Marathon Weekend 2017!

[croach]

Thanks, that's a great idea. Apparently, they're maxing their rates for that weekend. For example, Pop is $102/nt on all the surrounding dates, but $140/nt for the Marathon weekend nights.

Travel agent with group rates might get you a better price. One I'm using has Pop Century for $93.50/night. And you can book now.

 

[hauntedcity]

My goal is to have fun at the Half, have a great dinner the night after, and have enough in the tank to explore Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley on Sunday (shhh... don't tell The Mouse)!

 

[sammykster]

Marathon Weekend Goals

So, let's hear them! What's your goal?

I have been thinking about this and have a few basic ones. I want to finish Dopey and would like to have a better time in the full than I had last year with my first! I really struggled with humidity (WI trainer here) and came in much later than I had hoped! I also want to try really hard to stick to my no park time plan. I tend to go all out every single day and that just isn't going to go well while trying to get up early and run the races. Maybe one day for DATW on Monday but definitely not leading up to the races - trying to stay at a nicer resort this time so I can relax there and maybe do some Disney Springs!

 

[Diskidatheart]

Marathon Weekend Goals

Now that registration is out of the way for most of us, I'd love to hear your goals for Marathon Weekend. Here's how I see goals. They're personal. You chose it because that goal means something to you. It's important to you. Which means your goal is important to me. No goal is too big or too small. The person's goal to finish their first 5K and another's to take down Michael Wardian's Dopey World Record are equally important to me. So, I'd love to hear yours. And yes, even the super secret I don't want to admit it goals.

Here are some ideas if you haven't thought about it:

Finish my first: 5K, 10K, Half, Full, Goofy, Dopey
Finish with a time goal
Run a race with a family member
Overcome an adversity in your life
Drink a beer or margarita at a certain mile marker
Participate in DATW (Drinking Around the World) *Happens on Monday in EPCOT (ask @FFigawi about it)
Beat a family member
Get as many character photos as possible
Get a character photo with a certain character
Do lots of park time and enjoy the races
Have fun

So, let's hear them! What's your goal?

My goal is to have as much fun as I possibly can. My first marathon was part of Dopey and my goal was to run a sub 4-hour marathon...and I did. I always say that I am so glad that my first marathon went as well as it did, but if I ever do Dopey again (which I am ), I will just take it all in, take pictures, ride Everest, have a beer and pretzel in hand coming across the finish, and if it takes me 6 hours to do, then oh well.

With that being said, I have 3 goals:
- Cross the half marathon finish line with my wife (she's running her 2nd Disney half marathon)
- Ride Expedition Everest (and possibly any other rides that I can)
- Have a beer and pretzel in hand when crossing the finish line.

 

[rteetz]

Can you get a better rate for WDW hotels through RunDisney? I know when I booked DLR through them the savings was significant.

For WDW not so much. Disneyland and WDW are two different beasts.

 

[Ariel484]

Can you get a better rate for WDW hotels through RunDisney? I know when I booked DLR through them the savings was significant.

I booked through runDisney for my first race in 2011...then later I helped my mom and brother book a separate reservation. They ended up getting free dining, so that was NOT better than the rate I had booked. I haven't booked through them since then for a WDW race...

...but then I, like you, checked out their prices for Tink weekend, and WOW - big savings! Very surprising.

Definitely get a quote from them and maybe look at historical discounts for that time to get an idea (obviously not a guarantee that they would be the same). I ended up renting DVC points.

 

[theme_park_mom]

Should we dress up for marathon weekend? Or is that just for the Princess run?

 

[hauntedcity]

Should we dress up for marathon weekend? Or is that just for the Princess run?

It's for all Disney races!

 

[theme_park_mom]

It's for all Disney races!

Yay! I didn't want to show up looking like an idiot

 

[rteetz]

Should we dress up for marathon weekend? Or is that just for the Princess run?

Costumes are big at all RunDisney weekends. I love seeing everyone's costumes.

