Marathon Weekend 2016

[Ariel484]

 

[emindc]

Wow, fantastic tips, everyone! Thanks, veterans!

 

[Ariel484]

^^bigger pictures of the Dooneys. rD just tweeted these.

 

[SarahDisney]

Thanks for posting the pictures, @Ariel484!
I really love this pattern. I want one. So badly. Any chance they'll decide to sell them at the expo for like 75% off?

 

[Ariel484]

Thanks for posting the pictures, @Ariel484!
I really love this pattern. I want one. So badly. Any chance they'll decide to sell them at the expo for like 75% off?

AP discount or Disney Visa (I think?). If they don't sell well they'll be at the Orlando outlets a few months after. That's all I got.

 

[IamTrike]

Seeing this gives me an idea...
While some of us are experienced runDisney runners, we've got some people new to rD on the thread. So my fellow vets, let's help out the new guys ... What's one thing (or more) that you wish you had known before your first runDisney race?

I'll share a few things once I'm back on the computer, but I'm interested to hear what others say...

1. Marathons are hard and you don't need to carry extra weight so you should take all your fuel before the race starts
2. You'll feel pretty much the same during the last mile as you do during the first mile, if you haven't started panting by the end of mile 1 you aren't working hard enough.
3. You don't want to get dehydrated, to help keep from loosing too much moisture wrap yourself in saran wrap under your running clothes.
4. You'll find you get an adrenaline rush if you lock arms with your friends. Get as many people as you can to look arms with you and stretch across the road.
5. Do not go to the bathroom before or during the race. The sense of urgency you feel at the end will make the last mile fly by.
6. Runners are athletes, and like most athletes a pat on the bottom is a great way to offer encouragement.

I have done multiple RD races and have never taken one character photo. These are pretty much the only races I do, right now, and I'm focusing on getting faster. If a line was short, I might pop in, but since I'm slow, it never is.

Advice:
1. Weather: be prepared for anything. Wear a "throw-away" sweater if you want. Disney collects them and donates them (at least, they do at DL ... I assume also at WDW?)
3. I don't know this first hand, but my bf mentioned that the roads are not flat, they kind of do a V for drainage (or something?). This was new for him being from non-rainy Calif. and being an amputee, this messed up his knee at W&D, so he's going to try and stay towards the middle this time. Anyhow, if you are used to flat, be aware of this. If this is totally wrong, I'm sure someone will chime in.

They do donate the clothes. I'll usually pick something up from goodwill to have as throw away clothes.
The roads are sloped. on the curves I think it is less sloped by the sides of the road. On the straight aways the center is a little flatter. Be careful for the lines they can be slippery if they get wet. Also i think the reflectors can trip people up.

 

[SarahDisney]

AP discount or Disney Visa (I think?). If they don't sell well they'll be at the Orlando outlets a few months after. That's all I got.

Yeah, some sort of sale is definitely wishful thinking. Oh well, I'll just have to hope that I like the pattern for the next race I do as much as I like this one...

1. Marathons are hard and you don't need to carry extra weight so you should take all your fuel before the race starts
2. You'll feel pretty much the same during the last mile as you do during the first mile, if you haven't started panting by the end of mile 1 you aren't working hard enough.
3. You don't want to get dehydrated, to help keep from loosing too much moisture wrap yourself in saran wrap under your running clothes.
4. You'll find you get an adrenaline rush if you lock arms with your friends. Get as many people as you can to look arms with you and stretch across the road.
5. Do not go to the bathroom before or during the race. The sense of urgency you feel at the end will make the last mile fly by.
6. Runners are athletes, and like most athletes a pat on the bottom is a great way to offer encouragement.

I actually laughed out loud at this. But there are much better uses for saran wrap than running ... I once wrapped a school project in saran wrap.

 

[Barca33Runner]

4. You'll find you get an adrenaline rush if you lock arms with your friends. Get as many people as you can to look arms with you and stretch across the road.

Can't believe I forgot about locking arms. Amateur hour on my part to leave out such a useful tip.

 

[derekleigh]

Odd and random question for you all; do you ever feel the Dopey challenge should have been given to Daisy? To me Marathon weekend focuses on the main Disney Characters (aka Fab Five). Dopey stands out as an odd ball to me. With Daisy it would have been more suiting however, merchandise-wise dopey is more gender neutral.

Thoughts?

 

[IamTrike]

Odd and random question for you all; do you ever feel the Dopey challenge should have been given to Daisy? To me Marathon weekend focuses on the main Disney Characters (aka Fab Five). Dopey stands out as an odd ball to me. With Daisy it would have been more suiting however, merchandise-wise dopey is more gender neutral.

Thoughts?

Even before the official Dopey people had made up an unofficial Dopey challenge out of the 5K, Half and Full. People were calling it that before Disney came up with the official Challenge. While he's not one of the fab 5, I think Dopey is a pretty good character to represent the nature of the challenge.

