Marathon Weekend 2026

[Spinster Travel]

Yes, LOTS of folks here have. They do run an internal bus, but if you miss it, it may be faster to walk to the main stop at HH than wait for the loop. If you have a car but don't want to drive all the way to the race, you could drive to HH and park or have someone in your party drop you there.

There are also lots of other DISers planning to stay there, and we're including that info in our Amazing Spreadsheet(tm) that will go out a bit before the race. I suspect there will be some who plan to drive with room in their vehicles, too.

Excellent! I wasn't overly concerned, but certainly wanted to confirm. Looking forward to it!

 

[jmasgat]

Before starting a new thread, figure I'll ask this group . Has anyone stayed at OKW for a race weekend? I've done many RD races but always stayed at either monorial resorts or options that are super close to the Race transportation. Wondering how good/bad it is if we get a room all the way in the back of the resort when needing to catch the bus in the morning for the race.

I stayed in building 36 this year. I just walked up to the front. Pretty sure there isn't a bus that runs internally. I mean, there isn't even one normally to get to Hospitality House (you just use a non-Disney Springs bus to get there)

 

[The Expert]

I stayed in building 36 this year. I just walked up to the front. Pretty sure there isn't a bus that runs internally. I mean, there isn't even one normally to get to Hospitality House (you just use a non-Disney Springs bus to get there)

I was going off of @Herding_Cats reports from a few years ago, so that may have changed, but they did used to run an internal bus (or maybe the race bus ran the loop).

 

[Herding_Cats]

There was definitely an internal bus when we stayed there in 2022 for MW, but I still just walked to the front. I cannot comment on whether or not they still run this. (It was a smaller unmarked bus similar to what AKL uses to go between Jambo and Kidani.

And that was when we had the mile-long walkout to the start corrals. That totally didn't make me nervous about the marathon/Goofy on Sunday.

 

[dobball23]

Before starting a new thread, figure I'll ask this group . Has anyone stayed at OKW for a race weekend? I've done many RD races but always stayed at either monorial resorts or options that are super close to the Race transportation. Wondering how good/bad it is if we get a room all the way in the back of the resort when needing to catch the bus in the morning for the race.

I stayed at OKW for MW in 2024 and am back there again this year. I had a car in 2024 and plan to have one again in 2026. I like the camaraderie of taking the bus to the race, but I found I preferred being able to more easily time my arrival to Epcot.

I stayed in Building 21 (Miller's Bottom Road), which was a decent distance from the Hospitality House. I didn't prefer the location while trying to limit steps. But I enjoyed being at OKW, and it worked out well for MW. It is a short drive to Epcot.

 

[camaker]

Good afternoon RunDisney All-Stars! Welcome to this week's edition of Sundays are for Disney (SAFD). It's been a while, so let's have a training check in. How are things going with your running this summer? Have you started your plan for MW yet? Training for something this fall? Taking it easy until time to ramp things up later? Let's hear about it!

SAFD: I'm still hoping to hit a late October marathon, so I've been trying to reestablish fitness and ramp towards that goal. The good news is that I've been able to resume my normal 5 days/wk schedule and I'm seeing improvement in my overall fitness. The bad news is that despite running almost 2 min/mile slower than I was pre-injury, the heat and humidity have been pushing most runs up into Garmin's "tempo" range. I've had to reintroduce run/walk intervals in self defense to try and get my HR down to "base". It's worked to an extent, but there's only so much I can do with most runs in the T+D >160 range. It was 79 deg with a 76 deg dew point at 5am this morning , so there's really been no escape. Hopefully we'll get a cool snap through soon!

 

[Herding_Cats]

camaker I'm SO happy reading this. I'm glad that you're back to running in a nearly-normal way.

SAFD:
I'm 28 days out from my trail 50k. I've been fairly consistent in getting in 4-5 days per week, and ran my longest training run ever yesterday at 22 miles (peak week!) I feel shockingly normal today, so apparently I'm adapting to the higher mileage?? I've gotten up before 5am 3x this summer to get long runs in, trying to beat the heat and started using phrases like "I only have 6 more miles!" when texting DH my whereabouts. Who am I?!

I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do as far as bridging between this plan and building back up for Goofy while also refereeing (starting in November.) Assuming I come out of my trail race healthy, I'm considering a block of lifting and "sprint" work to see if I can build some speed back into my body.

 

[matt and beth]

SAFD:
Took two weeks off for some extensive patio work. Amazed at how sore your legs can be doing that and then how out of condition you can be when returning to running. Got back to back long runs this weekend with a 15 mile run today. My POT expires this year so hoping for a great time at W&D. Then, roll it all into MW training with a fewer longer runs. Gonna start strength training in the next couple of weeks

 

[RuntheMouse]

SAFD: I’m starting week 9 of my block for my October marathon. This heat is starting to p*ss me off! I’m physically healthy but really struggling with nausea when I get over 12 miles if the T&D is over 140. BUT like I said, I’m physically there, no injuries so it’s a waiting game and just trying to not feel so defeated. Oh and I think it’s ridiculous that I have to use my boot dryer on my running shoes almost every day now. Next week looks a little better!

After a break from that race, I’ll roll right into an abbreviated 12 week plan for MW. So much for skipping next year

 

[Erika10021]

SAFD: I am working on my intermediate training plan, i.e. training for a half marathon on September 6 and then I will go right into my official Dopey training. Four weeks into the plan, I have only missed one run (but made up mileage elsewhere). Most of the runs have been going better than expected (yesterday got super warm when the sun came out unexpectedly). The plan seems wholly doable and I am hoping to get the projected finish time on September 6. If it goes well enough, I might try for a POT during Wine & Dine weekend.

I am silly excited for marathon weekend! I am sure my husband is already getting tired of how much I talk about it, this far away from the weekend.

