Marathon Weekend 2025

[cburnett11]

Also I just about cackled when I looked at the map and realized for the first time we’re not going by Tiana’s which means we’re not doing that weird hill jig. I know some people are going to be disappointed but I’m estatic to not half to go up that thing on wheels.

I understand your sentiment. I think I’ve passed a wheel athlete in this area more than once. The combination of darkness, hairpin turn, and uphill must be tough for you all.

 

[StarGirl11]

I understand your sentiment. I think I’ve passed a wheel athlete in this area more than once. The combination of darkness, hairpin turn, and uphill must be tough for you all.

Yeah its a bit of a nightmare honestly I know the new route will probably have its own challenges (ie the parking lot jig) but from a wheels perspective I'm already liking this better than the old routes.

Though it is in the full eh. You can't win them all. And I'll take dealing with it once versus dealing with it twice. Though...having gone over there to ride Tianas that's going to be an interesting turn to make. Going to have to ride the break while turning because there's a bunch of steps there so wheels are going to need to be careful just now in a different manner.

Hopefully they might have better lighting or else every wheel is going to complain about the new route.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Signed, a survivor of The Year It Snowed, Splash & Dash, Half-of-a-Half, the DIY Half, and the 7-Mile Half

There you go again, bragging about all the fun ones....

(Me: was also in the 7-mile half, and really, really glad I missed the 2010 ice-capades)

 

[lahobbs4]

Has the half course always skipped World Showcase? I've haven't done it since 2020 and I honestly cannot remember that long ago!

 

[fatmanatee]

Was wondering if the change to the full in MK is an indication that the construction will be a problem for the half as well and sure enough, half map changed too.

 

[StarGirl11]

Has the half course always skipped World Showcase? I've haven't done it since 2020 and I honestly cannot remember that long ago!

Yeah someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure at most if the half goes into WS its for a short jog. Like sometimes it will go in there depending on the exit (I remember the years we used to exit by Mexico). But its always been the one that for some reason usually doesn't do a full lap of it even when the other three are.

I think for one of the handful of times I did Princess we literally just ran down the promenade to where the tree normally is turn around and ran back up the promenade towards Spaceship Earth. So yeah this course has always been light in some fashion on WS

 

[jmasgat]

Has the half course always skipped World Showcase? I've haven't done it since 2020 and I honestly cannot remember that long ago!

Don't t know about "always" but as far as I recall, yes. I volunteered at the half in 2010 (aka Disney on Ice) and I was one of the last volunteers stationed at the turnaround point at the junction of WS/FutureWorld (or whatever it's called now). They also route people differently through FW depending upon construction. Sucks that it doesn't go close to SE.

really glad I missed the 2010 ice-capades

That was my first full marathon and I loved the temp, since it was just like running at home. That experience gave me the confidence/thought that I could qualify for Boston (which I did later in the year). OTOH, volunteering at the half the day before? I was a popsicle even though I brought hand warmers and toasty gear. Took a 15 min hot shower when I went back to my room.

 

[Naomeri]

You know, I'm thinking that having Cone Alley come before MK is going to be a good thing psychologically.

Instead of "running through MK was so amazing, and now I'm stuck in this mess " now we get "this mess is awful, but once I get through it, I get to run through MK! "

 

[Dopey 2020]

I like the fact that they put out info on the snack boxes, not because I care about nutrition facts, but now I know I’m getting fake cheese with Tostitos as well as m&ms

 

[fatmanatee]

Has the half course always skipped World Showcase? I've haven't done it since 2020 and I honestly cannot remember that long ago!

Yes. Here's last year's. I don't think it's possible to fit in a full Epcot loop, stretch to MK is too long to make it work.

 

[StarGirl11]

@lahobbs4 Also just for future reference if you want to compare faster. Usually if you Google 'insert race name here' course map 'insert year here' it will pop up some of the old race courses. You need to make sure you have course map though or else it will give you every remotely related result under the sun in my experience.

 

[fatmanatee]

Also, should not be a surprise but as indicated by the certification map that leaked out for this "season", 10k course is Epcot + lake resorts loop.

 

[fatmanatee]

A guess:

- Group A: <4:00 POT + wheels (five min range to start)
- Group B: 4:00-4:30 POT + CrD (five min)
- Group C: 4:30-5:00 POT (four min, which would make sense given the short timeframe to get new POTs)
- Group D: 5:00-5:30 (10 min)
- Group E: 5:30-6:00 (12 min)
- Group F: 6:00-6:30 (7 min)
- Group G: 6:30-7:00 (8 min)

 

[Novatrix]

We just came back from Space Coast, and spent a night at Disney on the way back. I didn’t run Space Coast this year, but DH and DS27 ran the full. I’ve got a couple of things to mention here:

DS27 lives in Boston, so he and his fiancée flew, and we drove down and picked them up at MCO. It occurred to me before we dropped them back at the airport that TSA would likely take away his medal, since it is massive and heavy, and that has been discussed on this thread previously. For those of you who fly to MW, is that likely to be a problem that the new folks should know about? For reference, here’s what the Space Coast medal was this year:


It weighs 1 pound, 3.4 ounces (I checked). The challenge medal that DH got was slightly smaller, but still huge. I just thought I should bring that up, in case those flying need to consider packing the MW medals in checked luggage only, or shipping them. Since we always drive, I’ve never had to think about it. I’m going to mail DS’s to him.

