Marathon Weekend 2016

[roxymama]

@SarahDisney I think I will for sure wear my medal the whole day in the parks after my race is done. Seems just like fun. I'll have my purse anyways in case it gets annoying to have on. I have a feeling my kiddo is going to want to wear it too and I will let her
I will probably show people at work pictures of me wearing it, but not actually bring it in. I've asked for a medal rack for xmas and I think based on hints from my hubby that we will finally have somewhere to put it other than my doorknob to his office...which clanks tremendously now.

@DopeyBadger Have you used gardengrocer before? I am wanting to use it for kid friendly snack food (milk! and veggies and fruit, etc) and lunch food for our villa fridge. I am wondering how soon the food shows up? We arrive the day before our run so I am thinking we would want it there by early evening at least on arrival day, but we will be in the parks at that point.

 

[CamColt]

Interesting (to me at least) question based on a conversation I just had with my father ...
For those of you headed back to work shortly after the races, will you be wearing your race weekend medal(s) to work?
Students, will you wear your medal(s) to school?
Parents, would you allow/encourage your kids to wear their medal(s) to school?

My dad had two kids in his class today wearing Avengers medals. And one was wearing an Avengers sweatshirt/jacket.

DH and I were discussing this and I think we will wear them when we board the Dream the next day, but if I were going somewhere non Disney I likely wouldn't.

I am planning to just bring some food to my room the day before. I might get a Danish or something like that and just save it for the next day.

For those who run the morning Disney races, do you nap after the race or do you just hit the parks tired? I really want to get myself in shape enough where I won't be dead tired after the race because I don't want to nap and miss park time.

I've only done 1 morning race, Star Wars 1/2, and I was so pumped after that I didn't nap. We actually got McDonald for breakfast after we showered. We didn't do the parks, just celebrated at Trader Sams, and DTD, until it was time to leave. However I did find myself almost dozing off in the airport shuttle and again at the gate waiting for the flight. Thankfully it was a red eye and I did sleep then. For this, never doing a full, I'm not sure how I will feel. Either I will lay in bed all day, or go to DTD if I'm up for it. It will definitely be an early night either way.

 

[roxymama]

Oh and I vote for the American Adventure in Epcot for prime napping spot. Grab a chair and a beer before heading in. Let the Voices of Liberty get you into that zone out mode. Take a seat and then zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[FFigawi]

For people that have run this before and know the crowd situation, is it feasible to assume that I could get from the Marathon finish to the Polynesian in an hour?

Yes, you can do that on the monorail. You won't have much or any time for cooling down, refueling/rehydrating, or taking part in the post-race festivities though.

 

[Pixie Heart]

Has any of you guys received the RunDisney e-mail with info for the WDW Marathon Weekend yet?
It says on the website that e-mails would be sent 3 months prior the race... but I have nothing so far.

 

[Ariel484]

Has any of you guys received the RunDisney e-mail with info for the WDW Marathon Weekend yet?
It says on the website that e-mails would be sent 3 months prior the race... but I have nothing so far.

They aren't always great about sending the emails, and when they do, 99% of the time it's information you can find on runDisney.com or here. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[DopeyBadger]

@DopeyBadger Have you used gardengrocer before? I am wanting to use it for kid friendly snack food (milk! and veggies and fruit, etc) and lunch food for our villa fridge. I am wondering how soon the food shows up? We arrive the day before our run so I am thinking we would want it there by early evening at least on arrival day, but we will be in the parks at that point.

Never used garden grocer before (nor ever had any grocery service). But it's my understanding that they drop off the food with the bell hop and bring it right up when you want it. Because we reserved (made order) 60 days in advance we got to choose our delivery time on the day we arrived (I think we choose something like 3:00pm on the day we arrived). The earlier you make reservations the more time slots for delivery are available. Oh, btw you also get a discount the earlier you order (we got 10% off). I was mistaken on free shipping though, because we spent over $200 we got shipping for $2.

