Marathon spectators

[KatieLovesMickey]

Good morning from sunny Pittsburgh, PA !
Just a few questions about logistics for my parents, DH, and 2 DD's who are coming to cheer me on in January. How late do the buses run from the resorts on the morning of the race? Once the bus drops them at EPCOT, what's their best viewing strategy? They'll have no trouble getting around, as my daughters are 10 and 11. My time will probably be around 5 hours, if that makes a difference.
TIA!
Katie

 

[Hockeychic]

Hi Katie and welcome. Please come over the the daily thread and chat.

I would like to know this as well.

We are doing the 1/2 but would like to cheer the WISH team along maybe somewhere along the route and then at the finish line.

Any suggestions.???

 

[DianeL]

For the 1/2 in 2007 my Mom rode with us to the starting area and then monorailed over to the MK only to find out it wouldn't open till I think she said 6:30 am (?) for the spectators. Well since she rode with us she was very very early LOL She headed to the Polynesian and found some coffee and of all things donuts (and I was choking down a peanut butter bagel in the starting area, things I wished I didn't know about race morning = non racers getting to eat donuts LOL)

This year they had people at the Transportation & Ticket and I LOVED those people. You know there will be people on Main Street and it will be crowded and wonderful so it was a wonderful surprise to see them at T&T.

In 2008 I will probably start at T&T for cheering on the Half and then move to Epcot.


In 2007 for the Full we cheered but didn't arrive until after MGM had opened. So I think we arrived about 10 am???? We managed to catch Dave (mousewalker?), Carrie & Scott, Pat, Lily, Cam & Rachael, Wendy, Paul (goingthedistance) and there were more but the baaaad memory isn't working probably this morning We started cheering outside where they drop you for the buses and kept moving inside. We were able to see the very last racer go thru MGM which was kewl

In 2008 for the Full I am sending DH to the MK (possibly T&T) to wait for Susan, Cathy and I to run thru then he will somehow get to MGM, not sure on how that will go yet.

Mom will head to AK worst case on the early bus for the character meal people. Then she will head to Epcot after we go thru AK. Preferrably she will be IN Epcot so we can drop off our bottles so we can be free for the photos

Would love to hear what others experiences were for the Full and family/friends moving around.

 

[Jen117]

In 2007 I went to the Contemporary to cheer people on. They were being poops about letting people cross the street, so I missed a bunch of WISHers. I have a loud voice tho and yelled to them. We then drove to MGM to catch the next wave through.

For the 1/2, DH went to the Contemporary to cheer me on, then hopped the monorail to the GF to cheer me on again, then hopped the monorail to Epcot. He met me when I entered Epcot and again at the finish. I know the Full course is different, but I think the monorail is the easiest way to move around during the marathon.

 

[Hockeychic]

Great ideas does the full marathon end in the Epcot parking lot?? Just curious if we need to be in the park for the finish line.

Kim

 

[ultramickeymouse]

Great ideas does the full marathon end in the Epcot parking lot?? Just curious if we need to be in the park for the finish line.

Kim

The race ends in the parking lot. You run a second time through EPCOT and than back out near the original staging area.

 

[Hockeychic]

Thanks Robert, hey where have you been..... haven't seen you around here much!!!! Can't wait to see you both again soon.

Kim

 

[eeyore45]

YEA! Just the info I wanted!! Told my mom today that i'm registered for the Half, and of course she knows my aversion to running... So she got her calendar out and was going to come cheer me on... OF course when I told her it was 4AM line up, not PM... she's having second thoughts!!

DH doesnt think I'll be able to cheer him the next day - glad to know I can surprise him!!

 

[ultramickeymouse]

Thanks Robert, hey where have you been..... haven't seen you around here much!!!! Can't wait to see you both again soon.

Kim

Work, Work, Work

2 weekends ago crewed our friend at Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. That meant up at 4:00 am Sat and back to bed 4:00 am Sunday. 24 hrs straight on the move. Slept most of Sunday. It has taken a couple of weeks to get back together. Record heat here the last few days has done me in. It's supposed to be 95 today If it gets 80 at the Lake, it is hot!

The good news was we helped her to her 3rd straight 2nd place in the Women's race and 3rd straight 1st place in the Masters. She finished in 19:31 which was 40 minutes faster than last year! She finished 13th overall and her husband finished 27th overall.

See you in 3 1/2 months

 

[Hockeychic]

Wow Robert that is awesome. I don't think I could stay up for 24 hours anymore, apparently since I now have a 18 year old son I am as "old as dirt".....lol

How far is a 100 miles I am Canadian remember Just kidding 160 kms wow that is amazing.

