Marathon Weekend 2026

[KCO5988]

Last year they revealed the theme on March 19 with CrD registration on April 2 so it seems reasonable. Only issue might be that they're prepping for Princess Half but hey they're the ones who decided to schedule this so early.

Yeah, that was my thought too. They could also use it to release the art at the expo.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Welp. Booked Friday-Tuesday at Saratoga for MW. Now to discuss with DH whether or not we are actually going to make the trip, register for anything, etc. Registration being a month away already is just blowing my mind.

Yeah, that was my thought too. They could also use it to release the art at the expo.

they've been pretty consistent with releasing themes/artwork 1-2 weeks before club registration. I feel like there's 0 chance they release it in-person at the PW expo.

 

[marty3d]

Welp. Booked Friday-Tuesday at Saratoga for MW. Now to discuss with DH whether or not we are actually going to make the trip, register for anything, etc. Registration being a month away already is just blowing my mind.

Tell him he made me buy a beer stein from Germany (still sitting on my desk) so has to come back for DATW.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Tell him he made me buy a beer stein from Germany (still sitting on my desk) so has to come back for DATW.

I'm gonna need all the leverage I can get.

 

[The Expert]

Tell him I need you for the half!

 

[smileyanna]

I’m interested in doing the Goofy Challenge for a charity in 2026. I’m having trouble finding which charities are doing bib/sponsorship programs; either the charities direct me to 2025 info or they dont have Goofy (I’ve seen Dopey, 5k, 10k, Half and Full marathon).

Anyone know if charities do the Goofy Challenge? In 2026?

Thanks!!

 

[nancipants]

Tell him I need you for the half!

And I need her for the full!

 

[LSUlakes]

Good morning RunDisney All-Stars! Welcome to Super Bowl Sunday! As the football season comes to an end, the spring racing season is just kicking off. For this week's Sundays Are For Disney (SAFD) question, what are your race plans for this spring? Are you indulging in RunDisney's spring season, hitting the local races, or passing on the season (from a race standpoint)?

SAFD: I don't have anything on the calendar for this spring right now. I'm hoping to get back to running in time to run in the Lake Hartwell Dam Race that @Disney at Heart and her husband run in May. Then I'll look for a fall marathon to train for over the summer. By the way, good luck to your Chiefs tonight @The Expert!

A little late answering this one lol. I only have one race I am registered for which is a half marathon about a hour down the road from me. Its the Zydeco Marathon / Half Marathon in Lafayette, LA. Hoping for a nice cool morning to get a good POT for WDW Marathon 2026. Training is going well and now I want to run a 5k or 10k to see how I can do, and each one I want to do, we already have plans or potential conflict with kids sporting events this spring. I hope to add more races this spring, but its not looking good.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

I’m interested in doing the Goofy Challenge for a charity in 2026. I’m having trouble finding which charities are doing bib/sponsorship programs; either the charities direct me to 2025 info or they dont have Goofy (I’ve seen Dopey, 5k, 10k, Half and Full marathon).

Anyone know if charities do the Goofy Challenge? In 2026?

Thanks!!

This is the time of year when the charities are negotiating with Disney to get their allocation of bibs for 2026. With registration coming up so soon, we should start seeing what charities are participating for 2026 sometime within the next week is my best guess.

That being said, while there is some change from year to year, looking at the 2025 information will give you a good idea of both the charities that will likely be back and their fundraising requirements. Although the latter may get adjusted a bit to reflect whatever the new registration prices Disney is charging this year.

 

[pluto377]

Tell him I need you for the half!

And I need her for the full!

And I need her for the MM spots!

 

[pluto377]

Thought on OKW for dopey? How annoying is the bus situation? I really want to stay DVC to make food easier and for hot tub access. I also want to stay at a resort I haven’t been to and I need to do it as cheaply as possible. Is SSR better? I think those are the only two that make sense price wise.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Thought on OKW for dopey? How annoying is the bus situation? I really want to stay DVC to make food easier and for hot tub access. I also want to stay at a resort I haven’t been to and I need to do it as cheaply as possible. Is SSR better? I think those are the only two that make sense price wise.

