Marathon Weekend 2022

[Chasing Dopey]

No, it is my belief these are two separate things. I'd be hard pressed to see a justification for dropping the POT even lower solely because of a decreased number of bibs available. Like what would the line of reasoning be? It was clear with Wine and Dine 2021 and Marathon Weekend 2021, that runDisney's intent was to drop the POT cutoffs lower. They had previously been 2:45 and 5:30, but were moved to 2:30 and 5:00. You could make the argument that this also coincided with a presumed decrease bib count for those races as well. But I personally see this as a move for runDisney to further attempt to boost the perceived value of Club runDisney, and additionally for a multitude of reasons (verifying POT, answering emails, dealing with changes at expo, etc.) lower the total workload on the backend. But I don't know these things definitively and this is merely my opinion and based on my view of how runDisney has operated since 2014. I could easily be wrong.

You think so? At least for Wine & Dine, how ON EARTH can they get 13,000 people down that course if 10,000 are basically all mixed up? We know the most dishonest on their expected time will be among the slowest, they don't instruct newbies correctly, (at our last couple, even Galloway kept saying 'walk to the side', not 'walk on the right'!), and the current mania that sweeps through rD over the balloon ladies will have others just plopping down 2:05 that otherwise wouldn't. Having seen first hand a couple snafus (first Dark Side 10K, for example), I just don't see it. Unless, of course, there are no actual runners involved with this, which might have answered my own question.

 

[camaker]

You think so? At least for Wine & Dine, how ON EARTH can they get 13,000 people down that course if 10,000 are basically all mixed up? We know the most dishonest on their expected time will be among the slowest, they don't instruct newbies correctly, (at our last couple, even Galloway kept saying 'walk to the side', not 'walk on the right'!), and the current mania that sweeps through rD over the ballon ladies will have others just plopping down 2:05 that otherwise wouldn't. Having seen first hand a couple snafus (first Dark Side 10K, for example), I just don't see it. Unless, of course, there are no actual runners involved with this, which might have answered my own question.

‘They’ve largely addressed the issue of large corrals leading to course congestion through the release of corrals in “mini-waves”. Those mini-waves limit the number of runners hitting the course at the same time and give the herd time to thin before introducing the next bolus of runners. It’s not perfect, but with a large majority of runners already falling into the “no-PoT” corrals where there’s no real sorting anyway, I don’t think this will make that much of a difference in congestion.

ETA: It’s also my understanding that TrackShack, a professional race organization, does most of the administration of the actual races and corralling, so I don’t think it’s likely that there were no actual runners involved.

 

[princesspirateandrunner]

Who else ran Peachtree this morning? Wasn’t it amazing to be back in a big race that looked (kind of) normal?

DH and I guessed correctly on MW dates, and rented points to book at OKW for 7-11 January. We are planning for Goofy this time, but will be out of town on an anniversary trip when registration opens, so we’re a bit nervous about getting in. We’ve done the marathon in 2016, 2019, and 2020, so Goofy tempts us now.

Although I’ve missed the Disney night races, and wish they’d come back, does anyone else feel like we’re backing into them by making the start time earlier and earlier? If I have to be on a bus at 2:30 am for a 5:00 start, let’s just back it up a little more and call it a night race.

 

[Chasing Dopey]

‘They’ve largely addressed the issue of large corrals leading to course congestion through the release of corrals in “mini-waves”. Those mini-waves limit the number of runners hitting the course at the same time and give the herd time to thin before introducing the next bolus of runners. It’s not perfect, but with a large majority of runners already falling into the “no-PoT” corrals where there’s no real sorting anyway, I don’t think this will make that much of a difference in congestion.

ETA: It’s also my understanding that TrackShack, a professional race organization, does most of the administration of the actual races and corralling, so I don’t think it’s likely that there were no actual runners involved.

Yeah, Track Shack handles all the race logistics, but the rest of it is a total mystery. I've seen the mini-waves up close and personal, and while they may help, the affect is small. Not enough for this. The old giant corrals didn't have all the 9:10-12:35/mile runners in with the 16:00+.

 

[DopeyBadger]

You think so? At least for Wine & Dine, how ON EARTH can they get 13,000 people down that course if 10,000 are basically all mixed up? We know the most dishonest on their expected time will be among the slowest, they don't instruct newbies correctly, (at our last couple, even Galloway kept saying 'walk to the side', not 'walk on the right'!), and the current mania that sweeps through rD over the balloon ladies will have others just plopping down 2:05 that otherwise wouldn't. Having seen first hand a couple snafus (first Dark Side 10K, for example), I just don't see it. Unless, of course, there are no actual runners involved with this, which might have answered my own question.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing it's a good idea. If it were me I would have moved the POT to 3 hours, not moved it to 2 hours. As I outlined in other posts, it's my expectation to see that first non-POT corral hold somewhere around 32-42%. They'll have mini-waves and they'll do their best to handle it on the day of. But the decrease on back-end work and propping up Club runDisney seems like the play they're going for. I guess think of it best like the current 5k/10k system for 90% of the runners.

 

[flav]

‘They’ve largely addressed the issue of large corrals leading to course congestion through the release of corrals in “mini-waves”. Those mini-waves limit the number of runners hitting the course at the same time and give the herd time to thin before introducing the next bolus of runners. It’s not perfect, but with a large majority of runners already falling into the “no-PoT” corrals where there’s no real sorting anyway, I don’t think this will make that much of a difference in congestion.

