Marathon Weekend 2025

[Naomeri]

My one tip: I bought a pair of Brooks Ghost GTX (gore-tex) shoes for winter training, and let me tell you, they WORKED for the rainy half. My feet stayed bone dry. I usually run in regular Ghosts, so it was a seamless transition and they've been great for winter. (I did sit cross-legged in the corral under my poncho for a bit, which also helped.) I recommend those GTX shoes highly.

Oooh, as a newer convert to Ghosts, this is handy information!

 

[princesspirateandrunner]

Since I was spectating the marathon this time, I thought I’d offer a rundown on how Sunday morning went from my perspective:

I left DH at the start line, and walked to the monorail. There were still tons of runners streaming in. The monorail was almost empty (one other person in my car). We waited a little for the one ahead of us to clear the station, then pulled into the TTC. Oddly, we just sat there with the doors closed for probably ten minutes. Finally, they announced that the doors were about to open, and apologized for (but didn’t explain) the delay. I’m sure it was troubling to the runners who wanted us to get off so the train could go back to Epcot.

I got on the MK monorail (also very empty). They held us outside the gate until 4:30, then let us onto Main St. I took up my position in front of Casey’s, but it was a little odd to have the rope in the middle of Main St., instead of at the side where we could sit on the sidewalk. I chatted with a lady who was there for her husband and a lady who was there for her daughter. There was a camera crew who set up and did a live shot to the screens at the start line, but I think most corrals had started by then.

I think the first wheel athlete came through right at 5:00. The first runner was about 5:15, and the first female runner maybe 5:25? When DH came through, I took his fleece hat and handed off a new hat and new water bottle of Tailwind. I gave up my spot shortly after, and headed to the monorail.

I realized I could probably get off at the TTC and be ahead of DH getting there. I did that, but he didn’t expect me there and didn’t see me. I did overhear part of a fascinating story about a woman who had security called and “was not proud of [her] behavior” the night before

I got back on the monorail and went to the Poly for breakfast. I mobile ordered Capt. Cook’s. It was super crowded and took forever. I was freezing the whole time. I finally got it and had to take it to the lobby to eat. I then tried to find a bus to HS. The buses from Poly weren’t running, so I had to walk to the TTC. The bus situation there was a mess. I waited a really long time, we finally piled a huge crowd onto the bus, but it couldn’t go because of the snarl of traffic in the lot. It took about 25 minutes or more to get to HS.

I joined the crowd in the parking lot. For some reason, a woman decided I was trying to cross the course to get to the Skyliner (I wasn’t) and tried to lecture me on that. I waited a bit, and handed off a flat Coke to DH, then got on the Skyliner (crossing appropriately at the designated spot, thank you very much!) and went to CBR to get a bus to the finish. That was a little tricky, as I wasn’t sure of the race bus stop and I went way further than I should have, then had to sprint for the bus. That bus made two more stops and took a long time, so DH was well finished before I could get off the bus, walk all the way around to the reunion area, and meet up with him.

By this point, we were both ready to head to the resort, as we’d had almost no sleep and I was sick. I finished the day with 7.3 miles and 16,161 steps.

That didn’t go as smoothly as the one other time I was a spectator instead of a runner on marathon day (2023), partly because of the new course, partly because of the way the transportation piece hit, and partly because I wasn’t at my best. It did work, and I got to the places I needed to be, but for spectating, being able to wait, eat breakfast, and grab a bus at Boardwalk after leaving Main St. is much easier.

I know this ended up being long, but one more comment: the best costume I saw was a guy who was dressed as Rafiki. Did anybody else see him? He was carrying the staff and everything.

 

[Zutroy]

I know this ended up being long, but one more comment: the best costume I saw was a guy who was dressed as Rafiki. Did anybody else see him? He was carrying the staff and everything.

He was in corral A and I passed him early on. His costume was great, but I remember thinking how much it would suck to have to run a marathon holding that staff.

 

[Naomeri]

He was in corral A and I passed him early on. His costume was great, but I remember thinking how much it would suck to have to run a marathon holding that staff.

The trick is to find something that's about the size of how you hold your hands when you run. If you typically close your hands most of the way, holding a staff is going to feel weird. But if you usually close them very loosely, it's not too bad. Bonus points if you can figure out how to attach a wrist strap so you can let go if necessary.

