Marathon Weekend 2017!

[dburg30]

25 weeks everyone!



WDW Marathon vets, what is your favorite moment of the marathon? First-timers, what are you looking forward to the most about your first marathon?

As a first-timer, I am most looking forward to running through the Magic Kingdom at dawn.

I ran my first marathon in 2014.. as part of the dopey challenge. As a first timer then, I was most looking forward to the finish.. I know, that's cliche, but it was true. Now as far as what you are more looking for, I was most looking forward to seeing my wife as we left DHS and was heading towards BW.. I still get emotional thinking about it.. I literally almost knocked her over with the hug I gave her . Plus, at that point, I knew I was good, and she had my "I Did It" t-shirt for the Dopey challenge.. 2nd best thing, and what I was looking forward to was the choir at the end of the 1/2 and the full..

 

[UNCBear24]

Got my POT half done this morning. Not a great day, but improved 24 minutes from the 2016 Dopey half. Hopefully that will improve my corral for 2017.

 

[lhermiston]

23 weeks! I hope you're all surviving your runs in the heat. It's been oppressive in the Midwest.

This week's Sundays are for Disney question: how many runDisney events have you done and why did you choose to do a Disney race?

This will be my first rD event. When I decided to try to run my first marathon last fall, I figured I'd go out, in case it turns out to be my only marathon. And, of course, being at the parks before and after the race provided an additional incentive.

 

[MissLiss279]

23 weeks! I hope you're all surviving your runs in the heat. It's been oppressive in the Midwest.

This week's Sundays are for Disney question: how many runDisney events have you done and why did you choose to do a Disney race?

This will be my first rD event. When I decided to try to run my first marathon last fall, I figured I'd go out, in case it turns out to be my only marathon. And, of course, being at the parks before and after the race provided an additional incentive.

I have run in five runDisney weekends (12 races???) - 2015 WDW weekend, Disneyland Half, Wine & Dine, 2016 WDW weekend, Star Wars - The Dark Side.

I ran my first half marathon in 2014. Somewhere around that time (fall 2014), I heard something about runDisney. I had never heard of races in Disney before. I love Disney and thought it sounded fun. Of course I looked it up and the January half was sold out. I happened to check back a week later, and that was the time that they had split some of the remaining Goofy registrations back into half and full registrations and I was able to sign up for the half. I had so much fun that I pretty much signed up for whatever I could for the rest of that year. Now I think I have decided to limit myself to Dopey and the Dark Side. Eventually I'll go back to Disneyland because that was a really fun race weekend also.

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

This week's Sundays are for Disney question: how many runDisney events have you done and why did you choose to do a Disney race?

I have done 3 actual runDisney events all in 2016: Princess 10k, Darkside half, and Tink half. I have also done the Castaway Cay 5k but that's not really a runDisney event. I chose to do Disney races, in the beginning, because I love everything Disney. Now that I have done a few I continue to do them because I love the atmosphere. Especially at Tink everyone was so nice and supportive the whole weekend not just at the race. I love that they aren't super competitive races and I can feel comfortable running them even though I am slow. I also love that they are a vacation(even if it's only 2 days) and that I get to plan around them. To me they also provide constant motivation all year round and that is just what I need to keep running.

 

[bellanotte10]

23 weeks! I hope you're all surviving your runs in the heat. It's been oppressive in the Midwest.

This week's Sundays are for Disney question: how many runDisney events have you done and why did you choose to do a Disney race?

This will be my first rD event. When I decided to try to run my first marathon last fall, I figured I'd go out, in case it turns out to be my only marathon. And, of course, being at the parks before and after the race provided an additional incentive.

The half marathon that weekend will be my 4th. Started with princess 2013, ToT 2014 and the marathon weekend 10k 2016.

Started doing them after someone told me about the princess and already being obsessed with Disney I wanted that medal. Ended up getting addicted. Next year alone I'm doing three races...

 

[PCFriar80]

23 weeks! I hope you're all surviving your runs in the heat. It's been oppressive in the Midwest.

This week's Sundays are for Disney question: how many runDisney events have you done and why did you choose to do a Disney race?

This will be my first rD event. When I decided to try to run my first marathon last fall, I figured I'd go out, in case it turns out to be my only marathon. And, of course, being at the parks before and after the race provided an additional incentive.

DW and I have been running the Donald 1/2 since 2006! I took one year off in 2010 to run the full....lucky me, the year of the iced over water stations. We had been going to Disney regularly before we started running the event and decided to make our visits more adventurous!

 

[Ariel484]

23 weeks! I hope you're all surviving your runs in the heat. It's been oppressive in the Midwest.