ETA: It’s also my understanding that TrackShack, a professional race organization, does most of the administration of the actual races and corralling, so I don’t think it’s likely that there were no actual runners involved.

Just to add my perspective. I had POT that placed me in early corrals. I stopped for most character photos so by the third character the slower corrals had caught up to me. By mid race, I had trouble running because there was a wall of people in front of me. I did beat all my PW (personal worst) during Dopey. No regrets but next time I would try to balance my experience a bit differently. I suspect that in the first half of the race, it is possible to pass if someone wants to go faster. It gets harder as the race progresses.

 

[Genieyourefree]

Who else ran Peachtree this morning? Wasn’t it amazing to be back in a big race that looked (kind of) normal?

I was a volunteer today and I run tomorrow, but it was so amazing to be back in the race scene ! It made me so excited to run Disney again

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Just to add my perspective. I had POT that placed me in early corrals. I stopped for most character photos so by the third character the slower corrals had caught up to me. By mid race, I had trouble running because there was a wall of people in front of me. I did beat all my PW (personal worst) during Dopey. No regrets but next time I would try to balance my experience a bit differently. I suspect that in the first half of the race, it is possible to pass if someone wants to go faster. It gets harder as the race progresses.

This happens to me every year. I train for a 4 hour marathon but actually complete it in about 6 hours. I stop at every mile marker and every character and I ride Everest.

When I ran NYC, I did something similar. Trained for 4:30 marathon and stopped many, many times along the course to sing with bands, drink beer and have fun. Took me more than 6 hours to complete the race. But these are the best races of my life.

 

[huskies90]

I think the POT change is more about the administrative overhead than anything else. At the end of the day, these are suppose to be races and should it really be on the race organization to figure out who has earned the right to stop at more character stops than someone else? (unless, of course, you shelled out the big $$ to be a platinum club member). I think the change is more about still giving the fast runners an opportunity to place in the race or in their age group and then just using the mini waves to help spread folks out at the start. Much easier to administer than verifying thousands of times and probably yields the same results from a race perspective. Heck, we don’t even know if there will be character stops at these races.

 

[sandam1]

Either way I probably wouldn't schedule a flight before 5pm at the absolute earliest. Keep in mind this is just a logistics exercise. It doesn't take into account the fact that you just completed a Marathon/Goofy/Dopey which undoubtedly will leave you tired and sore. So I would go with the latest possible flight as long as it is later than 5pm.

To add to DopeyBader's timeline, add in the appropriate time to shower - please don't even think of getting on a plane without doing this - and eat at least one solid meal. I know that many hotels have showers at the pool that you could use if you've already checked out.

Add in extra time to do everything since you will likely be moving sloooooowly.

 

[shellott-hill]

To add to DopeyBader's timeline, add in the appropriate time to shower - please don't even think of getting on a plane without doing this - and eat at least one solid meal. I know that many hotels have showers at the pool that you could use if you've already checked out.

Add in extra time to do everything since you will likely be moving sloooooowly.

I can't even imagine having to sit still on a plane immediately following a race. That would be some serious pain. I would have to request a wheel chair to exit the flight.

Also, how the heck do you get the flight attendants to provide you with enough hydration on the flight. They would not have time for any other person on the plane!

 

[Livelovedance]

I’m planning for my first marathon in 2022. I’m already taking days off for the 50th anniversary weekend, which makes my time off for the rest of the year limited, but it’s a day I don’t want to miss! So I can understand having the possibility of needing to fly out on marathon day.

My plan is to fly in Friday after work (which is iffy due to limited flights recently), expo Saturday morning, race Sunday, and fly home Monday morning so I’m only taking off one day. I know there’ll be limited merch by that point, but I plan to preorder what I can and see what’s left by Saturday. I just hope I don’t oversleep and miss that Monday flight!

 

[lhermiston]

Good morning, runDisney all-stars! We are 184 days away from marathon weekend!

For this week’s Sundays are for Disney, what is your all-time favorite nighttime show at Disney?

Have a great week, everyone!

 

[MissLiss279]

SAFD:
I really enjoyed the original Star Wars Fireworks show at HS before the current one with projections. I only got to see it once, but it was pretty great!

 

[Carol_]

For this week’s Sundays are for Disney, what is your all-time favorite nighttime show at Disney?

I like to be back at the resort for shows… so…

 

[GreatLakes]

Well, up until yesterday I didn't think I'd be doing a run Disney events until the fall of 2022 but my wife decided she wants to go for marathon weekend.

I'll be doing the full and she's going to do the 5K provided we can get bibs. Booked a room at pop but we're hoping some inventory opens up and we can move somewhere else.

 

[princesspirateandrunner]

SAFD: Definitely Illuminations!

 

[Baloo in MI]

SAFD:
Disneyland’s Fantasmic is my favorite. I am old enough to remember when it was new. The first time I saw it I remember being simply blown away!

 

[FFigawi]

SAFD: illuminations, with the MK fireworks seen from CA Grill or the docks at GF a close second

 

[jmasgat]

SAFD: Not really "nighttime", but I have fond memories of Tapestry of Nations parade. The costumes, puppets, performers, color...it was a nice offering.

And c'mon, for pure Disney retro fun, the Electrical Water Pageant is good. (although I should have thought about that when I asked for an end room overlooking the lake when I did my first half marathon. Lying in bed trying to sleep and all of a sudden....EWP!)