 

[Isabelle12345]

Question for experienced runners / marathoners… is it normal to feel a little blue in the weeks following a marathon?
I spent so much of my free time training and preparing for my first marathon over the past few months, and last weekend was such a high (great race! Great atmosphere! All the runners energy!), that I am finding it hard to adjust…

I have now completed my objective and now I don’t know what’s next… - it’s like I’m feeling: ok, I completed a marathon - now what ?

Am I the only one? How do you deal with it?

 

[camaker]

Question for experienced runners / marathoners… is it normal to feel a little blue in the weeks following a marathon?
I spent so much of my free time training and preparing for my first marathon over the past few months, and last weekend was such a high (great race! Great atmosphere! All the runners energy!), that I am finding it hard to adjust…

I have now completed my objective and now I don’t know what’s next… - it’s like I’m feeling: ok, I completed a marathon - now what ?

Am I the only one? How do you deal with it?

This is 100% normal. You spend so much time, effort and focus in preparation for the marathon and, then, somehow it seems like it was over in the blink of an eye. I find the effect is even stronger for a Disney race because it lays the letdown of leaving Disney on top of the race blues. The best way I've found to deal with it is to have another race lined up on the schedule to shift focus to, or to look for the next one shortly after the one just run.

 

[Naomeri]

Question for experienced runners / marathoners… is it normal to feel a little blue in the weeks following a marathon?
I spent so much of my free time training and preparing for my first marathon over the past few months, and last weekend was such a high (great race! Great atmosphere! All the runners energy!), that I am finding it hard to adjust…

I have now completed my objective and now I don’t know what’s next… - it’s like I’m feeling: ok, I completed a marathon - now what ?

Am I the only one? How do you deal with it?

Decide on your next goal and/or race and figure out how and when to train for it. I just mapped out my training plan for the Springtime Surprise challenge and I'm feeling better.

I'm also feeling antsy about not running (which is funny considering I hadn't run a single step for the month leading up to MW) but it's currently high temps in the negatives here in MN, so I'm not setting foot outside unless I absolutely have to

 

[LorrieAnn5]

This is only my first marathon, but DH & I both have the post-race blues. I've read that this is common in Olympians too. I will get back to running of some sort when the weather gets better, but I'm not ready to jump into another training plan or put another race on my schedule just yet.
My goals for February are to work on my bench press and consistently practice Spanish. I'm starting these goals next month just to give myself time to roll with whatever happens over the next two weeks.
I did put a lot of time and effort into my marathon training plan over the past 4 months, and the race was a successful victory lap, but I do feel like i shouldn't put that much time into my next plan. I think a shorter race will do me good next time.

 

[Disneyhanna]

Question for experienced runners / marathoners… is it normal to feel a little blue in the weeks following a marathon?
I spent so much of my free time training and preparing for my first marathon over the past few months, and last weekend was such a high (great race! Great atmosphere! All the runners energy!), that I am finding it hard to adjust…

I have now completed my objective and now I don’t know what’s next… - it’s like I’m feeling: ok, I completed a marathon - now what ?

Am I the only one? How do you deal with it?

That is why I just completed marathon #4 / Dopey #3, always chasing that runner's high

Usually between marathon cycles I pivot to work on speed, like a POT race. I only ever run fast to secure a good corral for runDisney

 

[DianaMB333]

Hi.. how do you collect all your medals?

I’m trying to find a way to have them visible but avoiding doing a hole in the wall for a holder… so far I have them hanged from the clothing rack in the closet lol..

Thanks

 

[LorrieAnn5]

I have them draped over the corner of my mirror in my bedroom. You can easily see two medals on each side and the others kind of get buried behind.
I'm close to buying a specific metal hanger for the wall, but Disney medals are so large and heavy that I'm concerned it will fall off the wall or take large screws.

 

[fatmanatee]

Hi.. how do you collect all your medals?

I’m trying to find a way to have them visible but avoiding doing a hole in the wall for a holder… so far I have them hanged from the clothing rack in the closet lol..

Thanks

I have one of these.

 

[The Expert]

My medals are on hangers from Allied Medal Hangers on etsy. I pick the size that matches the width of the studs in my gym, and they're lightweight and don't require huge anchors. Easy to add on when you need to, too. They hold a ton!

 

[nancipants]

Question for experienced runners / marathoners… is it normal to feel a little blue in the weeks following a marathon?
I spent so much of my free time training and preparing for my first marathon over the past few months, and last weekend was such a high (great race! Great atmosphere! All the runners energy!), that I am finding it hard to adjust…

I have now completed my objective and now I don’t know what’s next… - it’s like I’m feeling: ok, I completed a marathon - now what ?

Am I the only one? How do you deal with it?

