Kids running 5k

[Aela]

my daughter is 9, and really wants to run the 5k. We are doing it as well, however we walk it. Her 5k time is 13 minutes faster than mine!

She is registered with our start time (for the placement), but i’m wondering how safe everyone thinks it would be if we let her run it. We had been telling her no (she has to walk with us), but she has been asking a lot lately.

It will just be myself and her father. We are both doing the 5k, but she is running and we are fast-walking it.

So no one at the finish line, at least 10-12 mins until we finish.

 

[bumbershoot]

Has she run an event before?

Does she know how to be a polite runner?

What will she do at the finish line? She has to go through the finisher chute area, get her medal, can get water, banana, food box, etc and exit the area. They might be lenient with a kid hanging back to wait, but they tend to shoo people along.

I only let my son go alone this January and he was 12 and has been doing rundisney events since 2014.

It’s been a series of baby steps for him. Be at a Disney 5k to see the crowds. Watch the rude behaviour of others, name it and why it impacted him negatively, know how to not do it.

Know what the finishers chute area is like. Know what a good meetup location would be. Know how to wait patiently and without worrying. Be able to carry a phone without dropping or losing it, so he could contact us if he has a problem or when he finishes to tell me where he is. And so we could contact him, in case an adult has a problem on the course!!

Unless she’s been doing other events and unless she’s been a spectator at a rundisney event, I would still have her basically stay with you.

At DS’s first Disney 5k he would run up ahead then wait for me. Run then wait. Etc. (Running back is rude to other guests IMO and just not necessary) But even being able to stop kindly and without tripping others is a skill to learn!

 

[Aela]

She is very courteous to others, but it is our family’s first Disney race. I wasn’t sure how crowded it would be at the finish, would she get pushed out and lost/scared. She has ran others ahead of us, but they are smaller scale events.

 

[bumbershoot]

So she’s had some experience.

I think that since it’s everyone’s first rundisney event a strong case can be made for her sticking with you.

I bet there’s a GoPro video out there showing the finish after the finish line. Might be good viewing if you can find something like that.

It’s not really about being pushed, but it’s all so crowded and chaotic. So a young person can be easily scared.

 

[Aela]

Okay, awesome! Thank you

 

[kniquy]

It is a little hectic at the end - spots for getting pictures, picking up your gEar bag, snack area and bus area. Because these 5K are more of a fun event and not any sort of timed race i would insist she stay with you -- part of the fun of the race is to stop for character pictures. There are also photopass people all along the route so it would be nice to get a family pic of you "running" together. I was running solo for this past years 5K, but it was amazingly nice to stop and peak at some of the countries all closed up with no people around.


The is likely her first race where there will be 20,000 other people so i would insist she stay with you along the route. I will be doing it with my 12 yo twins they are slightly faster than me but they know and understand that this is much more than just a race for time, it is an experience that we want to share together.

 

[JeffW]

I asked my 9 year old, who's been running the 5k each year since he was 5, if he would feel comfortable running the course alone. BTW, he's a very independent kid (has no problem ditching me on a ski run to head through the trees). He said "I could get to the finish line just fine, but I think I'd get lost after that" It does get hectic in the finisher chute, beverage area, pictures, etc so I don't blame him.

 

[Aela]

Thanks for all the feedback. We’ll stick together. Going forward we might have my husband and daughter move back a corral, then i’d finish ahead of her. But this time we’ll stick together!

Also, how early should we plan on arriving for the kid’s mile? She is running it Friday, and we’re in AK that day. The schedule says it starts at 1pm.

 

[bumbershoot]

Also, how early should we plan on arriving for the kid’s mile? She is running it Friday, and we’re in AK that day. The schedule says it starts at 1pm.

Is this for January? The 5k would have been on Thursday, yes? So you’ll have already been to the expo to get everyone’s bibs etc and you’ll have a handle on what the area is like (assuming the mile is at wwos).

We got there nice and early when ds did the mile before, so we didn’t have to rush. But we weren’t coming from a park.

 

[Aela]

Is this for January? The 5k would have been on Thursday, yes? So you’ll have already been to the expo to get everyone’s bibs etc and you’ll have a handle on what the area is like (assuming the mile is at wwos).

We got there nice and early when ds did the mile before, so we didn’t have to rush. But we weren’t coming from a park.

Yes this is for January. We’re doing the expo on Wednesday, 5k on Thursday, and her 1 mile on Friday. How long do you think it takes to set up and get into your location? What about after the run, what time would we be expecting to be finished? With the run at 1pm.. i’m Having a tough time scheduling lunch. We have breakfast at 8am and dinner at 7:30. I’m planning Yak & Yeti, and thinking we should hit it after the 1 mile. If we ate before the 1p mile, we’d have to eat at like 10:30...

I have a Landry’s card (I live in Houston... half the places here are Landry’s) so we should be able to eat without ADRs... I hope?

 

[kski907]

Offering my 2cents, but it's been almost 2 years since our last disney race so take with a grain of salt.

I also agree on having kido stick with you for the 5K for the reasons mentioned already especially if this is the first. At our 3rd disney 5K I let our 12 year old sprint the last 50 ahead of me. Upon crossing the finish line DD was immediately approached by staff asking if she had a guardian coming or if she needed help to the exit. So if you do let her let her sprint ahead at the end let her know that similar instant may happen. Was extremely greatful that staff was willing to step in but kind of freak our DD out.