 

[sammykster]

As Ryan mentioned, you can just call and book now. As a repeat January resort booker, and someone who really dislikes making decisions on the phone without a visual, I've used this trick to get a sense of resort rates for early January before calling: I plug in December 31 as a check-in date and then January 9 as our check-out date. You'll be able to see rack rates for each night at the beginning of January by clicking "rate details." I like to look it up and consider that info before calling. I'll probably call to book our first few days in a value soon, and then when discounts pop up in the fall, I'll book January 4-9 at a deluxe (and our choice will depend on availability of discounts.)

Have you been able to get some information with this recently? I have been trying to click the rate details and get limited data! I think I'm in the wrong place and as is my usual nature - I'm already on overdrive thinking about planning for this trip lol

 

[hauntedcity]

Have you been able to get some information with this recently? I have been trying to click the rate details and get limited data! I think I'm in the wrong place and as is my usual nature - I'm already on overdrive thinking about planning for this trip lol

After you do your first search, don't click Rate Details there. You have to select a resort first, and then click THOSE Rate Details. It should give you a day-by-day breakdown of nightly rates. Does that help?

 

[rteetz]

Have you been able to get some information with this recently? I have been trying to click the rate details and get limited data! I think I'm in the wrong place and as is my usual nature - I'm already on overdrive thinking about planning for this trip lol

I've never done that but I know mouse savers is a great site that has discount history and rate history so you can get a good idea of what rates will be and what discounts might be available.

 

[sammykster]

After you do your first search, don't click Rate Details there. You have to select a resort first, and then click THOSE Rate Details. It should give you a day-by-day breakdown of nightly rates. Does that help?

Helps a lot, thank you!!

 

[Dis5150]

Marathon Weekend Goals

Now that registration is out of the way for most of us, I'd love to hear your goals for Marathon Weekend.

My goals are to train without injury, run it with my daughter and to have fun! I am running my first marathon in September so that I can go into the Disney Full knowing I can finish. I think that will take a lot of pressure off and allow us to have a more fun experience.

 

[lhermiston]

My goal is to have as much fun as I possibly can. My first marathon was part of Dopey and my goal was to run a sub 4-hour marathon...and I did. I always say that I am so glad that my first marathon went as well as it did, but if I ever do Dopey again (which I am ), I will just take it all in, take pictures, ride Everest, have a beer and pretzel in hand coming across the finish, and if it takes me 6 hours to do, then oh well.

With that being said, I have 3 goals:
- Cross the half marathon finish line with my wife (she's running her 2nd Disney half marathon)
- Ride Expedition Everest (and possibly any other rides that I can)
- Have a beer and pretzel in hand when crossing the finish line.

I assume you'll have someone in the crowd hooking you up with that beer and pretzel?

 

[CampbellScot]

If you didn't pay for the race retreat when you registered are you out of luck or can you purchase at a later date? I didn't see that option anywhere.

 

[mbwhitti]

Hey my rundisney peeps!! I'm in for Goofy 2017... don't know why I'm just joining the board. (Stupid work) I'm so so so excited to head back to Marathon weekend for the 3rd year in a row!!

 

[DHSsenior007]

DH and I are signed up for the half (his first, my second) and we are planning on more of a relaxed pace vs. actually racing it. One of the conditions of me convincing him to do it was that we wouldn't run the entire thing, but maybe do a 70/30 run/walk split. We don't have any current proofs of time (though he has done a 10K before in 2014) we can submit for our corrals, but we were wanting to be around the 2:30-2:45 mark.

My question to you is would it be worth it to do a 10K between now and October 4 so we can submit POT to get an earlier corral placement? Or is the back corral really not too bad? Thanks!

 

[surfde22]

DH and I are signed up for the half (his first, my second) and we are planning on more of a relaxed pace vs. actually racing it. One of the conditions of me convincing him to do it was that we wouldn't run the entire thing, but maybe do a 70/30 run/walk split. We don't have any current proofs of time (though he has done a 10K before in 2014) we can submit for our corrals, but we were wanting to be around the 2:30-2:45 mark.

My question to you is would it be worth it to do a 10K between now and October 4 so we can submit POT to get an earlier corral placement? Or is the back corral really not too bad? Thanks!

Based on your goal time a later corral shouldn't be a problem for finishing, but the course will be more crowded and the lines for any characters you may want to stop for will probably be longer. It wouldn't hurt to run a 10k if it fits into your training, but shouldn't be required based on your anticipated pace.