Marathon Weekend 2025

[Zutroy]

First we have Olympic runners competing in the 5k, 10k, and marathon, and now the medals are chipping and peeling. I’ve never felt so close to a group of fellow runners.

 

[Barca33Runner]

First we have Olympic runners competing in the 5k, 10k, and marathon, and now the medals are chipping and peeling. I’ve never felt so close to a group of fellow runners.

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Not just competing, going bronze in the 5k, bronze in the 10k, and then gold in the marathon. A truly amazing and utterly mind-boggling achievement from Sifan Hassan.

 

[camaker]

Good morning RunDisney All-Stars! Welcome to this week's edition of Sundays are for Disney (SAFD). With the tongue-in-cheek announcement of a new race weekend at D23, why don't we do a little race designing of our own? What would you like to see as a new RunDisney race weekend? Theming, structure, timing, it's all on the table for you.

SAFD: I'll start us off relatively boring and keep the standard 5k, 10k, half structure, but shift to a new theme and night races. I'd love to see a Pirates of the Caribbean themed weekend with the following structure:

Skeletal Pirates 5k: Run in the moonlight, the medal would be a spinner with pirates on one side and skeletal pirates on the other.

Black Pearl 10k: Pirate ship medal. That's enough for me.

Cursed Coin Half Marathon: Another spinner medal with the iconic cursed coin on one side and the magic compass on the other.

Captain Jack Sparrow's "I thought you said rum" Challenge: Captain Jack along with a treasure map showing "x marks the races" as the medal.

 

[Naomeri]

Dang @camaker how are we supposed to top that?

I’m going to have to think about this for a bit

 

[nancipants]

I mean… Star Wars.

I do like the idea of a race weekend based on attractions. Someone once said a space theme, so you could have Spaceship Earth 5k, Space Mountain 10k, and Cosmic Rewind Half.

 

[fatmanatee]

I mean… Star Wars.

I do like the idea of a race weekend based on attractions. Someone once said a space theme, so you could have Spaceship Earth 5k, Space Mountain 10k, and Cosmic Rewind Half.

That was me! I’m still happy to yap about that. Was related to Springtime Surprise when there was a sense that there’d be more surprises for this weekend but here was my proposal:

- Space Mountain 5k in MK
- Guardians 10k looping Epcot (could also do SSE here or use SSE for the challenge)
- Star Wars 10 Miler that would go through GE

I’m done with Spring races for the foreseeable future but if they did this I’d have no other choice but to come back.

 

[BigEeyore]

SAFD: The lack of either a Marvel race weekend or a Star Wars race weekend right now is just a travesty. I'd be happy if either of those came back but until then....
I'd love to have a Villians themed weekend in WDW - maybe to even take the place of Wine and Dine since that's around Halloween (I like W&D but it could use a refresh)

 

[Zutroy]

SAFD: I would make each race weekend have a different course. Make Wine and Dine a night race again with the finish line at the Epcot entrance to begin the after party. Bring back the kids’ races. Eliminate Springtime Surprise and make it based around Hollywood Studios IP. First race can be based on Indiana Jones:

Kids Races: Short Round’s diaper dash.

5K: The Kali Ma Heartburn 5k

10K: The “It belongs in a museum” Indy’s Whip 10k

Half: The “You have Chosen . . . Poorly” Holy Grail Half Marathon

Challenge: “It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage”: Ark of the Covenant Challenge

 

[Novatrix]

Similar to @BigEeyore , my mind first went to having a permanent Villians themed race weekend. That way, you could rotate through different villians themes every year.

If we're talking about a one-off though, I'd love for Spring Surprise one year to be themed after Disney on Broadway.

I audibly squealed with delight when they were playing the Papermill cast recording of Hunchback at the last Hunchback photo stop I was at during a race. (Must've been a musical fan selecting the music for that race, because they also had Camelot's C'est Moi at the Sword and the Stone stop.)

Ideally, I'd give some love to Aida, Newsies and Hunchback with the themes, but realistically I'd go with the following:

5k - Beauty and the Beast on Broadway the one that started it all.

10k - Mary Poppins "Anythig Can Happen If You Let It"

10 mile - "The Lion King" the longest running one.

Challenge - Hercules "I Can Go the Distance" with a West End debut next year

 

[Naomeri]

Similar to @BigEeyore , my mind first went to having a permanent Villians themed race weekend. That way, you could rotate through different villians themes every year.

If we're talking about a one-off though, I'd love for Spring Surprise one year to be themed after Disney on Broadway.

I audibly squealed with delight when they were playing the Papermill cast recording of Hunchback at the last Hunchback photo stop I was at during a race. (Must've been a musical fan selecting the music for that race, because they also had Camelot's C'est Moi at the Sword and the Stone stop.)

Ideally, I'd give some love to Aida, Newsies and Hunchback with the themes, but realistically I'd go with the following:

5k - Beauty and the Beast on Broadway the one that started it all.

10k - Mary Poppins "Anythig Can Happen If You Let It"

10 mile - "The Lion King" the longest running one.

Challenge - Hercules "I Can Go the Distance" with a West End debut next year

I’m so glad I’m not the only one that wants a Broadway themed weekend. If they could wedge it into Festival of the Arts time and throw in an afterparty with a performance from some of the Broadway stars, that would be even better.

