Marathon Weekend 2017!

[pklein09]

I've been reading this thread since we signed our son up for the 5K in June (through a charity). It was his 16th birthday present. He runs cross country, winter track, and spring track, and this seemed like the perfect gift for him. He had a blast!!! Talk about a runner's high! We had never experienced anything like this before.

His time was good, and he got into Corral A. We'd never done this before, so he went right in at 5:00 am. He was in the first wave of runners released. His time was 19:31 or so (I wished they would just time the 5K. They time the kids races....) It's not a great time for him (his PR is sub 18), but he'd been sick for 2 weeks and really hadn't run. He also only did some warm up exercises, but no warm up run. He kicked past someone at the finish line, and finished with a bunch of men almost twice his age or older. He was proud of himself for keeping up with these more experienced runners. A few spoke with him after the race (in the parking lot and in the parks/busses later in the day), and complimented him when they found out his age. One of the guys said to him in the parking lot...."Hey, let's jump in the line and do this again!"

It was fantastic! He entered the race not fathoming a marathon to the end of the race when he said, "Yeah, I would do a Dopey." Thank you to all who posted on this thread. The information here helped us plan and figure out how to approach the expo and race itself. The charity got the bib from was not great with information.

Thanks again!

--One Proud and Happy Mom

 

[croach]

I've been reading this thread since we signed our son up for the 5K in June (through a charity). It was his 16th birthday present. He runs cross country, winter track, and spring track, and this seemed like the perfect gift for him. He had a blast!!! Talk about a runner's high! We had never experienced anything like this before.

His time was good, and he got into Corral A. We'd never done this before, so he went right in at 5:00 am. He was in the first wave of runners released. His time was 19:31 or so (I wished they would just time the 5K. They time the kids races....) It's not a great time for him (his PR is sub 18), but he'd been sick for 2 weeks and really hadn't run. He also only did some warm up exercises, but no warm up run. He kicked past someone at the finish line, and finished with a bunch of men almost twice his age or older. He was proud of himself for keeping up with these more experienced runners. A few spoke with him after the race (in the parking lot and in the parks/busses later in the day), and complimented him when they found out his age. One of the guys said to him in the parking lot...."Hey, let's jump in the line and do this again!"

It was fantastic! He entered the race not fathoming a marathon to the end of the race when he said, "Yeah, I would do a Dopey." Thank you to all who posted on this thread. The information here helped us plan and figure out how to approach the expo and race itself. The charity got the bib from was not great with information.

Thanks again!

--One Proud and Happy Mom

Great time. Congrats to your son!

 

[2girlsR2good]

How crowded were the parks this year? I'm thinking of Goofy next year... but not if i'm facing crowds. I'd be hitting parks after the marathon, not before.

The Touring Plans Crowd Calendar has 10,10,10,7,7,7,6,6 for WDW Crowd levels from 1/4 to 1/11 this year. I can handle 7's and 6's

I have to say that I was expecting folks to clear out after the marathon and that was not quite the case. IMO, MK was super busy on Monday the 9th. Not holiday level, but definitely what I've seen during spring break trips. I think it's a great time for people with preschoolers to take a vacation--ties to holidays, but not prime time. Epcot was a little better on Tuesday, but it's always a little easier. We ditched HS for Epcot based on the crowds we were seeing.

 

[Princess KP]

Electronic gift cards for the half arrived!

Do you know if the electronic gift cards are transferable?

 

[lhermiston]

I'm taking a stab at my first trip report, if anyone is interested.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/th...me-anyway-a-2017-marathon-weekend-tr.3571352/

 

[Castle2Castle]

I have to say that I was expecting folks to clear out after the marathon and that was not quite the case. IMO, MK was super busy on Monday the 9th. Not holiday level, but definitely what I've seen during spring break trips. I think it's a great time for people with preschoolers to take a vacation--ties to holidays, but not prime time. Epcot was a little better on Tuesday, but it's always a little easier. We ditched HS for Epcot based on the crowds we were seeing.

@JClimacus

One thing to think about from 2017 to 2018, that I wasn't thinking about until I got home and talked to some people, is that the national championship NCAAF game was played just over an hour away in Tampa on Monday after the marathon. We saw a lot of Clemson and Alabama fans throughout the parks, but I hadn't paid any attention as to where the game was being played. A lot of families may have done double duty, hitting the parks before and after the game to keep crowd levels a bit higher than usual.

The 2018 championship game will be on January 8 in Atlanta, so at least some of the people we saw this weekend probably won't do the same thing next year.

 

[dburg30]

It was busy, but wasnt pre marathon, or even middle of October busy.. Which this last October was insane on all the parks.. Wasnt any holiday involved either..

 

[Nole95]

I think part of the issue this year was marathon weekend being so close to New Year, and it will be just as close next year. This was our third marathon weekend, and the the park crowds were by far the worst we have ever seen.

First marathon we did was January 12, 2014 and the next one was January 11, 2015. That gave plenty of time for New Year crowds to clear out. I guess we're at a point in the calendar cycle where these dates are just close together.

 

[1lilspark]

@JClimacus

One thing to think about from 2017 to 2018, that I wasn't thinking about until I got home and talked to some people, is that the national championship NCAAF game was played just over an hour away in Tampa on Monday after the marathon. We saw a lot of Clemson and Alabama fans throughout the parks, but I hadn't paid any attention as to where the game was being played. A lot of families may have done double duty, hitting the parks before and after the game to keep crowd levels a bit higher than usual.

The 2018 championship game will be on January 8 in Atlanta, so at least some of the people we saw this weekend probably won't do the same thing next year.

I live right between Disney and Tampa and when I got to work Monday I teased that we didn't get the memo to wear orange as there were van loads of Clemson fans at our store

 

[GreatLakes]

I just wanted to pop into this thread and let those of you caught out by the cancelled half that I really feel for you. I understand the safety concerns but the disappointment of training for a destination race only to have it cancelled is palpable, especially if this is your first attempt at the half or one of the challenges.

 

[ZellyB]

For anybody interested in hearing about our race weekend, I've started up a trip report.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/th...–-a-2017-goofy-challenge-trip-report.3571469/

 

[Ariel484]

Got my gift card today! Again, very impressed with how runDisney has handled the canceling of the half.

For anyone waiting, the email comes from Disney Gift Card Services.

 

[FFigawi]

Got my gift card today! Again, very impressed with how runDisney has handled the canceling of the half.

For anyone waiting, the email comes from Disney Gift Card Services.

Still waiting........

 

[CarolynFH]

Anyone choosing to defer registration to a different half heard anything yet? DD & DSiL sent emails today, hoping to register for W&D.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I have finished my trip report and race recaps from my 2017 Dopey Challenge if anyone is interested in reading. Link

Can't wait to finally start reading through everyone else's trips now!

 

[alexksmith]

Still waiting........

Haven't gotten mine yet either. At what point is it appropriate or necessary to send them an email, do you think?

 

[Ariel484]

Keep in mind that runDisney is at Star Wars this weekend...it's possible they could have handed gift card refunds off to another department, but I think they themselves would need to handle the deferrals. And again, 26K runners to take care of...

 

[Baloo in MI]

Excited to read all these trip reports @Ariel484, @DopeyBadger, @lhermiston, and @ZellyB!

It is like going on vacation again, looking forward to each one!

 

[Nole95]

@DopeyBadger

Compression calf sleeves are something I have never incorporated into my running routine or post run recovery. Looking for some info on the benefits of this and what brands might be best to look into.

 

[lhermiston]

Can anyone else who has started a TR link them here? I'd love to follow along.