Hi, it’s me. I have Princess in four weeks so that is helping me from being too depressed! And I’m starting strength training tomorrow.

Hi.. how do you collect all your medals?

I’m trying to find a way to have them visible but avoiding doing a hole in the wall for a holder… so far I have them hanged from the clothing rack in the closet lol..

Thanks

I have cheap medal holders from Amazon, but I want to get one of the revolving ones for my bookshelf (so people can see them when I’m on Zoom ).

 

[Naomeri]

Hi.. how do you collect all your medals?

I’m trying to find a way to have them visible but avoiding doing a hole in the wall for a holder… so far I have them hanged from the clothing rack in the closet lol..

Thanks

This doesn't avoid holes in the wall, but it does allow for screwing directing into studs, and being expandable based on the wall space you have available.

1x2 boards from your big box home improvement store of choice combined with double curtain rod holders from IKEA


Loop medal around back rod on the lower level, bring medal through the ribbon to secure it, and hang the medal over the front rod of the level above. More levels could be added if you figure out a way to shorten the ribbon. I have a bunch of virtual cumulative medals on my rack right now and I need to trade them out to focus on single distance, in-person races.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

This is 100% normal. You spend so much time, effort and focus in preparation for the marathon and, then, somehow it seems like it was over in the blink of an eye. I find the effect is even stronger for a Disney race because it lays the letdown of leaving Disney on top of the race blues. The best way I've found to deal with it is to have another race lined up on the schedule to shift focus to, or to look for the next one shortly after the one just run.

This! After your MW recovery (another week or so?) resume with maintenance runs and then find a race for Feb or March. You’re already trained up, so maintain it and find a new target. My 2nd Half was only 2 months after my first Half (which was at MW, and before I tried my first full). Welcome to the addiction…

 

[sandam1]

Here's my (relatively) short recap of my weekend -

We flew out on Tuesday morning without issue and we got checked into our hotel before head out for some park time. Afterwards, we got completely unpacked before an early bedtime.

We went to early park entry on Wednesday. I checked in for our virtual queue and got #58. ETA was originally 11:00ish, but we finally got called after 12:30. We picked up our rental car at our hotel and headed to the Expo. We wound up killing some time, waiting for our VQ, rather than walking to the bib building and back. I was disappointed in the merch, passing up both the Dopey finisher shirt and the weekend jacket (I almost picked this up, but I talked myself out of it at the last minute. Then we headed to get our bibs. Color me "not impressed" with the lines inside the building and the long walk around to the vendor building. But we got everything done and had a great time shopping and socializing. We spent the bulk of the afternoon there. Then we went grocery shopping before going back to our hotel.

Thursday we were puppies (aka part of the dalmatian crew from Rise & Run). I was little disappointed that our shirts were covered up most of the time because it was so cold, but oh, well. We dropped back to the last corral so everyone could start together and took our time, going for a literal "walk in the park." Afterwards, we went to the parks for a little bit.

Friday morning I was solo. My friend was trying to limit her walking/standing due to a knee issue and the limited spectating for the 10K was worth the time on her feet. I had a blast with this course. I took a bunch of photos, enjoying the beauty of Epcot in the dark and at sunrise. I stopped to get a photo with the 3 Fairies from Sleeping Beauty. It was just a beautiful run. After I showered and changed, we headed back to the Expo to the Customized meet-up and then we visited the vendor building again, did some more socializing, and got to see Jeff Galloway. The original plan was to head to City Walk to see Wicked, but the movie times changed that day and we couldn't make it work.

As we transition to the weekend, I want to start with a HUGE to @DopeyBadger. His generous offer to do the "running math" was instrumental to my success and enjoyment of the next two races. I cannot express how much I appreciated not having to figure things out and how much brain power it freed up to focus on other things. It literally made all of the difference at times.

Let's start Saturday morning with the weather. My combination of rain poncho and Disney mylar blanket worked well enough, but I wound up standing for most of my time in the corral because I couldn't find a comfortable way to sit that allowed me to keep my feet dry. In hindsight, a cushion to sit on would have been helpful. I started in the first wave of Corral F so I figured that I had a decent buffer on the balloon ladies and was hoping to expend as little energy as possible. I was doing okay until I got to the Magic Kingdom when I got a little overenthusiastic with taking photos, visiting with friends, and "playing" around. By the time I came out of the castle, the balloon ladies were just entering Adventureland. Oops! Gotta go! I wound up doing the back half of the course way harder than I wanted to and then I hit miles 10-12 which were rough. There was nowhere to run with walkers all of the way across. Finally, I got caught by the 3:20 pace group and I just tagged along with them, even through I didn't want to be running quite that hard at that point. Mark and his pacing partner were absolutely amazing at clearing a path to run. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel for an all-to-short nap and then I went to Disney Springs for the Rise & Run meet-up.

