Marathon Weekend 2025

[jenljeffers1989]

Thank you! This is helpful. I'm now looking at the 10K road closures and trying to figure out if it makes more sense to drive or take the busses, both for coming and going. Am I reading it right that I won't be able to drive back to the Polynesian until 7 am?

 

[cburnett11]

A source I have inside of rundisney has confirmed that the corrals within corrals are planned for Marathon Weekend. They were still looking for Track Shack feedback, but as far as inside rundisney, that is the plan.

Would someone explain what this looks like? I went back to W&D thread to try and understand what was different, but didn’t find as much info as I hoped. Just curious if the “corrals within corrals” are pre-determined or if they are assigned based on how quickly you arrive to each of the lettered corrals?

 

[jmasgat]

Thank you! This is helpful. I'm now looking at the 10K road closures and trying to figure out if it makes more sense to drive or take the busses, both for coming and going. Am I reading it right that I won't be able to drive back to the Polynesian until 7 am?

Typically, they have people park over in the Gamora lot. The question is how much of Woodpecker lane will be closed, and will they route you past the closure so that you can get to Epcot Center Drive west. Worse case, you could exit Epcot Drive East and take Buena Vista to pick up World Drive North.

Just curious if the “corrals within corrals” are pre-determined or if they are assigned based on how quickly you arrive to each of the lettered corrals?

The latter.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

Would someone explain what this looks like? I went back to W&D thread to try and understand what was different, but didn’t find as much info as I hoped. Just curious if the “corrals within corrals” are pre-determined or if they are assigned based on how quickly you arrive to each of the lettered corrals?

yes - for the larger corrals, it was first come. So as soon as D, E, and F opened, they would herd you towards the first area designated by color until that filled up, then they go the next color, and so on. Do it was like, D Blue, D green, D red, each separate from the other by fencing up to the main fence at the shute where A, B, and C move in order to the start. So if you didn't get to the corral until 4:30, there were already 4 or 5 mini corrals full and closed that would be released into the start shute before you.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Would someone explain what this looks like? I went back to W&D thread to try and understand what was different, but didn’t find as much info as I hoped. Just curious if the “corrals within corrals” are pre-determined or if they are assigned based on how quickly you arrive to each of the lettered corrals?

Here's an image to help as well (I've added it to the DIS List). Pulled it from Facebook group from user Leslie R.



And the DIS List slide I made before the inside information suggested this was coming back again:

 

[Stitch&Co.]

SAFD: Training has been going well. If I can make it through the next few weeks without any injuries, I think I will go into the marathon in better shape than last year and hopefully finish in better shape too. I changed the way I warm up this year and I’ve been very careful to take my time and do it properly. Fueling has gone well, with no major issues. Now I just need to make sure I have enough for MW and my remaining long runs.

I find myself in the same situation as last year not knowing what shoes I am going to wear. I’ve been wearing the Brooks Adrenaline GTS, and they work great, but my feet were killing me after the marathon so I thought I would try something with more cushion and got a pair of the Glycerin GTS. I tried those for about a month, but they just didn’t work for me. So I went and got a new pair of New Balance 860’s yesterday. They seem to have some nice cushion to them, and I have had success with previous versions, so I am very optimistic. I will try them out tonight on a few easy miles and work up to my long mileage this weekend. If they can handle the remaining long milage then I think I will use those for the Marathon and the Adrenalines for the 10K.

 

[jrsharp21]

Here's an image to help as well (I've added it to the DIS List). Pulled it from Facebook group from user Leslie R.

View attachment 919103

And the DIS List slide I made before the inside information suggested this was coming back again:

View attachment 919104

So corral A already lined up at the starting line instead of being the first corral and then walking over?

 

[Disneyhanna]

I love the mini corral concept. Of course I haven't experienced it yet, so easy for me to say. But I like getting to the corrals early, but I always need a bathroom break, so this seems to work in my favor.

I'm sad the Brooks collab won't start til SS but at least they will be the guinea pigs and we can learn from that. No, I will not let this sway me into going to SS...Marathon and Princess are hot enough for me

The next day was rough (super sore), and I am struggling with lingering left quad pain. Going to take the next few days easy and see if it passes. As long as I can get one last good long run in, and some additional mileage hopefully it will be good?
This is my first marathon so I’m already nervous…..

As long as it's like lots of soreness and not sharp pains, I'd say to be expected. Those first couple runs beyond 15 miles hit me like a train! Took weeks for soreness to go away. It was much better by my 2nd marathon training cycle. But yeah if you ran 23 you'll be totally fine, just stay healthy now!

 

[nancipants]

I also like the idea of the mini corrals, so I can sit at the back of one and not be forced to stand up before it's actually time to march to the start line!

 

[GollyGadget]

So corral A already lined up at the starting line instead of being the first corral and then walking over?

Yes, that’s how it was this year anyway. Things are always subject to change of course.

 

[Zutroy]

So corral A already lined up at the starting line instead of being the first corral and then walking over?

Corral A is already in the chute, but maybe 30 feet from the starting line for the wheelchairs to start. B is farthest away, and walks in front of the other corrals to get behind A. I found this starting area has early choke points that make breaking away from the crowd difficult. Although the previous starting area required a long hike out, you started immediately on the open highway. Now there’s an almost immediate left turn, followed by a 180 degree right turn on a narrow course.

 

[Lemon Head]

SAFD: Bad... I think?