This week's Sundays are for Disney question: how many runDisney events have you done and why did you choose to do a Disney race?

I read a trip report on a different message board where someone (now one of my BFFs) did the 2009 WDW marathon. I liked running but LOVED Disney and didn't know they had races until I read that trip report. I can honestly say if Disney didn't have races, I doubt I would have gone beyond the 5K distance.

I've done:
2011 Princess Half
2012 WDW marathon
2013 WDW 5K + Goofy Challenge
2013 Jingle Jungle 5K + Wine & Dine Half
2014 Royal Family (now called Princess) 5K
2014 Jingle Jungle 5K + Wine & Dine Half Marathon
2015 Dopey Challenge
2015 Disneyland 5K + Dumbo Double Dare
2016 Never Land 5K + Tink 10K

Signed up for
2016 Mickey's Holiday 5K + Lumiere's 2-Course Challenge
2017 Goofy Challenge
2017 Princess 5K + Glass Slipper Challenge (deferred from 2016)
And have a deferral to cash in for the Pixie Dust Challenge

 

[rteetz]

This week's Sundays are for Disney question: how many runDisney events have you done and why did you choose to do a Disney race?

This will be my third. My first was 2015 WDW 10K. I was brand new to running and it was an excuse to get to Disney. It was my first trip without my parents and my last trip my grandma would ever take. That trip made me become addicted to RunDisney so this year I moved up to the half and 5k. Now in 2017 I said hey what the heck lets go dopey!

 

[UNCBear24]

23 weeks! I hope you're all surviving your runs in the heat. It's been oppressive in the Midwest.

This week's Sundays are for Disney question: how many runDisney events have you done and why did you choose to do a Disney race?

This will be my first rD event. When I decided to try to run my first marathon last fall, I figured I'd go out, in case it turns out to be my only marathon. And, of course, being at the parks before and after the race provided an additional incentive.

I've done the 2012 & 2014 WDW Marathon and the 2016 Dopey. 2012 was my first marathon and I couldn't think of a better place for my first than Disney.
My son & DIL live in Orlando and he works for Disney, so now the races give me a good excuse to go visit them! So it's Dopey again in 2017.

 

[CarolynFH]

Newbie question: If you are swept by the balloon ladies, do you still get the medal? I ask because some weeks ago I read on this or another thread here a discussion about people who stop and wait to be swept, even though they have time & capability to finish the race, and I got the impression that they still got the medal for that race. Is that what happens? DH and I are running (well, participating in) the 5K with DD and DSiL, and while we'll train to achieve the pace necessary and will make an honest effort to finish the race, I'm not sure at this point that we'll be able to. I've assumed that if we were swept we'd forfeit the medal, but if that's not the case it might make the difference between starting the race or giving up before the start (especially for DH, who was sort of coerced into this by DD and me!).

 

[DopeyBadger]

23 weeks! I hope you're all surviving your runs in the heat. It's been oppressive in the Midwest.

This week's Sundays are for Disney question: how many runDisney events have you done and why did you choose to do a Disney race?

This will be my first rD event. When I decided to try to run my first marathon last fall, I figured I'd go out, in case it turns out to be my only marathon. And, of course, being at the parks before and after the race provided an additional incentive.

I have done three Dopey Challenges (2014, 2015, 2016). I chose to do it because I loved my first non-Disney marathon in 2012 (sarcastic!) that I was looking for a new challenge. My wife and her family LOVE DISNEY so it was a match made in heaven for our family's vacation aspirations. I get to run and she and my daughter (and families) get to enjoy Disney. Couldn't ask for much more.

 

[baxter24]

This week's Sundays are for Disney question: how many runDisney events have you done and why did you choose to do a Disney race?

I have done the half marathon in January twice (2012 and 2014) and did the Glass Slipper challenge this past Febuary. I am signed up for the marathon in January.

I was pregnant with my oldest when I heard about the runDisney races back in 2011. I figured that training would be a great way to lose the baby weight and that it would be awesome to run on Disney property. My husband thought I was crazy since I had always hated running but I convinced hm it would be fun. Most importantly, it got me back to Disney quicker than we had planned!

 

[Ariel484]

Newbie question: If you are swept by the balloon ladies, do you still get the medal? I ask because some weeks ago I read on this or another thread here a discussion about people who stop and wait to be swept, even though they have time & capability to finish the race, and I got the impression that they still got the medal for that race. Is that what happens? DH and I are running (well, participating in) the 5K with DD and DSiL, and while we'll train to achieve the pace necessary and will make an honest effort to finish the race, I'm not sure at this point that we'll be able to. I've assumed that if we were swept we'd forfeit the medal, but if that's not the case it might make the difference between starting the race or giving up before the start (especially for DH, who was sort of coerced into this by DD and me!).

