Marathon: Somewhere to meet my runner to give extra fuel?

[emory2001]

My husband is running the marathon next weekend. It will be his 5th marathon. I usually meet him near mile 20 to give him more of his power juice. Will I be able to do this somewhere along the Disney course? I know some roads will be closed to cars, but perhaps where open roads meet closed roads?

 

[emory2001]

I found the answer in the official guide. I had missed that page before. It looks like they run through Wide World of Sports at mile 19.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

First of all, I just wanted to clarify that Wide World of Sports isn't a theme park, so you wouldn't need theme park admission/your annual pass to get in there. But with road closures, I don't know how easy it is to get near there during the marathon. As for the theme parks, they are open to guests during the longer races, even if runners are still present.

I'd suggest maybe meeting your husband near/in Hollywood Studios. I don't know what mile that is.

 

[emory2001]

Thanks - I think I edited my post as you were writing. I had originally seen spectating information from a previous year that had Animal Kingdom (which would require admission) at that point in the race, and this year it's Wide World of Sports for mile 19, so I edited my post.

So when they run through Wide World of Sports, will I be able to get close enough to give him food/drink?

 

[SunDial]

Yes you would. Plenty of places to hand extra him extra fuel. Just don't think about meeting in the stadium. We enter ESPN about mile 17 and exit about mile 20.

Now if you meet him there I am not sure you could get back to EPCOT to see him finish in time with the road closures and traffic delays.

If you go for HS we enter there about mile 22

 

[emory2001]

He runs an 11 minute mile, so he would have about another hour after leaving the stadium. Possible to get to Epcot in time using the Disney bus?

He will need fuel by mile 20, so I don't want to wait until mile 22. Animal Kingdom is mile 12, but I can't tell if he will have already gone through AK by the time the park opens, depending on how long it takes for his corral to cross the start line.

I feel like I need an Excel spreadsheet to plan this day!

 

[SunDial]

Eastbound Osceola Parkway from AK to ESPN will be closed for the runners. Westbound Osceola from ESPN to World Dr will also be closed. Only the east side of Victory Ln will be open for traffic in side of ESPN. So you can see how the intersection of Victory and Osceola will be a mess for vehicles to navigate. From Victory east to I-4 is open in both directions along with Victory Ln by POP and AoA. I guess it could be possible it the traffic Gods were with you.

The first corral goes off at 5:30 and the last one about 6:35. The earlier corrals have less runners so 2 to 3 minutes between corrals. The time gap gets wider the further you go back but there are also more runners in each subsequent corral.

 

[margitmouse]

There were also some Dis folks who were walking from Pop Century or Art of Animation to the median outside WWoS (miles 17 &20) to cheer and hand out treats. I believe someone had figured it to be about a 10 minute walk. From either of those resorts you can get a bus to Epcot. Just a thought.

 

[SunDial]

There were also some Dis folks who were walking from Pop Century or Art of Animation to the median outside WWoS (miles 17 &20) to cheer and hand out treats. I believe someone had figured it to be about a 10 minute walk. From either of those resorts you can get a bus to Epcot. Just a thought.

You beat me to this. I was just coming back over here to suggest the same thing

 

[emory2001]

Thanks, I will look into the resorts nearby. The official marathon guide says you can take a bus from WWS to the Bus Transportation Center to Epcot. I assume there must be an open route for them.

 

[margitmouse]

You beat me to this. I was just coming back over here to suggest the same thing

Great! So it wasn't so outlandish a suggestion!

 

[SunDial]

Thanks, I will look into the resorts nearby. The official marathon guide says you can take a bus from WWS to the Bus Transportation Center to Epcot. I assume there must be an open route for them.

Oh, there is a route for them but it is the same route that all of the detour traffic is going to have to take. The AoA suggestion will save you some time in getting back over to Epcot. The guide is saying from WWS to the bus center (this is over at the MK entrance) and then back to Epcot

Great! So it wasn't so outlandish a suggestion!

It was a perfect suggestion. The 10 minute walk to AoA and a bus direct to Epcot. I wish i thought of it while i was typing earlier. Getting old and the mind is not as fast as it use to be, unless it is going to get me into some kind of trouble.

 

[emory2001]

Oh, I see! I will look at that very closely, since sitting in traffic on a bus is not ideal. Thank you all for your help!

 

[emory2001]

Google Maps is saying it's a 23 minute walk from WWS to AoA. Is it faster in real life? I guess 23 minutes may still be better than traffic on the road.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Google Maps is saying it's a 23 minute walk from WWS to AoA. Is it faster in real life? I guess 23 minutes may still be better than traffic on the road.

You don't need to walk from AoA all the way to ESPN. Just go to the intersection of AoA and WWOS. The marathon crosses there twice at 16.6 and 20.7. If you walk out of AoA, there is a small gap in the fence meant for groundskeeping staff about 200-400 meters to the left of the check-in booth. Technically, Disney doesn't want you to do it, but there is nothing to stop you. Also, keep in mind you'll have to walk through grass so keep in mind some dry shoes. My family has met me at that intersection the last two years when I was at 16.6. They left there immediately back to AoA and took the bus to EPCOT. They got to the finish line only about 10 minutes before me (I ran about 10:15 min/mile last year). The only hitch is whether you will be allowed to park at AoA without a reservation (I always take Magical Express so I don't know how parking works at a hotel).

You can check out my signature for a timing schedule for marathon weekend runners.