each of the race mornings. As such, I seriously do not want to deal with the stress of waiting, waiting and waiting while the clock continues to click. To MEars and runD's credit, I do not know of any runner left at a resort who was in or near the line at 0400. We (the race) was delayed in 2002 ish for a huge traffic snafu. I need to look through notes to be sure, but I think we were 25 minutes late on the start. Unfortunately, this was also the year of the first hard sweep points (or at least when I heard of them) and those in charge of those points did not fully understand the delay. -- But I went a little off topic.

I guess one other motivational factor for me hitting an early bus is meeting up with friends on race morning. Even though in the last couple years we have had a hard time meeting up on race morning with the earlier start times, it is nice to hang out with a few fiends and tell war stories.

 

[paxsarah]

Ultimately for me, I've come to the realization that a WDW race isn't the morning to get that extra half hour of sleep. Whether you leave your accommodation at 3:15 or 4:00am, it's really freaking early. I would rather sacrifice 30 minutes of sleep and have peace of mind that I'm going to arrive with a time buffer than stress out over a late bus or traffic jam.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

I was really surprised at how long it took us to get from Wilderness Lodge to the starting line. I thought getting up at 2am was just my DH making sure we had PLENTY of time to get there, but in reality I would not have wanted to leave much later than that. We got on the bus around 3:15 and did have some time to wait at the start, but it wasn't too long. The walk from bag check to the start was crowded and long. Plus potty lines take a while. We are staying at BCV this year so maybe we can get an extra 30 minutes of sleep!

 

[goofeygirl]

I am staying at one of the Epcot resorts too...I don't recall how long the bus ride was...I doubt it was that long...however the line for the bus was very long.

When I got out there at about 3am or so there was already a line around the bend...I stood and a bus came but I didn't make that bus...I had to wait for the next bus.

I don't think I could sleep an extra few minuets anyway...too nervous. However I get that you want as much sleep as possible so this plan worked for me...(I did the Goofy this year plus the 5k so the same plan works for this Dopey)

Night before 5k - hardly any sleep (too excited)
Night before 10k- as above...I anticipate this will be a little sleep night
Night before 1/2 - much better sleep...because lack of sleep has built but not enough.
Night before the full - full sleep - slept great because I went to bed before 7pm and was sooooo tired from little sleep that I went right to sleep. I woke up and was ready to go no problem.

 

[Rachel MI]

Thanks so much for all the information. It really helps to get an idea of how the morning will go. Happy running all!

 

[smallsy]

I hate the whole hurry up and wait thing. It makes me anxious. Plus I was running solo last time since it was just me and DH and he doesn't run. Needless to say, I was a 4am bus person (though my stop was really crowded and it ended up being more like 4:15). I did get a little nervous about being late, but since I didn't check a bag, I just went straight through the cattle call and still had time to stop at the port-o-potties. I was in corral C that year. I'm sure I'll try to get out there earlier this year though. I'll have a running buddy this year too, so that will make it less lonesome. I'd say 3:30ish this year.