We even just planned another trip to WDW in December and I am excited to do some training runs at Disney!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

SAFD: Just finished week 3 of training for the Marine Corps Marathon in October. The humidity here has been awful. Besides that and missing a few runs after I rolled my ankle last week, things have been fine. My paces are not entirely where I want them to be at the moment, but between the weather and being early in the cycle, it's kind of hard to judge. Just out here struggling through it until we get some cooler weather!

 

[Baloo in MI]

SAFD:
I am planning to run a fall marathon, just have not decided which, there are two in October and I need to decide which I will do. But for now I am following my plan towards an October Marathon. The heat in Michigan has been a bit frustrating and I have been struggling in it some, but hitting my work outs each week. No focus on a POT right now, the October Marathon is just for fun. I will then bridge that over to my Dopey Plan.

 

[Herding_Cats]

SAFD:
I am planning to run a fall marathon, just have not decided which, there are two in October and I need to decide which I will do. But for now I am following my plan towards an October Marathon. The heat in Michigan has been a bit frustrating and I have been struggling in it some, but hitting my work outs each week. No focus on a POT right now, the October Marathon is just for fun. I will then bridge that over to my Dopey Plan.

Is one of them sleeping bear?

 

[JackosinDIS]

SAFD: taking it nice and steady! I started 11 weeks ago unable to run for 1 minute, and now I am up to 35 minutes straight! I have managed 5k in under 30 minutes, although my DH has told me to go back to slow and steady running to work on fitness and try and get my heart rate down (although I’m not convinced that will ever be a thing for me!!).
The next 20 weeks is all about building up to the 10k distance and the goal is to run it in under 1 hour on race day.
Very basic stuff compared to all you marathon pros, but I’m actually starting to enjoy it… only a little bit though.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

SAFD: taking it nice and steady! I started 11 weeks ago unable to run for 1 minute, and now I am up to 35 minutes straight! I have managed 5k in under 30 minutes, although my DH has told me to go back to slow and steady running to work on fitness and try and get my heart rate down (although I’m not convinced that will ever be a thing for me!!).
The next 20 weeks is all about building up to the 10k distance and the goal is to run it in under 1 hour on race day.
Very basic stuff compared to all you marathon pros, but I’m actually starting to enjoy it… only a little bit though.

That's great progress! Yes, your heart rate really will normalize...eventually. By race day, you'll be a total pro yourself.

 

[Disney at Heart]

I am so tired of getting up in the “middle of the night” to run before the sun comes up, but being in the southern heat dome where there have been about 40 consecutive days of +90 degrees, many of them with 100+ real feels, there is no choice!
We are keeping our usual MWFSat schedule, and won’t start ramping up over our usual 6.5 mile long runs until August 9, officially doing 7 miles that day, which starts ramping up the long run mileage on Jeff’s Goofy plan. (Off season we always run more miles than where Jeff’s plan starts, and do FSat back to back with a Saturday “long run”).
Keep on running, friends!

 

[PrincessV]

SAFD: I’m not training for anything, just trying to survive the summer, and the heat is… well, a lot. I normally have a personal policy that I do not complain about the FL heat until August, but I’m making an exception because I’ve never experienced anything like this summer’s heat. We hit a new record high of 100° in Tampa today, and that is not at all normal. I guess the good news is that I have, so far, survived it, by more time on the treadmill than I’d like and some very early mornings outdoors. I’m VERY glad I don’t have a fall or winter marathon to be training for right now!

 

[Dopey 2020]

SAFD Does training really ever stop? Not for me, usually 5 days a week all year. It’s been a decent summer, though my 50k beat me up and the July heat has slowed me quite a bit. I am looking toward an early October marathon that was to be my best shot at a BQ but I’m not going to stress over it. I’m trying something different than planned in this heat, slowing down but running 6 days a week to stay in condition until after an August cruise (moving DD back to FL for her final year at ERAU) then it will be about 6 weeks of trying to ramp up some speed work. We’ll see what happens when it happens, then it will be Wine and Dine time.

 

[The Expert]

SAFD: I'm proud to say I've been very consistent with strength training this summer. Running? No so much. I've gotten out on the trails a few times between work stuff and rain, but I'm not running with any consistency or training for anything right now. The dog we adopted three months ago LOVES to walk, and despite having super short legs and being 9 years old he will consistently do about two miles a day with me over the course of several outings. I'm tracking all of them on my Garmin, so I"m sure anyone who follows me on Strava is VERY confused about my training plan. LOL!



I will need to get serious about running in the next month or so, with the Wine & Dine 5K coming and then building up to the 5K/10K/Half at both MW and Princess. I'm 90% sure I'm going to sign up for Galloway Customized Training just to see how I like it. I'll probably sign up for the year, both for the discount and also because I'm also considering a charity sign-up for the Chicago Marathon for 2026 (One Tail at a Time or Team Fox) and don't trust myself to make a clean transition or keep up training after PW on my own.

 

[Naomeri]

SAFD: I was doing well with my summer speed plan through June, even getting a new official 5K PR. And then I just got too busy with helping in the garden to have any energy for running.

But I started my new job last Monday, so now I have some structure to my life, and I'm starting a 10 week training plan for the TC Marathon Weekend Loony Challenge (Oct 4&5) tomorrow. I'll have treadmill runs on Mondays and Fridays, which are my WFH days, a <1hr threshold run on Tuesdays, which I can run on the trail next to my new office building, an 30 min easy run on Thursdays (also can be done right after work) and a long run on Saturdays. I'm going to try to walk on my lunch break on Wednesdays, just to get more time on my feet (and some fresh air!)

After Loony, I've got the Hot Chocolate 15K on Nov 8, and then nothing scheduled until Princess.