If you can get OKW “near hospitality house” your be pretty close to the bus. I was pretty far away the first year I ran (building 52), and there’s an internal bus to take you to the front, but it was faster to just walk (around 10min.) I don’t love the limited food options there. The bed situation will be 2 queens. Not all of the buildings have elevators.

SSR, if you stay “preferred” you can be near the front building, and therefore the rundisney bus stop, (The Springs section) or near the Disney springs entrance (Congress Park) which is about an 8min walk to the front building. All other sections are considered “standard” and will be around a 8min walk to the front. Disney springs being so near makes for a ton of easily walkable food choices. The studios here also have the pull down Murphy bed, so you’d have more potential floor space if it’s only 2 people. This is our home resort and we really like how accessible the parks are, but also that it’s far enough away that you don’t feel like you’re swimming in the Disney Kool-Aid. It’s also really easy to get to other resorts because you can just walk to DS and hop on a resort bus.

SSR and OKW share *return* bus service post-race and has typically been one of the closest busses to the reunion area. And again, not impacted at all by road closures. It’s like 5min back to OWK, 5min to drop off, and 5min to SSR.

AKV is also pretty close, but a little more points-wise if that resort appeals to you.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Tell him he made me buy a beer stein from Germany (still sitting on my desk) so has to come back for DATW.

Tell him I need you for the half!

And I need her for the full!

And I need her for the MM spots!

There was a big sigh, a small eye roll, and a comment something like “this is from your running Disney disboards people peer pressuring you, isn’t it?” But not an immediate “no.” And a little later he looked at me and said "I thought registration was in APRIL last year." (You guys. He remembers when registration is. What the what?)

DS2’s trip plan makes PW a no-go, so IF I do a rundisney race next year it’ll have to be MW.

 

[camaker]

There was a big sigh, a small eye roll, and a comment something like “this is from your running Disney disboards peer pressuring you, isn’t it?” comment. But not an immediate “no.”

DS2’s trip plan makes PW a no-go, so IF I do a rundisney race next year it’ll have to be MW.

Me watching my prediction about @Herding_Cats’ MW slowly but inevitably come true:

 

[Naomeri]

Thought on OKW for dopey? How annoying is the bus situation? I really want to stay DVC to make food easier and for hot tub access. I also want to stay at a resort I haven’t been to and I need to do it as cheaply as possible. Is SSR better? I think those are the only two that make sense price wise.

If you can get OKW “near hospitality house” your be pretty close to the bus. I was pretty far away the first year I ran (building 52), and there’s an internal bus to take you to the front, but it was faster to just walk (around 10min.) I don’t love the limited food options there. The bed situation will be 2 queens. Not all of the buildings have elevators.

SSR, if you stay “preferred” you can be near the front building (The Springs section) or near the Disney springs entrance (Congress Park) which is about an 8min walk to the front building. All other sections are considered “standard” and will be around a 8min walk to the front. Disney springs being so near makes for a ton of easily walkable food choices. The studios here also have the pull down Murphy bed, so you’d have more potential floor space if it’s only 2 people. This is our home resort and we really like how accessible the parks are, but also that it’s far enough away that you don’t feel like you’re swimming in the Disney Kool-Aid. It’s also really easy to get to other resorts because you can just walk to DS and hop on a resort bus.

SSR and OKW share *return* bus service post-race and has typically been one of the closest busses to the reunion area. And again, not impacted at all by road closures. It’s like 5min back to OWK, 5min to drop off, and 5min to SSR.

AKV is also pretty close, but a little more points-wise if that resort appeals to you.

