Marathon Weekend 2025

[StarGirl11]

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?

Yeah I'll admit when we got the map for the full a couple months ago I chucked my old plan which is what a lot of wheels do which is gun it for MK to avoid the crowds on Contemporary. But with the new mileage I am going to get some crowds no matter what I do. So I'm going to stop for photos and just be prepared to yell, a lot. Hopefully since Contemporary is kinder to us this way it won't be as bad..

What corral do you think you'll be in approx? Thats going to dictate the length of the 5k lines.

 

[kps7795]

Yeah I'll admit when we got the map for the full a couple months ago I chucked my old plan which is what a lot of wheels do which is gun it for MK to avoid the crowds on Contemporary. But with the new mileage I am going to get some crowds no matter what I do. So I'm going to stop for photos and just be prepared to yell, a lot. Hopefully since Contemporary is kinder to us this way it won't be as bad..

What corral do you think you'll be in approx? Thats going to dictate the length of the 5k lines.

Based on my POT, I should be in Corral A for all of the races. Though I'll be nervous until I have my bibs in hand.

 

[fatmanatee]

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.

Ahh that would be a bummer. Going through the MK toll booth was a highlight for me in 2022, nice photo op after over two miles of roads. For reference, here are two side by side and you can see how 2025 turns left earlier than it had in 2022. I think the sign is right after the 2025 turn.

 

[StarGirl11]

Based on my POT, I should be in Corral A for all of the races. Though I'll be nervous until I have my bibs in hand.

Okay so if your in A for the 5k and doing about the pace you do for a placement. Then you probably won't be hitting the 30+ minute lines most likely. The lines will most likely still be a bit long especially at the latter stops but nowhere near 30. I am basing this on Princess admittedly. But when I did the Princess 5k I was off the course with all of the character stops before all of the corrals had been released (~50 minutes after wheels so around 5:45ish).

With the longest line for me I think being Cinderella, Charming and one of the female mouses. And I don't think that was more then 10 minutes. Keep in mind the route also had: Bo Peep, Eric (who was a bit long in account for being the prince to Ariel who was the theme for the race but not bad. And being the first stop), Aurora and her prince, plus the Cinderella characters. Along with a couple other misc photo stops (in front of Guardians and with the walt statue.)

Edit: Keep in mind this was in my racing chair which is a bit slower then a handcycle and is slower then the A people by extension. The last time I raced in it I did a 11-12 minute mile.

 

[SheHulk]

Sorry if someone mentioned this already, but the marathon course is showing FIVE food stops? Are some of those just Sport Beans? I only ever remember a banana stop outside of AK and the chocolate stop in HS.

 

[fatmanatee]

Sorry if someone mentioned this already, but the marathon course is showing FIVE food stops? Are some of those just Sport Beans? I only ever remember a banana stop outside of AK and the chocolate stop in HS.

Yeah I think at least two of those are fuel, and yes AK is the banana and HS has chocolate.

 

[jenljeffers1989]

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?

If this influences your decision re: the 5K, the busses appear to not even be going back to the resorts until 6:30. I originally planned to run the 5K, finish by 5:30, then be showered and ready to rope drop Animal Kingdom. Now I reckon I'll just walk the 5K?

 

[nancipants]

Yeah I think at least two of those are fuel, and yes AK is the banana and HS has chocolate.

Are there two banana stops? I remember reading that there were bananas before and after AK.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

When the DW and I flew down for her conference last year, I took my Dopey medals for park photos that I didn't do two years ago. Had them in ziplocks and wrapped in clothes in my carry-on at MCO and got flagged. Told them exactly what they were, and that there were 6 medals. The guy felt and looked at the first medal, pushed the carry-on back at me, and told me to have a nice day.

 

[SheHulk]

Are there two banana stops? I remember reading that there were bananas before and after AK.

I only ever remember one, behind (after) AK, but someone on here, when I asked about it previously (was it @Herding_Cats ?) said there were two. Edited to add that two whole bananas feels like a lot of banana to eat in a two-or-so hour period if they are so close together!

 

[fatmanatee]

Are there two banana stops? I remember reading that there were bananas before and after AK.

Don’t recall. In 2022 it was definitely one after AK, then fuel at BB, then HS chocolate. I want to say the stop at mile 14 was fuel, and prob the one before MK was fuel too.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I only ever remember one, behind (after) AK, but someone on here, when I asked about it previously (was it @Herding_Cats ?) said there were two. Edited to add that two whole bananas feels like a lot of banana to eat in a two-or-so hour period if they are so close together!

When I ran with @Mr_Incr3dible this past race weekend, there were definitely bananas PRE AK on Bear Island Road. I feel like I remember them being available after AK as well, in the backstage area.

I also remember in 2022 that there were bananas once we were "out" of AK, in the backstage area.

And in 2023, I feel like @The Expert and I specifically commented about how many banana stops there were, and how we never wanted to see another banana again!

Chocolate has always been when we are just entering HS.