Our kids also did the mile 2years ago(wine&dine weekend) which was directly after the 5K The 5K was at AK, so we had to go from AK to WWOS. There was no direct bus, we had to take a bus to a resort and then catch a rundisney bus from the resort to WWOS. We opted to go to the allstar sports resorts as they also have buses to WWOS on top of the run disney buses. I think total travel time was around 45mins. So keep that in mind if you are going into a park in the morning before the mile.

We arrived for the mile around 9:30am which was way to early. We scouted the course and then had a lot of time to waste. As I recall they didn't get kids into the starting area until 12:30 possibly even later. I think they were doing some of the dashes on the track before it and it took awhile to clear the track and get staff over to the mile start area.

There were no corrals it was just one big holding area. There were kids of every age and parents running with some of the younger ones. Mine were much older 10 & 12. You could see them run most of the way and the finish at the track was not too overwhelming so we let them run by themselves. We suggested that they try to line up toward the front since they wanted to race, and I feared them running over the littler ones, especially since mine a quite tall for their age.

We watched them start and run around the soccer field at the beginning, but then had to sprint to get over to the track to watch them finish and just barely made it there to see DS cross the line. He ran it in under 7mins. So if your kido is fast I would highly suggest if possible someone at start and someone at finish cause it is a bit of a walk from the starting pen to the track. We were done and back out to the buses in 15-20 mins from the start, then I think it was another 40mins waiting/travel by bus to hotel. Again I don't think there are any buses directly to parks from WWOS, you'll have to go to a resort and then catch a bus from there to the parks. However, we did not stop and take any pictures with their medals or any bathroom breaks on way out. They just finished got medal and were out. They really enjoyed being able to race after being stuck with me run/walking the 5K so I am sure your daughter will love it.

Hope you all have a great time.

 

[Aela]

Offering my 2cents, but it's been almost 2 years since our last disney race so take with a grain of salt.

I also agree on having kido stick with you for the 5K for the reasons mentioned already especially if this is the first. At our 3rd disney 5K I let our 12 year old sprint the last 50 ahead of me. Upon crossing the finish line DD was immediately approached by staff asking if she had a guardian coming or if she needed help to the exit. So if you do let her let her sprint ahead at the end let her know that similar instant may happen. Was extremely greatful that staff was willing to step in but kind of freak our DD out.

Our kids also did the mile 2years ago(wine&dine weekend) which was directly after the 5K The 5K was at AK, so we had to go from AK to WWOS. There was no direct bus, we had to take a bus to a resort and then catch a rundisney bus from the resort to WWOS. We opted to go to the allstar sports resorts as they also have buses to WWOS on top of the run disney buses. I think total travel time was around 45mins. So keep that in mind if you are going into a park in the morning before the mile.

We arrived for the mile around 9:30am which was way to early. We scouted the course and then had a lot of time to waste. As I recall they didn't get kids into the starting area until 12:30 possibly even later. I think they were doing some of the dashes on the track before it and it took awhile to clear the track and get staff over to the mile start area.

There were no corrals it was just one big holding area. There were kids of every age and parents running with some of the younger ones. Mine were much older 10 & 12. You could see them run most of the way and the finish at the track was not too overwhelming so we let them run by themselves. We suggested that they try to line up toward the front since they wanted to race, and I feared them running over the littler ones, especially since mine a quite tall for their age.

We watched them start and run around the soccer field at the beginning, but then had to sprint to get over to the track to watch them finish and just barely made it there to see DS cross the line. He ran it in under 7mins. So if your kido is fast I would highly suggest if possible someone at start and someone at finish cause it is a bit of a walk from the starting pen to the track. We were done and back out to the buses in 15-20 mins from the start, then I think it was another 40mins waiting/travel by bus to hotel. Again I don't think there are any buses directly to parks from WWOS, you'll have to go to a resort and then catch a bus from there to the parks. However, we did not stop and take any pictures with their medals or any bathroom breaks on way out. They just finished got medal and were out. They really enjoyed being able to race after being stuck with me run/walking the 5K so I am sure your daughter will love it.

Hope you all have a great time.

Awesome! Thank you for all the information. Our current plan is to Uber or MinnieVan from AK to WWOS and back.

Do you know if they have locker or changing areas for them? She’ll want to wear different clothes to run in, since she’ll get sweaty.

 

[kski907]

I don't recall there being a changing area. Mine also changed from run costumes to just run clothes but we used the bathrooms in one of the buildings at WWOS. I also recall there not being a lot of shade to wait in and we were there in the miserable heat. So just another thing to consider. I remember there being water at the end of the race but nothing to help with waiting so may want to bring some bottles with you.

 

[bumbershoot]

Do you know if they have locker or changing areas for them? She’ll want to wear different clothes to run in, since she’ll get sweaty.

Nope.

Our first January event it was freezing then by the day of DS’s mile it was 80 degrees. It might not be a sweaty day for her. But maybe it will.

Day of the expo you’ll figure out how long it takes you to get from the bus drop off area up to the mile area (definitely scope it out on Wednesday) I can’t help with getting from AK to wwos. If there’s another day to add in AK, or if AK is open late that night, I personally wouldn’t do AK that morning. Too stressful for my blood!