Just to chime in with what everyone else has said, the only issue I've had with medals flying carry-on from TSA at MCO is if I forgot to take them out of my hand luggage when being scanned. Even then, it just added extra time as my bag was flagged for an extra screening since they want to know what the huge chunk of medal is, but they didn't take the medals.

This includes the Space Coast 50th anniversary and 4 year challenge medal in 2021. (The later which I lovingly refer to as my anti-burglar battle flail at 1 lb 10 oz and 8"x6".)

 

[fatmanatee]

This is probably a dumb question but we still run under the MK sign with the new half course, right? 95 percent sure of this but just want to be certain.

 

[kps7795]

I hope that I'm not the only one who fixates on race strategy and the courses. Regardless, my original plan was to take the 10K and the HM easy in order to focus on the marathon. I'm still uncertain about how I want to approach the 5K because I want to take pictures and I don't want to wait in 30+ minute lines. However, I don't want to stress my body too much in order to save myself for the marathon. BUT....how much stress would I really place on myself for 3.1 miles. Could I ask from experienced Dopey runners what it was like running the 5K and how it affected you for the later races?

Nonetheless, the impetus for my query was the inevitable bottleneck leading from GT to MK. As I stated earlier, my original plan was to take the HM easy. But, I'm considering going at my long run pace (MP + 45 seconds) until I get past the bottleneck. Any thoughts or other plans that people are considering?

 

[sandam1]

Instead of "running through MK was so amazing, and now I'm stuck in this mess " now we get "this mess is awful, but once I get through it, I get to run through MK!

Good point! I just wish that there was more time for the crowd to thin out before we hit this!

Even through I had run it a number of times, I didn't realize what a mental slog cone alley could be until the half marathon of my first Dopey. I got through the MK and the "blahs" set in. I felt fine, was moving well, but there was just nothing to look forward to. Then near Shades of Green), I unexpectedly saw a good friend that was spectating. Man, the hug that I got was the bright light that I needed to get through that stretch.

 

[runwithperseverence7]

QUESTION TIME: How do you feel about running mantras? Do you use one?

I never really gave it much thought until I was halfway through with my Tempo run this morning and realized that I repeatedly say to myself "I got this!" during the course of a hard or long run. It got to the point where I said it to myself after each mile when I would confirm that I was keeping to my MP.

I don’t have any specific thing I say. During races, I just focus on each interval and tell myself to get through each one. Then I start counting the miles down once I pass 15 or 16. I also try to encourage other people too. If I do say anything over and over is usually you got this! You can do it! cheesy I know but it works.

 

[fatmanatee]

This is probably a dumb question but we still run under the MK sign with the new half course, right? 95 percent sure of this but just want to be certain.

After a lot of zooming in and cross-referencing... less sure. Obviously less familiarity with the roads there than others here but looks like the route turns left on Floridian Way right before the toll plaza and veers all the way to the west edge of the parking lot. Last year's course shot up north closer through the middle of the lot after going through the plaza. Kind of hard to tell with how they draw the maps but I think that's how it works.

 

[StarGirl11]

Just to chime in with what everyone else has said, the only issue I've had with medals flying carry-on from TSA at MCO is if I forgot to take them out of my hand luggage when being scanned. Even then, it just added extra time as my bag was flagged for an extra screening since they want to know what the huge chunk of medal is, but they didn't take the medals.

This includes the Space Coast 50th anniversary and 4 year challenge medal in 2021. (The later which I lovingly refer to as my anti-burglar battle flail at 1 lb 10 oz and 8"x6".)

I do feel like it should be added, though, that sometimes medals can cause problems. Rapunzel 10k for last year gave people all sorts of grief because of the pointy edges making it almost like a ninja star. Thankfully none of the medals for this are like that. But when it comes to medals and sharp pointy bits if its more then normal and your checking a bag. Put it in that.

A guess:

- Group A: <4:00 POT + wheels (five min range to start)
- Group B: 4:00-4:30 POT + CrD (five min)
- Group C: 4:30-5:00 POT (four min, which would make sense given the short timeframe to get new POTs)
- Group D: 5:00-5:30 (10 min)
- Group E: 5:30-6:00 (12 min)
- Group F: 6:00-6:30 (7 min)
- Group G: 6:30-7:00 (8 min)

Also just for clarification for anyone curious unless they are feeling overly generous wheels are usually two minutes ahead of A. Not five. Trust me we wish we had five. We've been trying to get that and bikes for us for years now.

Different sorta related fact but if you ever want to know when were ~5 minutes out from wheels. (So 4:53 ish) Unless there is a course intrusion or some other reason to delay the start. You'll almost always hear the national anthem start around 5 minutes from our start. If its not starting then then something is probably up and we're getting a delayed start. Disney is extremely consistent with this on both coasts.

So if you're in the front corrals especially A make sure you're pretty much all set to go by the time you hear the anthem start.

After a lot of zooming in and cross-referencing... less sure. Obviously less familiarity with the roads there than others here but looks like the route turns left on Floridian Way right before the toll plaza and veers all the way to the west edge of the parking lot. Last year's course shot up north closer through the middle of the lot after going through the plaza. Kind of hard to tell with how they draw the maps but I think that's how it works.

I swear someone upthread said they didn't last year but can't remember who. I do know we went through it during Pricess but that's not necessarily a guarantee for Marathon weekend.