Sport beans (which I don't like) have been along the highway to(?) MK, in the parking lot just before the TTC, possibly again post-MK? I don't pay too much attention to those other than to try to not slip on all of the spilled beans and wrappers.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

I think I remember two banana stops for the 2023 marathon. But it was almost two years ago now, so who knows

 

[Herding_Cats]

I dug through my training journal to look for any mentions of bananas:

I took a cup of powerade and a cup of water at every single aid station we passed. I had a banana at 2 of the 3 stations they handed them out during the full, and of course, the chocolate when we got into HS (I think that's where it was?) It seems that more "food-like" options work better for me, and I can look at my pacing and see where the caffeine kicked in during the back half.

Sooo yeah. In 2022 apparently there were THREE banana stations?! It was also hot-ish that year for us back-of-the-pack'ers and they handed out bags of ice between BB and HS, and sponges when we got onto the highway post-AK. (Don't throw away your sponge if you get one! Re-wet at water stops!!)

Will I run another marathon? On Sunday I would have told you NO *#$%&)@ WAY. But now? I don't know. I still have mixed feelings (that anxiety attack really messed with me.) Maybe in a couple of years. Maybe when I turn 40 I'll do something utterly stupid like sign up for Dopey. And maybe if I'm really lucky @The Expert will come and run (some? all?) with me.

And for anyone talking about one-and-done....this was after my first MW when I ran Goofy. And here I am going for Dopey #3...in a row.

 

[MissLiss279]

If this influences your decision re: the 5K, the busses appear to not even be going back to the resorts until 6:30. I originally planned to run the 5K, finish by 5:30, then be showered and ready to rope drop Animal Kingdom. Now I reckon I'll just walk the 5K?

This is why I drive to the 5k and 10k - so I can leave before the buses start running and not sit around and get cold. I have also Ubered after a 5k, so I didn’t have to wait around.

 

[MissLiss279]

Mantras
I don’t really have them, except that at the end of races when I’m feeling tired, but not hurting and really no reason to slow down except my mind wanting to slow down - I tell myself - The faster you run, the faster you’re done.

Also, I think I heard their from Ashley Paulson on an iFIT run, I break the marathon into 10s - The first 10 miles, the second 10 miles, and the last 10k. I think this has really helped me mentally the last few marathons this year.
I used to count up to 16 and then tell myself I could start counting down because the miles were now single digits - although in reality, I still counted up. I really like the 10, 10, 10.

 

[Disneyhanna]

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?

It will depend on your 5k corral. You probably will only get a shot at really short waits if you start in corral A. Maybe corral B if you are fast enough and start at the front, I forget how long it takes to release the 5k corrals. But the 5k lines build really fast, especially the first few stops. I rarely stop for anything but the last 1 or 2 characters even though I run the 5k at a decent pace, because the lines are so long. Since the buses cannot leave until like 6:30, what I usually do is run the 5k mostly through and then kill the time waiting for the buses by doing all of the photos in the staging area.

I don't find that running the 5k at a relatively fast pace has much impact on my latter races. Honestly the 10k not so much either, it's just the half that I make sure to take really easy. And by easy, I just mean at my long run pace, I don't race it for time. With all the stopping for photos, I find the HM is not nearly as taxing as running a half in training, since all those photo breaks allow recovery that I don't get in training runs since I run straight through.

Really the main challenge for Dopey is getting sleep Maybe 2025 will be the year I get more than 16 hours across all four nights, but somehow I doubt it.

 

[LorrieAnn5]

Chocolate.....after DHS. So is it like Dove squares? All milk chocolate? Any dark chocolate? Trying to figure out if I should practice fueling at home w/ chocolate or just run on thru.

I'm getting nervous. This week & next are my peak training weeks and I think my performance already peaked 2 weeks ago and it's going to go downhill from here.

Last night I tried to clip my toenails after applying body lotion so my hands were slippery and it didn't go well. The clippers half flying out of my hand, trying to re-grip, clamping down, crooked toenails...uggg! At least there are 5.5 weeks for nail growth before the marathon.

As far as mantras go.....
"You don't have to be fast, you just have to be quick" This is to remind me to keep a quick turnover for my feet.
I also use whatever other positive self talk comes to mind. "Only X intervals, miles, minutes, left.
After a 10k..."okay, now just do that 3 more times and you'll be done!"

 

[smrt1]

If this influences your decision re: the 5K, the busses appear to not even be going back to the resorts until 6:30. I originally planned to run the 5K, finish by 5:30, then be showered and ready to rope drop Animal Kingdom. Now I reckon I'll just walk the 5K?

Leaving the 5K is always a hassle. There’s essentially no need to show up too early or to run too fast (unless your shooting for a certain time, but this isn’t the right race for that. I don’t even think it’s timed). We’ve always had a 30-45 minute wait after the 5K just to be let onto the busses. Depending on the temperature, that can seem like an eternity. For those that have never run it, the busses need to wait until all the runners have started the race and have passed a certain point before they can leave. The busses leave using the same road that the beginning of the race follows. Let’s hope for a hot Marathon Weekend!

 

[fatmanatee]

I dug through my training journal to look for any mentions of bananas:

Sooo yeah. In 2022 apparently there were THREE banana stations?! It was also hot-ish that year for us back-of-the-pack'ers and they handed out bags of ice between BB and HS, and sponges when we got onto the highway post-AK. (Don't throw away your sponge if you get one! Re-wet at water stops!!)

I have no recollection of three bananas and am chalking it up to how hot it was.

(and yes, keep the sponges)