 

[Keels]

Odd and random question for you all; do you ever feel the Dopey challenge should have been given to Daisy? To me Marathon weekend focuses on the main Disney Characters (aka Fab Five). Dopey stands out as an odd ball to me. With Daisy it would have been more suiting however, merchandise-wise dopey is more gender neutral.

Thoughts?

Nope. It's more concept than anything. You're Goofy if you do a Half and a Full, but you're downright Dopey to do all four.

 

[CheapRunnerMike]

Oh, and before the race while waiting for the race to start, if you sneak off into the woods to relive yourself (men), the ditches between the road and the trees have water in them sometimes! I learned that the hard way.

I did the exact same thing in 2014! Ran the whole race with squishee foot

 

[Mickey Momma]

Check twitter the morning of the race. I think that's where they announced it last year.
If you're not on twitter, you can check here too - hopefully someone will post the info if rD tweets anything.

Thanks! Will need something to do while I wait for the race to start anyhow.

 

[StarGirl11]

On tips. Get an external charger to keep your phone charged before the race and if it's your music player, during the race. Amazon has some decent sized ones that are easy to pack. I'm planning to carry one all four mornings since I tend to get on the Internet when waiting for the start.

On the topic of Mine Train. I maybe wrong but I don't remember it being open when we went through last year and I was in M.

 

[Waiting2goback]

Seeing this gives me an idea...
While some of us are experienced runDisney runners, we've got some people new to rD on the thread. So my fellow vets, let's help out the new guys ... What's one thing (or more) that you wish you had known before your first runDisney race?

I'll share a few things once I'm back on the computer, but I'm interested to hear what others say...

My first takeaway from my first rD race, which was also my first race ever, was that 20,000+ people is a lot of people. Should seem obvious, but I really wasn't prepared for the magnitude of such a crowd. It is great in many ways and also a little annoying. Great because there were so many people out there running for many of the same reasons and after the same goals as myself. You never feel alone and seeing everyone else giving their best effort really brings out the best in most people. Annoying because, yeah, it is impossible for 20,000 people to move in lockstep with one another and at different points in 3.1, 6.2, 13.1, or 26.2 miles you are going to want to go quicker than people in front of you and some people behind you are going to wish you would get your butt moving. Distance running is a difficult and sometimes painful process and can fray nerves pretty quickly.

More importantly, know that if you stay within yourself and keep putting one foot in front of the other you will finish. And when you finish it will feel awesome. My first race I was entirely expecting to be a one-off and, despite knowing for the last 6 miles of that half marathon that I had several blisters the size of quarters developing all over my feet, I knew before I crossed the finish line that I would be back to tackle the full the next year. These races truly can be as magical as you make them.

1. I am on board with the volume of people thing. I only did ToT and it the smallest of all the "main" races but it was CROWDED.

2. As a result the lines for the bathrooms are long.

3. Have fun.

Costume: Not sure yet...possibly Minnie because I am cheap and I still have the Sparkle Skirt from two years ago?

I don't think you can be considered cheap if you vacation at Disney.

 

[FFigawi]

Seeing this gives me an idea...
While some of us are experienced runDisney runners, we've got some people new to rD on the thread. So my fellow vets, let's help out the new guys ... What's one thing (or more) that you wish you had known before your first runDisney race?

I'll share a few things once I'm back on the computer, but I'm interested to hear what others say...

Have fun! Don't stress about the weather, the crowds, or the transportation. None of that is under your control. You can control your attitude & how much fun you have, so make the most of it. Stop for character pictures, talk with your fellow runners, and always thank the volunteers who are out there making this happen for you.

Oh, and before the race while waiting for the race to start, if you sneak off into the woods to relive yourself (men), the ditches between the road and the trees have water in them sometimes! I learned that the hard way.

This tip isn't just for men. There are plenty of women who use the trees and woods before the start too.

 

[Keels]

This tip isn't just for men. There are plenty of women who use the trees and woods before the start too.

No no no no no no no no no. Never never never never never never never. No.

 

[DOOM1001]

No no no no no no no no no. Never never never never never never never. No.

There's definitely not plenty,but I have seen a few!!

 

[mawatcha]

Odd and random question for you all; do you ever feel the Dopey challenge should have been given to Daisy? To me Marathon weekend focuses on the main Disney Characters (aka Fab Five). Dopey stands out as an odd ball to me. With Daisy it would have been more suiting however, merchandise-wise dopey is more gender neutral.

Thoughts?

Daisy doesn't quite have the same ring to it that Dopey does. I think Daisy would work well if they did a kids 5km event or something.

 

[FFigawi]

There's definitely not plenty,but I have seen a few!!

If you get to the corrals at the time we usually do, about 530, you'll see plenty there and on the walk over from bag check. It's not a big deal or anything. No one really cares.