Going in to Marathon Weekend, I had some conflicted feelings about the marathon. I knew that I was physically ready, but I also knew how hard it was going to be mentally and wasn't sure that I was ready for that. While waiting in the corrals, I asked the universe to send me what I needed when I needed it.

I learned from Friday and didn't throw away my blanket before the start line, keeping it until almost mile 2. I was moving well to the Magic Kingdom and it was almost a relief to not have to measure my effort quite as much as I was during the half. I was much smarter through the MK and kept moving while soaking everything in. I was a little rattled by Billy's report that the balloon ladies were ahead of pace and seeing the "end of the line" while in the Magic Kingdom parking lot, but I trusted the math and just kept telling myself that anything less than a 16 minute mile was good. By the time I got to Animal Kingdom, I needed a bathroom and my Coke. The bathroom break took longer than I wanted and I simply could NOT find a place to sell me a bottle of Coke. The one place that I stopped only had cups, which I should have just taken, but I really thought that I could find a bottle. I wasn't happy leaving AK without one, but I knew that I'd have to figure out a Plan B. Also, about that time I came across a friend who was having a rough time and was just walking. I asked him "hey, do you think you can run a 10 second interval?" He said "yes" so that's what we did for a while. Then we moved to a 15/30. He also got some water and Powerade and some fuel, which I suspected he was lacking. I know that this was where Billy probably started to get concerned because my pace slowed down even more, but I felt really comfortable and knew that I could easily stay with the last pace group if necessary. My friend was also having issues with his leg and when he needed to stop and stretch as we approached Hollywood Studios, I kept going. The last two miles were not easy, but I was still moving relatively well and felt strong. (P.S. My friend wound up finishing with the balloon ladies, but he did finish)

The best part of the marathon was when I made the last turn to the finish and saw Jeff Galloway. At that point, I just lost it completely. At my first Dopey finish, I somehow missed Jeff (I don't know if he wasn't there or if I just didn't see him) and I always regretted that. To finally get that moment with Jeff was amazing, even if I was a sobbing mess.

The rest of Sunday was spent at our hotel. I had hoped to get some sleep, but I was too uncomfortable. But I did sleep very, very well that night.

Monday we got up to do early entry, but I was still pretty wiped out. I finally told my friend that I was leaving and went back to the room for a 2+ hour nap. That night we went to the After Hours at the MK and had a fabulous time, doing everything that we wanted to. It was almost 2 a.m. by the time we got back to our room and the alarm went off at 7 a.m. for our flight home.

And that it's! I will eventually do a more detailed report in my training journal, but I did want to post something here.

 

[sandam1]

Question for experienced runners / marathoners… is it normal to feel a little blue in the weeks following a marathon?

Yep! Incredibly common!

I have now completed my objective and now I don’t know what’s next… - it’s like I’m feeling: ok, I completed a marathon - now what ?

Am I the only one? How do you deal with it?

I've done a couple of things that helped:

1. Relive the weekend. Write a recap (even if it's just for yourself). Read, listen to, and/or watch other people's experiences. Collect your photos and put together a photo collage. Capture all of those special moments that you don't want to forget. Also, write down what worked well for you and what you wish you would have done differently for the "next time." Believe me, there will come a day when these memories will fade and you will appreciate having them written down.

2. Cleanse your palate and do something different with the time that you've been dedicating to running. Maybe it's strength training or doing yoga. Maybe it's going to the pool. Maybe it's looking at other races to do or planning your next trip to run at Disney, implementing those things that you would like to do differently.

3. Get lots of quality sleep for recovery. Take a look at your diet and be aware that you can no longer eat like you're training for a marathon.

4. Reach out to all of your runDisney friends if you need to. We're (still) all in this together and are likely going through the same thing.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

They're letting people submit screenshots of their races via running apps and they'll update results.

That we know of? Nope. Maybe RD gets a refund or a more favorable deal in the future I guess.

Thank you. I meant the people that were really affected - the runners - and not the relationship with a subcontractor. I’d be very upset if affected by this chip fiasco.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

Has anyone stayed at the Poly or thereabouts and used the Monorail to the race starting pints? If so, how does that work in the morning, especially with the 430 start time?