If you're swept, you get the race medal. There are conflicting reports on whether you get any applicable challenge medals.

Having said that...you DO have plenty of time to train, and I don't know that I've ever heard of someone being swept during a 5K. They have to clear Epcot at some point to open the park, but I don't think they do a hard sweep.

 

[CarolynFH]

If you're swept, you get the race medal. There are conflicting reports on whether you get any applicable challenge medals.

Having said that...you DO have plenty of time to train, and I don't know that I've ever heard of someone being swept during a 5K. They have to clear Epcot at some point to open the park, but I don't think they do a hard sweep.

Thanks - yes, we have plenty of time to train, but since we're currently walking 23-minute miles (and won't be working on speed until October when the heat & humidity ease off here) I've been wondering whether we'll be able to run/walk fast enough to stop for quick photos and still finish ahead of the balloon ladies! Good to know that if we make the effort, we'll get the medal.

 

[Disney at Heart]

This week's Sundays are for Disney question: how many runDisney events have you done and why did you choose to do a Disney race?

Reason I chose Disney races:
I've attended almost every WDW maration weekend since the first one in 1994 because DH ran the first and most of the other marathons since then. (I think he's missed only 3 due to work/ family obligagions.) He is perfectly Goofy and Dopey. I started running Feb. 2013 just before I retired from teaching high school English, (and, yes, I do notice people's grammar* but I promise never to comment on it! ), and I decided to join him. Since then I have run

2013 Tower of Terror
2014 WDW Half Marathon
2014 Jingle Jungle and W&D Half Marathon Splash and Dash
2015 Minnie 10K and WDW Half Marathon
2015 DL 5k, 10K, and Half Marathon Dumbo Double Dare
2015 Jingle Jungle and W&D Half of a Half Marathon
2016 WDW 5K and Marathon

7 weekends and 13 races

Upcoming:
2016 Avengers 5K, 10k, Half Marathon
2017 Dopey Challenge-5k, 10k, Half Marathon, Marathon

*You guys are top notch grammarians!

 

[Keels]

Thanks - yes, we have plenty of time to train, but since we're currently walking 23-minute miles (and won't be working on speed until October when the heat & humidity ease off here) I've been wondering whether we'll be able to run/walk fast enough to stop for quick photos and still finish ahead of the balloon ladies! Good to know that if we make the effort, we'll get the medal.

RunDisney is pretty explicit about the 16:00/mile pacing requirement and they encourage training for a 15:00/mile. I'm afraid that at 23:00/mile you are mostly definitely in danger of being picked up by a golf cart and taken to the finish, but other than that, if you're planning on character stops the characters will already likely have been pulled from the course by then because of time restrictions. They're slated to appear on a strict time schedule, not a fluid schedule based on the runners on the course.

I know they swept the course at Jingle Jungle and there were reports of people being taken to the finish in golf carts during Princess, so you most certainly can be swept.

EDIT: And they did, in fact, sweep at Star Wars 5K in April. I have a FB friend that was swept and posted about it.

 

[Ariel484]

Thanks - yes, we have plenty of time to train, but since we're currently walking 23-minute miles (and won't be working on speed until October when the heat & humidity ease off here) I've been wondering whether we'll be able to run/walk fast enough to stop for quick photos and still finish ahead of the balloon ladies! Good to know that if we make the effort, we'll get the medal.

You're going to want to prepare for all kinds of weather. In 2013 there was a heat advisory during Marathon weekend...in 2015 there was a windchill warning.

And like @Keels said, they'll pull the characters eventually. If you really feel you'll get swept, unfortunately you may want to re-think stopping for pictures.

 

[rteetz]

You're going to want to prepare for all kinds of weather. In 2013 there was a heat advisory during Marathon weekend...in 2015 there was a windchill warning.

And like @Keels said, they'll pull the characters eventually. If you really feel you'll get swept, unfortunately you may want to re-think stopping for pictures.

2015 was not fun. I came from Wisconsin for warmer weather not the same weather I had back home lol.

 

[Keels]

Yeah, this year during Marathon Weekend we got to experience the full range of conditions that Mother Nature had to offer.

5K - it was windy and pretty chilly (I don't like cold, so it bugged me).
10K - poured rain. Soaking rain storm.
Half - temperature was perfect but it was SUPER humid and so foggy, you could barely see very far in front of you.
Marathon - it was almost 70 with 100-percent humidity at race start and only got hotter and muggier from there. I saw so many people down on the course, it was concerning.