 

[IamTrike]

Asics were giving them out at the Dublin Marathon, you just had to fill in some info online and then collect your band at the expo so maybe you can get them at other events too.

I think at the marathon weekend expo cliff Bar will be giving them out. I think they have them for finish times in 5 minute increments. So depending on your pace you might need to make your own band.

I do go to bed around 6-7pm though, to try and ensure a good chunk of hours of sleep overnight (the optimal muscle repair occurs between 8-9 hours of sleep). I also replicate park time during my training by doing the same at home (shower, eat, then shopping/yard work all day). I try to minimize couch time after long training workouts.

I wish I could make that work. I don't usually wind up falling asleep until after 11pm.
I'm trying to replicate the disney experience at home too. After I finish a run I stand in line for 20 minutes before I get in a box to slide down the stairs while my kids shoot me with squirt guns.

For people that have run this before and know the crowd situation, is it feasible to assume that I could get from the Marathon finish to the Polynesian in an hour?

What do you mean by finish? If you are talking about from the time you cross the finish line. I might think about it like this. Once you cross the finish line you have to walk through the chutes, get your medal, get a blanket if it's cold, get hydration stuff and then slowly walk to get your finish picture. If you aren't getting a picture you can usually skip that line. Then you have to stand in line to get your food. Depending on where you finish you could do all those things in 10 minutes or it could take 20 minutes to do all that. After that you'll need to walk from the finish area to the monorail. I think you actually have to go through bag check to get up the monorail ramp. I believe it's a little over half a mile from the post bag check area to the monorail. Given the crowds an everything else it will probably 10 to 15 minutes to cover that distance. Monorails run about every 7 minutes. and the monorail ride is about 15 minutes. So you'll need about 25 minutes for waiting, loading, the ride and unloading. I'm not sure where you are going at the Poly but it's about a .4 of a mile from the TTC to the main ceremonial house so I'd estimate another 10 minutes to walk from there to the TTC. You could take the monorail but it would likely take the same amount of time.

Based on that I think your best case scenario is 55 minutes from the finish line to the Great Ceremonial house at the Poly. If you take your time going through those things it might take closer to 1:10 to get from the finish to the Poly.

 

[Pixie Heart]

Thanks @Ariel484 !

 

[cburnett11]

What do you mean by finish?... I'm not sure where you are going at the Poly but it's about a .4 of a mile from the TTC to the main ceremonial house so I'd estimate another 10 minutes to walk from there to the TTC.

I'm hoping for a start time of about 5:50am. I submitted a 1:47:55 half PoT, would love to finish in 3:45, but realistically just hope to be under 4 hours as this will be marathon #1 for me. I'm planning to race it cautiously. In other words, I'll start relatively slow, settle in, and then will run negative splits if things are going as I hope. I tend to run better this way vs. going out too fast and trying to hang on for dear life.

I have a late breakfast breakfast planned for Kona Cafe at 11am at the Poly. I'm sure my family will be fairly hungry, and I think I will be. My thought was that if I finished by 10, that I could grab some hydration and maybe a banana or whatever in/after the chute. Maybe my family will take some pictures of me around in that area... again I've never been there so I'm sure the whole area is a bit of a zoo but either way I'm fine. But then we'll head to the monorail and take it to TTC. From there I figure we'll just walk to the Poly. After we eat, they plan to go hang out at EPCOT while I head back to POP to cleanup and meet them later at the park. I really didn't want to postpone eating much longer (for them or me) so I scheduled the 11am breakfast.

This seemed like a decent plan to me at the time, but if I'm offbase I'll listen to others. I've always been ready to eat after my Halves and have had not trouble eating, but this will be my first marathon.

 

[cavepig]

For people that have run this before and know the crowd situation, is it feasible to assume that I could get from the Marathon finish to the Polynesian in an hour?