Can attest to how nice staying in The Springs section of SSR is for a race weekend. I stayed in a preferred studio for MW last month and I really liked the location. You're right by the runDisney bus stop, and right by the last internal bus stop before buses head to the parks (depending on which end of the building you're on, it may be quicker to get off at the Paddock bus stop and go across the bridge, rather than continuing to sit on the bus through more internal bus stops when you get back from the parks)

 

[jrsharp21]

I can't believe we are already less than a month away from registration. I really am starting to get anxiety already about registration. I start getting anxious every year, and every year a gracious board member helps out with one of their short timer links to get registered. But it's that fear of not knowing if you are going to get in for sure or not. Throw in that some high level bosses around work were a little annoyed that there was three of us out of the office at this past MW, and it was during our year end close process. One of my co-workers already said she is not going. My buddy, who usually runs the marathon with me, was already told that before he registers, he needs to discuss with his boss. My boss hasn't said anything, fingers crossed. Most of the upper management in my department know I do these runs every year. So hoping with that, they don't say a word. My wife asked what if I register and then they tell me I can't go. I told her we better save some money over the year, because I may be going out to MW 2026 without a job.

 

[sandam1]

I really am starting to get anxiety already about registration. I start getting anxious every year, and every year a gracious board member helps out with one of their short timer links to get registered.

Whenever I get stressed, I remind myself that I am part of two amazing communities (one here and one on Facebook) that have had remarkable success getting people registered. That helps me a LOT!

Throw in that some high level bosses around work were a little annoyed that there was three of us out of the office at this past MW, and it was during our year end close process. One of my co-workers already said she is not going. My buddy, who usually runs the marathon with me, was already told that before he registers, he needs to discuss with his boss. My boss hasn't said anything, fingers crossed. Most of the upper management in my department know I do these runs every year. So hoping with that, they don't say a word.

This reminds me of a story that I might not have shared here. At my work, the aftermath of my largest single project of the year happens the two days after New Years. It's one of those "must do" things and actually why I couldn't make Marathon Weekend 2024 happen (well, that and my mom's 70th birthday). This past year we got a new Executive Director at work and, when we started talking about this event, I could almost hear him thinking "why don't we just extend it through the weekend?" To which I said, quite clearly, "I am going to be on vacation for a week, starting that Tuesday." Basically, don't mess with this as I've had these dates arranged since MW 2023.

Being a very smart boss, the subject never came up again. I am willing to fit my running around work to a certain extent, but changing things up after registration wouldn't fly with me either.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I can't believe we are already less than a month away from registration. I really am starting to get anxiety already about registration. I start getting anxious every year, and every year a gracious board member helps out with one of their short timer links to get registered. But it's that fear of not knowing if you are going to get in for sure or not. Throw in that some high level bosses around work were a little annoyed that there was three of us out of the office at this past MW, and it was during our year end close process. One of my co-workers already said she is not going. My buddy, who usually runs the marathon with me, was already told that before he registers, he needs to discuss with his boss. My boss hasn't said anything, fingers crossed. Most of the upper management in my department know I do these runs every year. So hoping with that, they don't say a word. My wife asked what if I register and then they tell me I can't go. I told her we better save some money over the year, because I may be going out to MW 2026 without a job.

Ditto on the stress, because instead of sitting here in my command center home office, I'll be at a conference in, of all places, Orlando. Fortunately there is a break scheduled for 10 am, so I will (hopefully) be able to be back in the room and all set up for when the rope drops at 10 and hopefully get registered with a little help from my friends, to borrow a phrase....

 

[pluto377]

@Naomeri and @Herding_Cats Thanks for the feedback on OKW and SSR. I'll toss that around in my head for a while and make sure I get registered first. Pretty sure I will try to rent points for one of them if I get in for Dopey.

 

[jrsharp21]

Ditto on the stress, because instead of sitting here in my command center home office, I'll be at a conference in, of all places, Orlando. Fortunately there is a break scheduled for 10 am, so I will (hopefully) be able to be back in the room and all set up for when the rope drops at 10 and hopefully get registered with a little help from my friends, to borrow a phrase....

If we all get that dreaded circle of doom this year, we will message you to go over and knock on their IT department door.