You and Linda are great friends and I am sure she appreciated your cheering!!!!

Kim

 

[ultramickeymouse]

We had to drive 3 hrs to the first of 5 aid stations where we could change her bottles, give her food, or help with medical issues. They were at mile 30, 56, 62, 80, and 92.5. Our job to keep here fueled and feed with spending as little time as possible. The mile 80 aid station we had to hike 1 1/2 miles down a steep dirt road to get there. We had to carry about 30 pounds each of gear. After being there we had that long 1 1/2 mile hike up the hill. This at 8:30 at night. Lots of hard work physical and mental work to spend less than 10 minutes total with our runner. I had to drian blood blisters on 2 of her toes at this aid station so she could change socks and shoes after crossing the river. Caused her lots of pain

 

[hockeygirl]

I was thinking about this same question also. DBF and I are staying at POP and I am trying to figure out where to have him watch me during the Full. I was thinking of having him go straight to MK and then back over to Epcot for the finish. He hasn't been to WDW too many times so not sure how this is going to work. Luckily, we are going on a family vacation down there in December so I can show him around and where to go. But any advice on where the best spots are would be great!!!

 

[Hockeychic]

Wow Robert that is huge. You and Linda must have been exhausted. I am tired just reading your post....what an event.

Kim

 

[ultramickeymouse]

I was thinking about this same question also. DBF and I are staying at POP and I am trying to figure out where to have him watch me during the Full. I was thinking of having him go straight to MK and then back over to Epcot for the finish. He hasn't been to WDW too many times so not sure how this is going to work. Luckily, we are going on a family vacation down there in December so I can show him around and where to go. But any advice on where the best spots are would be great!!!

I know that your DBF can ride the bus to the start and hang out with you until you go to the chutes. He can then watch you just after the start(and again at the same spot at mile 4). My DW did this, than hoped on the Monorail to MK and saw me on Main St. I am slow so she took the bus to AK. Bad idea as it took almost 1 1/2 hrs in traffic and she barely made it to meet me. She than took bus back to EPCOT.

I would do start, MK and than take monorail back to EPCOT for finish. My opiion after my wifes adventure

 

[ultramickeymouse]

Wow Robert that is huge. You and Linda must have been exhausted. I am tired just reading your post....what an event.

Kim

I learned from another crew what the definition of crew is:

Cranky
Runner
Endless
Waiting

 

[Hockeychic]

I learned from another crew what the definition of crew is:

Cranky
Runner
Endless
Waiting

 

[KatieLovesMickey]

Bumping up...

Does anyone know how late the spectator buses run from the resorts? I'll be hopping on at around 3:30 and I was hoping that my DH, DD's, and parents (is there an abbreviation for parents????) could get to EPCOT at around 7:00 am.

Thanks again!!

Katie

 

[julia & nicks mom]

For the 2007 we were at the beach club and I confirmed with the hotel before I arrived and once I had that the buses would be running in the morning for us to get there

This was not the case - they could not get buses to the hotels and we had not way to get the MK to watch the race - after an hour we finally got a taxi who agreed to TRY to get us to the MK - it was a van and 8 of us hopped in - he was able to get us there with a few tricks and all 8 of us ended up paying him $10-20 each and one ever paid him $50 - we were so appreciative to get to the MK -

then we were able to hop on the monorail over to Epcot and that worked much better!!! This year we will be at the Boardwalk but I will be participating so i should be able to get there on the participant buses - anyone who wants to watch us - I am going to suggest they drive to the TTC or Epcot and park and use the monorail to get to the MK and Epcot -

and don't forget - after the race is over - the monorail from Epcot to the TTC will be REALLY CROWDED and could take a while!!!

 

[ultramickeymouse]

It cost my DW & I $10(including tip) for taxi from BWV to DTD for Go Red for Women 5K in May. Since we always use ME, my wife rode the 3:30 bus to EPCOT with me.

 

[QueenGoblin]

DH is running the Goofy. DDs(4 and 1), MIL and I would like to cheer him on during at least one of the races. DH is pretty fast (3 hr marathoner, Boston qualifier-type) so I am not sure we are going to be able to hop around and catch him in multiple places, especially dragging a baby and a preschooler around. Any suggestions?

Also, right now we have reservations at AKL for the weekend (staying at Pop during hte week before). We really want to stay there (DH loves Boma and we think the theming and activities wil really entertain the kids if we decide to skip the parks one of the days). BUT is it worth it for logistics to switch to CR or Poly? That way we could walk to watch the runners and walk/monorail to MK or EPCOT. Is traffic really so crazy that we would get trapped at AKL? When do the roads open back up and things return to normal?

Thanks!