I'm hoping for a start time of about 5:50am. I submitted a 1:47:55 half PoT, would love to finish in 3:45, but realistically just hope to be under 4 hours as this will be marathon #1 for me. I'm planning to race it cautiously. In other words, I'll start relatively slow, settle in, and then will run negative splits if things are going as I hope. I tend to run better this way vs. going out too fast and trying to hang on for dear life.

I have a late breakfast breakfast planned for Kona Cafe at 11am at the Poly. I'm sure my family will be fairly hungry, and I think I will be. My thought was that if I finished by 10, that I could grab some hydration and maybe a banana or whatever in/after the chute. Maybe my family will take some pictures of me around in that area... again I've never been there so I'm sure the whole area is a bit of a zoo but either way I'm fine. But then we'll head to the monorail and take it to TTC. From there I figure we'll just walk to the Poly. After we eat, they plan to go hang out at EPCOT while I head back to POP to cleanup and meet them later at the park. I really didn't want to postpone eating much longer (for them or me) so I scheduled the 11am breakfast.

This seemed like a decent plan to me at the time, but if I'm offbase I'll listen to others. I've always been ready to eat after my Halves and have had not trouble eating, but this will be my first marathon.

I started about 5:47 this year from corral G (half time 2:02 submitted), so you will probably start before 5:50am with that PoT. As for eating 'real food' right after a full marathon I can't personally but everyone's different. It isn't complete chaos afterwards, pretty quick getting your medal, snack box, drinks and after picture if you get it by the backdrop. I like to take some pictures afterwards in the post area and kind of walk around before heading out right away. I guess if you run without any hitches you should make that ADR, but I wouldn't personally (especially in my gross sweaty clothes and then the chance of chilling up) but that's just me.

 

[Kathymford]

Naps. I am all about naps after my runs, even my long weekend runs. They wipe me out. Even when I was running the RunDisney 10ks, I would nap for a bit after a shower before going to breakfast. Now that I'm running the halfs, this is my dilemma.

Since I am slow, we only have about an hour before checkout by the time we walk back to the hotel (this is for DL races of course). So I have to decide, rush around packing and getting freshened up just to walk back to the park and get breakfast? Or relax, pack slowly, eat at Coco's next door and go home to nap. At Avengers, this was the winner. I napped for about an hour at home. It was glorious.

 

[IamTrike]

I'm hoping for a start time of about 5:50am. I submitted a 1:47:55 half PoT, would love to finish in 3:45, but realistically just hope to be under 4 hours as this will be marathon #1 for me. I'm planning to race it cautiously. In other words, I'll start relatively slow, settle in, and then will run negative splits if things are going as I hope. I tend to run better this way vs. going out too fast and trying to hang on for dear life.

I have a late breakfast breakfast planned for Kona Cafe at 11am at the Poly. I'm sure my family will be fairly hungry, and I think I will be. My thought was that if I finished by 10, that I could grab some hydration and maybe a banana or whatever in/after the chute. Maybe my family will take some pictures of me around in that area... again I've never been there so I'm sure the whole area is a bit of a zoo but either way I'm fine. But then we'll head to the monorail and take it to TTC. From there I figure we'll just walk to the Poly. After we eat, they plan to go hang out at EPCOT while I head back to POP to cleanup and meet them later at the park. I really didn't want to postpone eating much longer (for them or me) so I scheduled the 11am breakfast.

This seemed like a decent plan to me at the time, but if I'm offbase I'll listen to others. I've always been ready to eat after my Halves and have had not trouble eating, but this will be my first marathon.

