Half Marathon Spectator Tips?

[SPAM]

My sister is going to be coming down with me for my half marathon trip! Having never run in it before I am trying to figure out how is best for her to watch part of my race. I wouldn't have her come from the start, will the later shuttle (which runs from 7-10am) get her to MK? I was thinking she could watch at MK then take the monorail over to see the finish at epcot. Does anyone have any thoughts or tips?

 

[JCH]

My sister is going to be coming down with me for my half marathon trip! Having never run in it before I am trying to figure out how is best for her to watch part of my race. I wouldn't have her come from the start, will the later shuttle (which runs from 7-10am) get her to MK? I was thinking she could watch at MK then take the monorail over to see the finish at epcot. Does anyone have any thoughts or tips?

Where are you staying and what is your pace? If you are fast, she may not be able to see you in MK. The monorails and bus lines get pretty long! Here is my suggestion that my husband does: Start at Ticket and Transportation Center. This is mile 3ish. From there, walk to the Polynesian. Here she can get breakfast and watch people interacting with characters at Mile 8. From there, walk back to TTC to monorail to the finish. Now, depending on how fast you are, she may miss TTC is waiting for the 7am bus. In this case, you may have her just go to the Poly and finish.

If she wants to watch from MK, it really depends on how fast you are. You'll have to calculate based on your corral and pace. However, there is so much going on at MK, it can be hard to find one person. It also gets crowded, which is why I suggest the other plan.

 

[Qltrgrl2]

I agree about the transportation and ticket center. That is where my husband will go in January to watch my DD and myself in the Donald half marathon. I told him to skip the marathon and go to Epcot with DD. I will be slow and I want them to have fun riding the rides and having fun!

 

[SPAM]

Where are you staying and what is your pace? If you are fast, she may not be able to see you in MK. The monorails and bus lines get pretty long! Here is my suggestion that my husband does: Start at Ticket and Transportation Center. This is mile 3ish. From there, walk to the Polynesian. Here she can get breakfast and watch people interacting with characters at Mile 8. From there, walk back to TTC to monorail to the finish. Now, depending on how fast you are, she may miss TTC is waiting for the 7am bus. In this case, you may have her just go to the Poly and finish.

If she wants to watch from MK, it really depends on how fast you are. You'll have to calculate based on your corral and pace. However, there is so much going on at MK, it can be hard to find one person. It also gets crowded, which is why I suggest the other plan.

Don't worry, I am not that fast. If I am on my game I can keep a 10:30 pace but if my knees start giving (which is likely) it will slow down from there.

 

[JCH]

Don't worry, I am not that fast. If I am on my game I can keep a 10:30 pace but if my knees start giving (which is likely) it will slow down from there.

Believe it or not, that's decently fast for a Disney race. You would likely be in one of the first three corrals, and the assuming it takes an hour to get the MK (mile 5), you would be through it before your sister could make it on a 7am bus. Now, if you had a 15 minute mile in the last corral, she might have a shot.

 

[SPAM]

So I should have her come on the first shuttle with me? Where does she go from the start? Pop on the monorail to MK?

 

[JCH]

So I should have her come on the first shuttle with me? Where does she go from the start? Pop on the monorail to MK?

Yep. There is really no where to see the actual start. She can hang out with you for a good while (there is a DJ and party atmosphere despite being 4 AM!). Once they tell you to go to your corral, she'll follow the sea of spectators to the monorails. Don't worry about her getting lost, as there will be tons of people doing the same thing.

 

[cewait]

If she is headed to the TTC, then she should walk to the Poly and have a Kona Coffee waiting for you to pass there 4 miles later. From there, she walks back to TTC and then the monorail back to Epcot.