Marathon Weekend 2025

[GADisneyDad14]

I’m late to the SAFD:
I didn’t have anything new planned until I switched one of my ADR’s to Summer House on the Lake. I have had their cookies, but haven’t sat down to eat there. I’m looking forward to it!
I will hopefully be riding Tiana’s for the first time too.

I'm not a big Disney Springs fan but I really like that place - food and drinks have always been excellent and I like the setting.

Also since there's been so much 'potty' discussion around here recently, it's a good place to get a solid salad to keep things... moving.

 

[kps7795]

This question might be best geared toward @DopeyBadger, but can I please ask for some help regarding the taper and the HMM? According to Hansons, you should do your last SOS workout ten days before your race. I'm doing Dopey, so should I stick with the Hansons schedule or should my last SOS workout be ten days for the 5K?

 

[moab44]

Looks like it’s going to be cold (like it was 10years ago) for the races. Not like May Florida weather.

 

[jrsharp21]

Looks like it’s going to be cold (like it was 10years ago) for the races. Not like May Florida weather.

I have seen two different forecasts over several websites. The one that I have seen more often is low of around 59 and highs in the low 70's for the four race days. The other I have seen is lows in the mid 40's and highs in the mid 60's. I will take the first!

 

[fatmanatee]

Paging @PrincessV, we’ve got weather talk!

 

[nancipants]

I'll take the second.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Looks like it’s going to be cold (like it was 10years ago) for the races. Not like May Florida weather.

I give you 2014 (I think.) That temperature dip wasn't in the forecast until maybe the evening of the 5th.



Also, we need to be careful of wishing for cold weather, because it usually also closes all of the pool areas. In 2018, the pools were closed for the first few days of the races for MW because it was high temps in the mid-50s. And while that might be good running weather, it's not much fun for anything else.

 

[PrincessV]

Paging @PrincessV, we’ve got weather talk!

It’s my time to shine, right?!

Y’all… it is WAY too early to make any decisions in regard to weather! My home forecast for 90 miles west of WDW has changed 18 times in the last 48 hours. I have no faith in the forecast for this Saturday, two days from now, let alone several weeks from now. Go ahead and look - it’s not a bad way to pass the taper time! But please don’t think anything this far out is accurate.

Once again: January in FL means anything from 20º to 85º and can include bright sun, dangerous storms, and anything in between. We genuinely will not know anything definitive until maybe a few hours before race start each day. Please see just last year, when the half was unexpectedly cut short due to dangerous weather moving in.

So how the heck to you plan and pack?! You bring LAYERS and make decisions in real time. A few days out will give a good general view of what’s coming - i.e.: if we’re expecting a cold front to blow through in the next week or so. But cold fronts are fickle and can speed up, slow down, or refuse to descend to Central FL altogether. Which is why we MW vets issue a constant refrain of “plan for EVERY possible weather condition.” You can’t go wrong if you’ve got options!

ETA: one thing I think lots of folks miss when packing for winter FL trips that should be with you, regardless of forecast… SUNSCREEN. Just because the weather’s cooler than summer’s surface of the sun temps doesn’t mean the sun isn’t still stronger than pretty much anywhere else you’re coming from. I diligently apply SFP50 every run and am still tanning through that this time of year.

 

[Zutroy]

I also laugh when people try to predict Florida weather. My favorite Florida experience is standing on one side of a road in the bright sunshine while I look at the pouring rain 20 feet away on the other side of the road. I’m certainly hoping for a less humid 40 degree day, but I also train for a swampy day in the 70s. Ah Florida weather, “When she was good/She was very good indeed/But when she was bad she was horrid.”

 

[PrincessV]

I also laugh when people try to predict Florida weather. My favorite Florida experience is standing on one side of a road in the bright sunshine while I look at the pouring rain 20 feet away on the other side of the road. I’m certainly hoping for a less humid 40 degree day, but I also train for a swampy day in the 70s. Ah Florida weather, “When she was good/She was very good indeed/But when she was bad she was horrid.”

Currently looking out my window at the pile of storm debris from Hurricane Helene in Sept. that’s yet to be picked up and thinking yes - she’s been especially horrid this year. I’m taking no chances and will bring EVERYTHING to MW lol!

 

[Herding_Cats]

PSA!!!!!!

If you are planning on renting a car and use the chase rewards portal for it GO CHECK YOUR RATE. Put in "Orlando" and NOT MCO for the pickup location (just make sure the rental listing pickup location is the orlando airport and not one of the neighborhood locations.) My rental dropped by over $100 from yesterday, and will now be through Hertz instead of Budget.


Also be warned that they have some EV's that are not under the "EV" header...as an example a Polestar (which is an EV) is listed under "Intermediate."

 

[kleph]

It’s my time to shine, right?!

Y’all… it is WAY too early to make any decisions in regard to weather! My home forecast for 90 miles west of WDW has changed 18 times in the last 48 hours. I have no faith in the forecast for this Saturday, two days from now, let alone several weeks from now. Go ahead and look - it’s not a bad way to pass the taper time! But please don’t think anything this far out is accurate.

Once again: January in FL means anything from 20º to 85º and can include bright sun, dangerous storms, and anything in between. We genuinely will not know anything definitive until maybe a few hours before race start each day. Please see just last year, when the half was unexpectedly cut short due to dangerous weather moving in.

