How would you improve runDisney?

[EPCOT-O.G.]

It seems like runners, walkers, and run-walkers alike have no end to their grievances. Even those generally appreciative of the experience have similar complaints (repetitive courses over time is one of the principal ones, as is the head-scratching bottlenecks and water station placement).

What would you do/recommend to improve the athlete experience FOR ALL INVOLVED?

 

[HopperFan]

DS used to do them. He stopped. Last one he did was a Star Wars multi race / multi medal weekend.

1) The cost far outweighed the value.

2) The last race was a cluster, the course bad, the lack of characters and fun stuff along the way. Hollow experience considering it was Disney.

3) Lack of course through parks for later races.

4) The later courses became very spectator UN-friendly.

We enjoyed it while it lasted but it became more about money than providing a top notch experience.

I know one problem we had was they bring in lots of private buses to deliver you to the race and get you back to hotel. Almost every time one of us was at the front of the bus directing the drivers because they were lost.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

I don't do them but I think probably the biggest change should be make it more "exclusive".
It used to seem like a special thing. Now everyone does it and Disney has expanded how many races they have because they figure if you built it he will come and there's enough people out there to be "influenced" into thinking that they need to participate in it for social media recognition.

 

[Zutroy]

I did RunDisney throughout the 2010s, and it really seemed focused on a weekend for runners. There was a definite change before and after 2020. There would be kids races at ESPN that were a hoot, and course entertainment was actually entertainment (a person standing in a costume is not entertainment.) Now it all seems focused on pandering to social media and maximizing profit. I mean, Disney gave free Dopey bibs, park tickets, and a hotel to a run influencer, and then shouted them out this morning. For the rest of us, “Give me your money, get your Insta pic, and get out so we can open the parks.”

Also, RD has significantly shrunk the number of available bibs to create an artificial scarcity. My first Dopey I registered on a whim in August, and the race didn’t sell out until November. Why? 10,000 more available spots. But that many runners requires a larger infrastructure to support them, which costs money. Anyone who has tried to contact RunDisney knows that they have maybe 3 employees. How come every time I register someone else, when I send them their waiver, their entire race registration disappears? It’s an issue every time, and RunDisney just doesn’t care.

How to fix it? Realize that race weekend is for the runners. Make courses that runners want to run. Bring back weekend events that maybe didn’t generate revenue, but built good will. Expand the field to end the fake registration panic for every event. Put runners above shareholders and stop trying to maximize profit in every little thing.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

How to fix it? Realize that race weekend is for the runners. Make courses that runners want to run. Bring back weekend events that maybe didn’t generate revenue, but built good will. Expand the field to end the fake registration panic for every event. Put runners above shareholders and stop trying to maximize profit in every little thing.

I have a theory on this. runDisney is a victim of its own success, as well as the variable ticket pricing. It used to be these were scheduled on completely dead windows on the attendance calendar Thanks to the pricing tricks, they’ve minimized the slow times. And now the weekends are more and more popular, increasing pressure to get the now undesirable running contingent in and out of the Parks as quick as possible.

 

[DianaMB333]

I would love some sort of cultural/educational campaign for runners…

Throwing all stuff away in the streets is just awful, and dangerous… cups, banana peels, clothing thrown in the middle of street with no consideration to the ones coming behind..

And it is not the lack of garbage or clothing bins.. it is just “the way it is when running”….

 

[pluto377]

I would love to see POT expanded. And I'd love to see more variety in the courses. It would be so fun to have a 5K centered on HS or AK. There must be enough room in those parking lots for staging...

 

[Boiler37]

I would love some sort of cultural/educational campaign for runners…

Throwing all stuff away in the streets is just awful, and dangerous… cups, banana peels, clothing thrown in the middle of street with no consideration to the ones coming behind..

And it is not the lack of garbage or clothing bins.. it is just “the way it is when running”….

This was my first RunDis event and I was SHOCKED how many people in front of me would just throw the water cups down on the pavement like it was nothing. It's amazing how many people can't be bothered to take the few extra steps to toss in the bin especially since WDW is, for a lot of us, a "sacred" place where we go out of our way to keep it in good shape and be mindful of ourselves.

I'd like to see a mandatory waiver video with course etiquette in it because it is also shocking how many people think it's ok to just stop in the middle of the road and not adhere to passing on left and walking on right just as road rules apply.

 

[rundisfan]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but pre-pandemic when you ran Dopey, they actually had someone with a computer checking to make sure you had finished all 4 races. It's such a little thing, but it gave me more of a feeling that I had actually earned it versus "you paid for the bib, here's your medals."

 

[nancipants]

I would also like to see POT expanded, so that the corrals are actually seeded properly and people aren’t lying about paces so they get more time on the course. (I’m not criticizing - I do this, too.) Have all but the last 1-2 corrals for people with a previous race POT. I know it would be a lot more effort so runDisney would never do it, though.

 

[Stitch&Co.]

I would like to see some more variety in the course maps. I was lucky to get the W&D 2021 half course that started in MK and ended in Epcot. I understand that it requires more effort and money on Disneys part but we’re paying a lot of money for these races.

I think it would be nice if they included the photopass photos with the race registration. And no I don’t think they need to raise the prices by $99 for each race to add it in.