Kona is great for breakfast. Hurray for Toga Toast, and their French Press is some of the best coffee on property. Last year I was 1:49 for the Half and 3:59 for the full. I think between 3:45 and 4 is reasonable for the full. At that time the finish area shouldn't be too crowded and the lines for the monorail shouldn't be that bad. I'd probably want the ability to get a little cleaned up before breakfast, so I'd get my family to bring me a bag with of clothes (I'd at least want to change my shirt) and either baby wipes or a shower pill. In the finish area there are characters to get your picture with (I got mine with goofy last year). I am not sure about logistics for changing at the finish, but you could change in the bathroom at the Poly. Obviously the closer you are to 3:45 the more time you'll have. i'd probably be shooting to leave the finish area by about 10:20 to start walking towards the monorail.

For what it's worth I submitted a 1:46 POT for Goof last year and I crossed the start line at 5:43 according to my runkeeper.

 

[cburnett11]

I'd probably want the ability to get a little cleaned up before breakfast, so I'd get my family to bring me a bag with of clothes (I'd at least want to change my shirt) and either baby wipes or a shower pill.

Super helpful. I had thought about a change of clothes/shirt, etc. but I hadn't made a physical note of it. That sounds like a good idea. I know everyone will want food and that seemed like a place we could go and get a late breakfast without hitting a buffet. In a perfect world, I'd go back to hotel first, but this will work. Plus some of the family will actually be interested in hearing about the race and so it sorta makes sense to do that then before everyone heads off to play.

Your other info about start times, finish area crowds, pictures, etc. are greatly appreciated because I just haven't experienced the RunDisney finish area before.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I'm trying to replicate the disney experience at home too. After I finish a run I stand in line for 20 minutes before I get in a box to slide down the stairs while my kids shoot me with squirt guns.

That's too funny right there! I knew I was missing that extra Disney magic training experience!

 

[mawatcha]

This is likely a silly question but are the parks ridiculously full all week? I'm there Jan 7th - 16th for the Goofy Challenge. Obviously I know it'll be busy and have my reservations and Fastpasses booked already but kinda scared about 3 hr lineups for everything? Hopefully I'm just overly worried.

 

[PrincessV]

This is likely a silly question but are the parks ridiculously full all week? I'm there Jan 7th - 16th for the Goofy Challenge. Obviously I know it'll be busy and have my reservations and Fastpasses booked already but kinda scared about 3 hr lineups for everything? Hopefully I'm just overly worried.

Nope, it's a slow time for WDW! The races add some folks into the mix, but not by a very noticeable amount. No time is as slow as it once was, but early Jan. is about the last bastion of truly slower attendance.

 

[FFigawi]

I started about 5:47 this year from corral G (half time 2:02 submitted), so you will probably start before 5:50am with that PoT. As for eating 'real food' right after a full marathon I can't personally but everyone's different. It isn't complete chaos afterwards, pretty quick getting your medal, snack box, drinks and after picture if you get it by the backdrop. I like to take some pictures afterwards in the post area and kind of walk around before heading out right away. I guess if you run without any hitches you should make that ADR, but I wouldn't personally (especially in my gross sweaty clothes and then the chance of chilling up) but that's just me.

Good point about the desire of lack of desire for real food after the race. I'm always very thirsty for beer right after a full, but I normally have no appetite until 3-5 hours later. Hopefully the OP is different because reservations at 11 would be wasted on me.

 

[cburnett11]

This is likely a silly question but are the parks ridiculously full all week? I'm there Jan 7th - 16th for the Goofy Challenge. Obviously I know it'll be busy and have my reservations and Fastpasses booked already but kinda scared about 3 hr lineups for everything? Hopefully I'm just overly worried.

We arrived Saturday (half marathon day) last year and it felt crowded that day at MK. The next day (Sunday) at HS it was pretty busy too, but not awful. We noticed a very significant dropoff beginning Monday until the following weekend when it shot back up a bit. Midweek was very relaxed last year.

 

[Neoflynn]

I wish I could make that work. I don't usually wind up falling asleep until after 11pm.
I'm trying to replicate the disney experience at home too. After I finish a run I stand in line for 20 minutes before I get in a box to slide down the stairs while my kids shoot me with squirt guns.