Marathon Weekend 2021

[FFigawi]

I've only done the full marathon. However, time constraints are one difference - perhaps the main difference? - for the half marathons. Both HMs follow the marathon course for most of their distances. The north HM follows the first half of the marathon course, and the south HM follows the second half of the marathon course. So, there is a time limit (4.5 hours, I think) for the north HM, because they expect marathoners to have cleared the first half of the marathon course by then. The south HM has the full marathon time limit (some 7 hours), so it's essentially unlimited time.

I felt like the north half was a little shadier (it was very hot and sunny this past year), but that may just be because it was earlier in the morning.

The south course is also the party course. The homeowners along the road hand out booze, brats, bacon, and all kinds of other goodies to keep you well fueled and well hydrated.

 

[Desdemona924]

@DopeyBadger How will these time be effected given this club RunDisney will promote people up corals if they pay enough?. im guessing if you have a very close time (My current POT is a HM of 1:42:35) then you may find yourself switching back a coral so they can promote others?

The highest you can be put in to via the club is F. If you earn a higher spot, you won't be affected, or moved up.

 

[DopeyBadger]

@DopeyBadger How will these time be effected given this club RunDisney will promote people up corals if they pay enough?. im guessing if you have a very close time (My current POT is a HM of 1:42:35) then you may find yourself switching back a coral so they can promote others?

The highest you can be put in to via the club is F. If you earn a higher spot, you won't be affected, or moved up.

It is my guess that @Desdemona924 is correct. Although, I haven't seen it in print anywhere, but I too believe that at the max club runDisney members will be placed in F (or higher if qualified via POT as higher). Since the corrals are set by time and not by the number of runners that are in each corral, it's my guess that the POT system will remain unaffected by club runDisney. In the past, the corrals used to be filled by # in each (like 2000 runners), but with the advent of mini-waves runDisney has moved to less corrals, more mini-waves, and set time constraints for POT. Doesn't mean runDisney won't change the POT system for other reasons, but I think they're happy with the current system of which my estimates are based off of.

 

[Dopey 2020]

Just to add some info to corral times from personal experience and for anyone who is within seconds of the cutofff. It seems that runDisney drops the seconds from your POT. I say that because not only are they not listed on their charts but it happened to help me three times. When I was slowly moving up in corrals I submitted a 10K time that equated to 2:00:48 and was place in ‘B’ (1:50-2:00) then ran a 2:00:13 HM and was again placed in ‘B’ for the next two races with the new time. I can’t say that’s the policy for sure but after three separate races I have to believe it is and would think they do the same with the full.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Just to add some info to corral times from personal experience and for anyone who is within seconds of the cutofff. It seems that runDisney drops the seconds from your POT. I say that because not only are they not listed on their charts but it happened to help me three times. When I was slowly moving up in corrals I submitted a 10K time that equated to 2:00:48 and was place in ‘B’ (1:50-2:00) then ran a 2:00:13 HM and was again placed in ‘B’ for the next two races with the new time. I can’t say that’s the policy for sure but after three separate races I have to believe it is and would think they do the same with the full.

What was the 10k time? I like to collect cases near the cutoffs to further hone in on a calculation.

The 2:00:13 HM getting into a "B" HM corral is an oddity that I can't really explain based on what I've gathered on past experiences.

 

[Dopey 2020]

What was the 10k time? I like to collect cases near the cutoffs to further hone in on a calculation.

The 2:00:13 HM getting into a "B" HM corral is an oddity that I can't really explain based on what I've gathered on past experiences.

It was a 54:41 at the 2018 Princess that got me into B for Wine and Dine (too late for Star Wars 2018 which was C)
Wine and Dine was my 2:00:13 which put me in B for the 2019 Princess and SW where I finally got sub 2 that I used for B at 2019 W and D where I then got my A time

looking at it now I am mistaken on the 2:00:48, using a few different sites it equates to a 2:00:39 but still an oddity where it seems the seconds don’t matter

I should add that this was just after rD announced they were going to use a standardized calculation as opposed to whatever they were using before and started assigning corrals based on their current time charts instead of always changing times each race

 

[ANIM8R]

I'm extremely interested in Space Coast, but two questions...

First, on the site it shows two courses - north and south. Is that really the case? If so, how do you pick?

Yep - two courses.

To make a long story short () - the half marathon used to be only the south course (6.5 out and 6.5 back). The marathon used to head north 6.5 miles, then back to the start then run the south course (6.5 out-and-back). However, the half used to sell out quick. I think that's why they added the north half. The bad news is the marathon route (at least for the first half) became a little more crowded but the overall race became larger as there were more runners able to participate.

In my opinion, they're both comparable - beautiful scenery, AMAZING homes, very flat (small, rolling hills but that's it). The appeal of the North is that you can see the NASA buildings from the course. The appeal of the South course is the 7-hour (!) time limit...since it also includes the marathoners completing their final 13 miles.

I usually run the full but this past year I ran the half and picked the South course only because every other time I ran the South course, I was already 13 miles into it and, this time, I wanted to "enjoy" that part of the course. I think the South has more crowd support - and by that I mean people holding lawn parties and offering drinks and food on their own.