Brooks is coming in with Disney merchandise so hopefully that will help with there, but some more availability would be nice. If you don’t get there early on the first day you can’t get certain items. It’s tricky to get the inventory numbers right but you shouldn’t have general weekend items selling out on the first day. Maybe more options for preorders with better pictures.

Springtime Surprise isn’t surprising anyone anymore. They tried something different with the 5K at night in Animal Kingdom and the half that year but nothing new since then. There was speculation in the beginning that we would see something different each year, but the distances don’t change. The only surprise is what they are going to put on the medals. Give it an all Marvel theme or bring back Star Wars. Pick a cohesive theme.

I know there is nothing that will make everyone happy but I feel like they have just figured out a good baseline for what they can provide and won’t go much further. There were some good things from MW this weekend that hopefully they will continue such as more characters and a new course.

I’ve been fortunate to do multiple race weekends since 2021, but now I think I would rather just do MW and make that a bigger trip with just the 10k and M with some park time and skip the other weekends.

 

[Naomeri]

I would like a lot more focus on etiquette, especially finish line etiquette. Don't stop in front of the photographers, and don't stop and wait for your friends and then video them crossing the finish line while walking backward toward the photographers, thereby blocking those photographers from getting pictures of other people crossing the finish line of their first marathon and first Dopey.

Sorry, that last one might be a bit specific

 

[nancipants]

I would like a lot more focus on etiquette, especially finish line etiquette. Don't stop in front of the photographers, and don't stop and wait for your friends and then video them crossing the finish line while walking backward toward the photographers, thereby blocking those photographers from getting pictures of other people crossing the finish line of their first marathon and first Dopey.

Sorry, that last one might be a bit specific

I didn't hear anyone at the finish line telling runners to keep moving, which I've heard many times in the past. Seems they need to go back to that!

 

[accm]

I would also like to see POT expanded, so that the corrals are actually seeded properly and people aren’t lying about paces so they get more time on the course. (I’m not criticizing - I do this, too.) Have all but the last 1-2 corrals for people with a previous race POT. I know it would be a lot more effort so runDisney would never do it, though.

I feel like they should be able to easily implement this at least for people who have already run runDisney races. If they linked the tracked times to a person's runDisney account, they could use that to seed everyone, while still leaving the option of providing a POT if you have a faster non runDisney race. Granted, this would require them having good IT, which means it would never happen.

 

[accm]

I wish they'd include POT for the 5k and 10k as well. I feel like it keeps getting progressively worse, with more and more people blatantly lying about their running pace.
Not only does this make the experience less enjoyable for people who now have to try to run around people going significantly slower, but its a safety thing as well, since the beginning of the race is so dark.

 

[KCO5988]

I would also like to see POT expanded, so that the corrals are actually seeded properly and people aren’t lying about paces so they get more time on the course. (I’m not criticizing - I do this, too.) Have all but the last 1-2 corrals for people with a previous race POT. I know it would be a lot more effort so runDisney would never do it, though.

Would love to see this as well. I would also love to see it expanded to at least the 10k, the 5k would be great too but I know that's just supposed to be a fun run.

I just did the Every Women's Marathon in November and the corrals were self-seeded based on your estimated pace. Didn't even have a coral number on your bib based on your estimate as registration, you just hopped in wherever you wanted on race day. Obviously, it was not as big of a field of runners, but just imagining the absolute CHOAS that would be the Rundisney start lines with self-seeding makes me grateful they have a POT at all!

 

[fatmanatee]

I wish they'd include POT for the 5k and 10k as well. I feel like it keeps getting progressively worse, with more and more people blatantly lying about their running pace.
Not only does this make the experience less enjoyable for people who now have to try to run around people going significantly slower, but its a safety thing as well, since the beginning of the race is so dark.

It was bonkers this weekend. I was well into Epcot for the 5k weaving around families with small children linked up 3-4 across. For the first half of the 5k and 10k there was one lane for runners and one for walkers and it looked like they had equal numbers. Got better in the second half but here's my solution:

- Use POTs from the longer races for shorter race corrals
- Corral A is POT only for all races
- After POTs/CrD are accounted for, fill in the rest of the corrals with estimated paces

And I'll add one more POT recommendation: figure out a way to let people save POTs to their profile so they don't have to deal with it upon registration. They'll have to make sure it's up-to-date and isn't too old but probably better than dealing with it upon registration or after. There were a few stories in the MW thread about people either being too late or forgetting to put it in.

 

[Naomeri]

Forgot to add, after the debacle of this weekend: have a timing chip verification step at bib pickup! Is it going to slow things down slightly? Yes. Is it going to be less hassle than this weekend was? Also yes!

 

[FFigawi]

I feel like they should be able to easily implement this at least for people who have already run runDisney races. If they linked the tracked times to a person's runDisney account, they could use that to seed everyone, while still leaving the option of providing a POT if you have a faster non runDisney race. Granted, this would require them having good IT, which means it would never happen.

I’m not sure this would work very well given how many people spend their Disney races goofing off taking pictures, riding rides, and having beer stops. I’m a case in point. My 10k time was 30 minutes longer than my half time because we hit every single character.

 

[accm]

I’m not sure this would work very well given how many people spend their Disney races goofing off taking pictures, riding rides, and having beer stops. I’m a case in point. My 10k time was 30 minutes longer than my half time because we hit every single character.

They could use your fastest time within the allowable POT period, and also give you the option of adding a non runDisney POT.