So how the heck to you plan and pack?! You bring LAYERS and make decisions in real time. A few days out will give a good general view of what’s coming - i.e.: if we’re expecting a cold front to blow through in the next week or so. But cold fronts are fickle and can speed up, slow down, or refuse to descend to Central FL altogether. Which is why we MW vets issue a constant refrain of “plan for EVERY possible weather condition.” You can’t go wrong if you’ve got options!

i've been watching this pretty closely as i have a HM in the Tampa area the week before MW. as, @PrincessV notes, its too soon to tell.

what we do know is forecasts are calling for a national warming trend over Christmas week. these longer forecast charts suggest this will affect folks across almost all the lower 48... except for florida (see attached).

this is good news for my training plan but offers little insight beyond NYD. for that forecasters are watching the weather patterns in alaska for a portent of a cold turn in the first half of january.

there's a pretty detailed summary of all this available here: https://theeyewall.com/

 

[GuinnessRunner]

W&D runners - question on the new corral fill process that was used. If I want to be in the middle or back of the corral, do I need to wait and not enter the corral until the first few mini-sections or filled? I usually go the corrals on the earlier side but wondering if that needs to change assuming they do the same thing for MW that was done at W&D.

 

[kps7795]

Looks like it’s going to be cold (like it was 10years ago) for the races. Not like May Florida weather.

If you had posted this on January 1, I would have still told you that it's too soon to be certain of race day temperatures. I feel for those who have to fly here because you need to be prepared for any and all weather possibilities.

 

[Herding_Cats]

If you had posted this on January 1, I would have still told you that it's too soon to be certain of race day temperatures. I feel for those who have to fly here because you need to be prepared for any and all weather possibilities.

I'll be packing everything from shorts to a winter jacket.

 

[3princesandaprincess]

Definitely too early to even guess on weather! Hoping for cool but not cold, 70’s during the day would be lovely!

SAFD: This is my 1st marathon, and 1st RunDisney event! It will also be our first trip without kids (they are all big now and have college classes/work ). Hoping to try some new restaurants (after the races!), but late in booking that.

 

[The Expert]

W&D runners - question on the new corral fill process that was used. If I want to be in the middle or back of the corral, do I need to wait and not enter the corral until the first few mini-sections or filled? I usually go the corrals on the earlier side but wondering if that needs to change assuming they do the same thing for MW that was done at W&D.

I *think* the dividers were open and you could go into any of them, but I'm not positive. If all else fails, you could hang out just outside the corral main entrance until they get to that last section.

 

[MissLiss279]

PSA!!!!!!

If you are planning on renting a car and use the chase rewards portal for it GO CHECK YOUR RATE. Put in "Orlando" and NOT MCO for the pickup location (just make sure the rental listing pickup location is the orlando airport and not one of the neighborhood locations.) My rental dropped by over $100 from yesterday, and will now be through Hertz instead of Budget.


Also be warned that they have some EV's that are not under the "EV" header...as an example a Polestar (which is an EV) is listed under "Intermediate."

I have modified mine a couple times since initial booking (probably in the last week or two) and am probably down closer to $150-200. Total for 7 days in $208 through Hertz (booked through CapitalOne Travel).

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Don’t even bother looking at race weather forecasts until January 9th…

And Marathon tip #42: tuck a couple of Tylenols into your pocket or race belt to use halfway through the marathon for aches and pains. Tylenol; not aspirin or Motrin, because they both thin the blood. The medical tents usually have some, but you have to sign paperwork and it takes a few minutes. Better to just have them with you and be able to gulp and go.

 

[camaker]

It’s my time to shine, right?!

Y’all… it is WAY too early to make any decisions in regard to weather! My home forecast for 90 miles west of WDW has changed 18 times in the last 48 hours. I have no faith in the forecast for this Saturday, two days from now, let alone several weeks from now. Go ahead and look - it’s not a bad way to pass the taper time! But please don’t think anything this far out is accurate.

Once again: January in FL means anything from 20º to 85º and can include bright sun, dangerous storms, and anything in between. We genuinely will not know anything definitive until maybe a few hours before race start each day. Please see just last year, when the half was unexpectedly cut short due to dangerous weather moving in.

So how the heck to you plan and pack?! You bring LAYERS and make decisions in real time. A few days out will give a good general view of what’s coming - i.e.: if we’re expecting a cold front to blow through in the next week or so. But cold fronts are fickle and can speed up, slow down, or refuse to descend to Central FL altogether. Which is why we MW vets issue a constant refrain of “plan for EVERY possible weather condition.” You can’t go wrong if you’ve got options!

ETA: one thing I think lots of folks miss when packing for winter FL trips that should be with you, regardless of forecast… SUNSCREEN. Just because the weather’s cooler than summer’s surface of the sun temps doesn’t mean the sun isn’t still stronger than pretty much anywhere else you’re coming from. I diligently apply SFP50 every run and am still tanning through that this time of year.

If you had posted this on January 1, I would have still told you that it's too soon to be certain of race day temperatures. I feel for those who have to fly here because you need to be prepared for any and all weather possibilities.

2017 says hello for all those of us with residual trauma from that race weekend. 5k & 10k races in the 60s and sitting around in shorts and short sleeves at the Hurricane Hannah's meet-up discussing the surprise cold front suddenly being predicted for that evening. Nobody expected the cancellation of the half just hours ahead of time, much less starting the marathon in the mid-30s with wind chills in the 20s. It was nuts watching unprepared runners picking up warm gear that had been dropped on the side of the road because it was warmer than what they had. Count me among the "prepare for all temps" folks since then.