 

[Barca33Runner]

SAFD:

I’ll settle for Disney getting all the construction done for the things they promised for WDW at D23 before I’m too worried about another race weekend (outside of the Cars rides, those can remain in DL and on the drawing board ).

I really enjoyed the Dark Side Weekend race I did in 2017, but I’m pretty much a one race weekend guy and that weekend is Marathon Weekend. So rather than a whole new weekend, here are some changes to MW I’d love to see:

-Apparel contract with an actual running/athletic apparel company. I am not a fan of virtually all of the event merch being generic Disney branding. Obviously, they could still have their fair share of generic Disney stuff, I’d just love to see some percentage of the merch from a company that specializes in making apparel for runners. Could also lead to a return of rD specific shoes.
-Return the 10k to Minnie. Personally, I think getting shoehorned next to Mickey for the Marathon is a downgrade to Minnie. Reasonable minds could differ with that opinion, but the 10k was devised as her race and I think it was more special when it was her race.
-Never book Marathon Weekend in the first weekend of January. It becomes an afterthought and, quite frankly, gets treated like us runners are a nuisance when it overlaps with Holiday traffic. My experiences have always been better the second weekend of January when MW has been more of a standalone event. If MLK is a concern, move it to the third weekend in those years instead of moving it forward; bring in some extra traffic for Festival of the Arts.

There are minor tweaks to the race experience that I’d love to see improved as well; but these are the big things that I think could, reasonably, be achieved.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Well after originally deciding to hold off on doing this weekend and do Dopey again next year (2026), I'm officially in for the marathon through charity! Never thought I would be this excited about it, but I am pumped. I've only ever done the full as part of Goofy or Dopey, and I am looking forward to enjoying (? not sure that's the right word lol) the full course more and being able to just focus on that. And I think I've decided to spectate the half, which would be another first!

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Dang @camaker how are we supposed to top that?

I’m going to have to think about this for a bit

Dittos

 

[Naomeri]

SAFD: I’ve been thinking about it all day, and my idea is a Topsy-Turvy Marathon weekend. So instead of going 5K—>10K—>Half—>Full, let’s do it in reverse.

Obviously, I haven’t done Dopey yet, so this could be insane, but I gotta think, psychologically, it would feel good to know you only have to go half as far the next day. It would let you do the hardest race on your freshest legs.

We’d keep all the usual race hosts, but give them jester-type outfits like Clopin in Hunchback of Notre Dame

 

[Novatrix]

SAFD: I’ve been thinking about it all day, and my idea is a Topsy-Turvy Marathon weekend. So instead of going 5K—>10K—>Half—>Full, let’s do it in reverse.

Obviously, I haven’t done Dopey yet, so this could be insane, but I gotta think, psychologically, it would feel good to know you only have to go half as far the next day. It would let you do the hardest race on your freshest legs.

We’d keep all the usual race hosts, but give them jester-type outfits like Clopin in Hunchback of Notre Dame

I think better hosts for doing a half marathon the day after a full marathon would be Pain and Panic....

 

[PrincessV]

SAFD: STAR. WARS. It’s all I want. Hard stop. Give me Star Wars back and I’ll hand over all my money.

I jest a bit, but in full truth, the specific race themes have never held much interest for me at all. Star Wars was the one exception. I’ve cut way back on my rD racing because it’s all feeling a bit BT/DT and my aging body isn’t really enjoying a lot of running anymore, but one theme would pull me back with gusto: Star Wars.

 

[Herding_Cats]

SAFD:

I just wish there was more variety in the courses. Even from year to year within the same race weekend, since the only one that really works for our schedule is MW. I understand that it's easier for them to just use Epcot for all of the start/finishes and that means that the short courses would be more similar, but dang if we couldn't have some variety for the 10k and longer?

 

[DisneyParrothead]

SAFD: I don't mind Springtime Surprise, but I'd make it much more cohesive. They could do an animals theme since they've got many movies where the animals are the focus.

Kids' races: Oliver and Company
5k: Fox and the Hound
10k: 101 Dalmatians
10-miler: Lady and the Tramp
Challenge: Aristocats

 

[Naomeri]

SAFD: I don't mind Springtime Surprise, but I'd make it much more cohesive. They could do an animals theme since they've got many movies where the animals are the focus.

Kids' races: Oliver and Company
5k: Fox and the Hound
10k: 101 Dalmatians
10-miler: Lady and the Tramp
Challenge: Aristocats

I’d switch Dalmatians and Oliver—I think kids races probably look about like a herd of Dalmatian puppies. Also because I really want an Oliver and Company medal now that you’ve brought it up

 

[marty3d]

SAFD: This may be the hardest SAFD yet! Been thinking about it for a full day and honestly cannot come up with much better than what has already been suggested.

I will go with Star Wars. I never got a chance to do the Star Wars races and would love to do a SW themed race.

I also agree with changing up courses and start / finish locations. I understand why it's difficult to change locations during a given race weekend but it would be nice if they could at least vary the courses more between race weekends. Keep Epcot for MW and W&D but maybe run Princess Weekend from MK. Star Wars Weekend at DHS, etc.