 

[DopeyBadger]

It was a 54:41 at the 2018 Princess that got me into B for Wine and Dine (too late for Star Wars 2018 which was C)

looking at it now I am mistaken on the 2:00:48, using a few different sites it equates to a 2:00:39 but still an oddity where it seems the seconds don’t matter

I should add that this was just after rD announced they were going to use a standardized calculation as opposed to whatever they were using before and started assigning corrals based on their current time charts instead of always changing times each race

Yea, that's definitely right in my grey area. I've got the estimated cutoff for corral B for a HM at 54:37 and you ran a 54:41 (so a +4 sec difference). Based on past data, I believe the calculation runDisney uses for the HM corrals is very close to:

T2 = T1 X (D2/D1)^1.055

So your 54:41 is a 2:00:13 based on this calculation. The calculation would just have to shift by 0.002 (1.053 value for R) to have your 54:41 become a sub-2. That's well within my margin of error on my estimates.

I once saw a father/son split by 1 second on their 10k times (50:14 vs 50:15) and the faster received one of the last "A" bibs and the slower received one of the first "B" bibs. Based on the above calculation, they would have an adjusted HM time difference of only 2 seconds.

That's why I always try to point out that the chart I made is a good guess but by no means anywhere near perfect.

 

[PrincessV]

OK. I have a question for everyone that does the Dopey Challenge. Would you make the Disney Marathon in January your first marathon you ever did?

The WDW Marathon was my first full, but I did not do it as part of Dopey - I did the 10K and marathon that year. The following year I did Dopey. In hindsight, I'm really glad I did it that way, as it allowed me the opportunity to focus on the marathon as a single entity and really enjoy it for what it is on its own. At mile 25, I felt good and knew that Goofy or Dopey were completely possible, too, which was a nice feeling to have before diving into Dopey the following year.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

OK. I have a question for everyone that does the Dopey Challenge. Would you make the Disney Marathon in January your first marathon you ever did?

My husband did the Disney Marathon as his first marathon ever as the sole weekend event that year (2018). He then went up to Goofy the next year and finally tried Dopey this year. He's going back to Goofy now.

To do the Dopey as your first marathon would really depend on your running history and amount of training you can do. The 4 early mornings in a row is one of the roughest parts of Dopey. I didn't even run but it still dragged me down as if he was up, I was up.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

For this week’s Sundays are for Disney, what has been your favorite non-Disney that you’ve run?

I don’t race a lot, but I really enjoyed The Good Life Halfsy in Lincoln, Ne. Perfect size, well organized and fun atmosphere!

 

[MissLiss279]

I don’t race a lot, but I really enjoyed The Good Life Halfsy in Lincoln, Ne. Perfect size, well organized and fun atmosphere!

I have ran this one. It was a well organized and fun race! I have several friends who run it every year.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

I have ran this one. It was a well organized and fun race! I have several friends who run it every year.

Awesome! I hope to run it again- maybe this year?
I’ve ran another race by the same company (Pink Gorilla) and it was great too.

 

[Princess KP]

SAFD: My favorite non-Disney race is Chicago. Like @michigandergirl said, the crowd support and energy is amazing.
My favorite local race is the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront. Lots of fun, scenic and I like seeing those that are trying to break Guinness World Records.

 

[avondale]

The south course is also the party course. The homeowners along the road hand out booze, brats, bacon, and all kinds of other goodies to keep you well fueled and well hydrated.

I must have been too zombified to have noticed that in the second half of the full this past year. I did, however, see the taco sign guy maybe 7 times throughout the whole marathon, in different places.

 

[bearybubba]

Thank you to everyone who answered my question about Disney being a 1st marathon. My husband appreciates all of the feedback. His work schedule usually doesn't permit him to do Marathon Weekend but next year it does. So much for him saying he will never run a full marathon!!! Thanks again, guys!

 

[JBinORL]

I had a 50:22 10k and always got in B for halfs (2x W&D, 2x MW)

 

[kilowan]

OK. I have a question for everyone that does the Dopey Challenge. Would you make the Disney Marathon in January your first marathon you ever did?

It was my first in 2019

 

[Tinker-belle23]

I think I'm in for my first full marathon. Debating doing the marathon as a stand alone or doing the 10k and the full. I've done 3 half marathons and & the Fairytale Challenge this past weekend. Come May I'll be up to 5 half marathons and think I'm ready to tackle a full. I'm too chicken to attempt Dopey just yet though!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I think I'm in for my first full marathon. Debating doing the marathon as a stand alone or doing the 10k and the full. I've done 3 half marathons and & the Fairytale Challenge this past weekend. Come May I'll be up to 5 half marathons and think I'm ready to tackle a full. I'm too chicken to attempt Dopey just yet though!

I understand that line of reasoning. It took me 8 half marathons, including one on just 3 weeks training, 6 Star Wars Challenge weekends including 1 all 3 distances of race weekend before I felt like I actually wanted to attempt the marathon. I don't know that I would have even attempted Dopey as part of my first marathon had I not already done the challenge weekends and then spent the week afterward in Disney World.

While it worked for me, it may not work for everyone. I believe that each individual is the best judge of when they're ready for the marathon if they ever decide they want to run one.