I did a PR at the Amsterdam Marathon 6 weeks ago and my legs are still in pieces. They fall apart most times I run.
My physio isnt too worried. She said endurance fitness does not leave you that quickly (plus a lot of its mental) so get the muscles right and the rest will be fine. But 5 weeks from Dopey I decided its time to grit my teeth and run through the pain.

I eat HM's for breakfast (sometimes literally. I'm a morning runner lol) so the first 3 days dont worry me. But I've no idea what a full marathon looks like in my current state. I'm guessing if I accept time isnt the game, only the finish line is then I might be ok.

It's a waiting game, nobody can help but I'm super nervous and feel like I need someone to hug me and tell me it will be ok lol!

 

[Stitch&Co.]

I wonder how things will be divided since there are 2 more corrals than there were for W&D? Isn't D the first non-POT corral now? Will D still have the most people or will they split things a little more evenly between D, E, F, & G?

 

[Stitch&Co.]

SAFD: Bad... I think?

I did a PR at the Amsterdam Marathon 6 weeks ago and my legs are still in pieces. They fall apart most times I run.
My physio isnt too worried. She said endurance fitness does not leave you that quickly (plus a lot of its mental) so get the muscles right and the rest will be fine. But 5 weeks from Dopey I decided its time to grit my teeth and run through the pain.

I eat HM's for breakfast so the first 3 days dont worry me. But I've no idea what a full marathon looks like in my current state. I'm guessing if I accept time isnt the game, only the finish line is then I might be ok.

It's a waiting game, nobody can help but I'm super nervous and feel like I need someone to hug me and tell me it will be ok lol!

You'll be fine. You've already done all the work, and a PR, so now it's time to just go out and enjoy yourself.

 

[Lemon Head]

You'll be fine. You've already done all the work, and a PR, so now it's time to just go out and enjoy yourself.

Thanks. Thats the only reason I agreed to do this so close to the Amsterdam one - I plan to treat the weekend as a bit more of a celebration than I do usual marathons. Character pics, DIS meet ups, rides, mid-run colas, Main Street at dawn.... lots of things to distract pained legs and reasons to discard time.

 

[jrsharp21]

Corral A is already in the chute, but maybe 30 feet from the starting line for the wheelchairs to start. B is farthest away, and walks in front of the other corrals to get behind A. I found this starting area has early choke points that make breaking away from the crowd difficult. Although the previous starting area required a long hike out, you started immediately on the open highway. Now there’s an almost immediate left turn, followed by a 180 degree right turn on a narrow course.

Did we start like this at MW this past year? For some reason I am thinking A was the first corral and then we walked over in front of the other corrals to the start. Maybe that was for the 5k/10k/half?

 

[DopeyBadger]

I wonder how things will be divided since there are 2 more corrals than there were for W&D? Isn't D the first non-POT corral now? Will D still have the most people or will they split things a little more evenly between D, E, F, & G?

RunDisney uses a rate release system. So the 500th person releases roughly the same length of time from the 1st and 1000th person. So I've always been able to use the distribution of the runners to determine roughly at what % of total time each individual person would be released from the corral. So we can use the image below, to reverse calculate roughly how many people are estimated to be within each corral.







Compared to historical data, these pretty much align. The HM/M corral A, B, C when using POTs of sub2, 2-2:15, 2:15-2:30 AND sub4, 4:00-4:30, 4:30-5:00 are historically in the 8-10% area based on previous runDisney populations. The first non-POT corral (D) is the one that surprises me at 16-18% because historical data would have suggested about 25-35% based on people's preponderance to choose the fastest non-POT since 2019 when the stats really changed. Almost like D/E is a split of people choosing the fastest non-POT, but that's just a guess. I would have guessed each 15 min (HM) or 30 min bracket (M) had their own, but the distribution against historical data makes me pause.

 

[The Expert]

So corral A already lined up at the starting line instead of being the first corral and then walking over?

Yes, and B also staged in the area that would normally be post-walkout. At W&D, we entered in the very first chute past the corral area checkpoint (on the far right when facing the screen/stage), but the area was much skinnier than before and there was no barrier holding us in that space. We just walked all the way into the staging area directly from the corral entry as we arrived. We were stopped behind A, before the hairpin turn to the actual start line, so A had that whole space for warmups and such. I ended up waiting just across the fence from the main stage with tons of room as we basically had the entire empty staging area behind us until they starting staging other corrals.

 

[GollyGadget]

Yes, and B also staged in the area that would normally be post-walkout. At W&D, we entered in the very first chute past the corral area checkpoint (on the far right when facing the screen/stage), but the area was much skinner than before and there was no barrier holding us in that space. We just walked all the way into the staging area directly from the corral entry as we arrived. We were stopped behind A, before the hairpin turn to the actual start line, so A had that whole space for warmups and such. I ended up waiting just across the fence from the main stage with tons of room as we basically had the entire empty staging area behind us until they starting staging other corrals.

This is how it was for the marathon this past January as well. I was in the back of A wondering why it was so crowded in the back of the next corral only to eventually realize what I thought was the back was actually the front. I guess I don’t really know if B was immediately released into that area or not, but they were there long enough to confuse me

 

[Naomeri]

So corral A already lined up at the starting line instead of being the first corral and then walking over?

Yep, and B was lined up behind them, on the other side of the U-turn (I think--I'm too short to see the front of the corral ) I really enjoyed avoiding most of the shoulder-to-shoulder shuffle walk from the usual corrals up through the start chute