Marathon Weekend 2026

[SheHulk]

SAFD: these are the only medals I’ve collected. Only been running seriously for less than a year with the exception of the neighborhood Turkey Trot. While not technically a medal I did get a Miller Lite can (or a few) at the end of those races that had just the right number of features I needed. BTW the bottle opener on my Cinco de Miler is comical; security at the race allowed only cans

I know I said I don't like the painted medals but I was intensely jealous when I saw that Hercules 10k medal at the MW expo last year.

 

[Stitch&Co.]

I ran PW in 2022, and I remember the reaction to the medal reveal was less than positive. The Moana challenge medal had nothing on the Mulan medal. To this day I can’t look at this medal without referring to it as “burn victim” Mulan.

The whole weekend was horrible.

 

[WDW 4 ME]

I definitely believe social media plays a factor in their insistence on putting bells and whistles onto every medal. These races sell out in minutes, but for some reason rD appeared to invite multiple influencers to Marathon Weekend last year for some reason (this message board is the only form of social media I have, so that’s anecdotal, but I saw it mentioned here). They certainly prioritize their online engagement.

Why does anyone need to be influenced in RD? I do watch some running influencers but have to admit…it annoyed me greatly that someone who really wanted a spot might not have gotten it because they handed it out to an influencer. They should have to go through the same stressful registration process we all go through!

 

[Zutroy]

Why does anyone need to be influenced in RD? I do watch some running influencers but have to admit…it annoyed me greatly that someone who really wanted a spot might not have gotten it because they handed it out to an influencer. They should have to go through the same stressful registration process we all go through!

Even the Galloway pacers have to go through general registration. During the last MW, I rode the monorail with a pacer who had to go through a charity to get in. They are all volunteers who don’t get paid to pace the races, and the least RD could do is give the group guaranteed spots.

 

[accm]

Just booked our flights for MW!! Pulled a page straight out of @Herding_Cats book and added 2 nights at the beginning of our trip since the flights then were cheaper and a better time.
Now I just need my waitlist for a Boardwalk view studio to come through so I don't have to switch the first half of our stay to SSR.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Just booked our flights for MW!! Pulled a page straight out of @Herding_Cats book and added 2 nights at the beginning of our trip since the flights then were cheaper and a better time.
Now I just need my waitlist for a Boardwalk view studio to come through so I don't have to switch the first half of our stay to SSR.

Atta girl!

But for real, in my defense it's not always my fault.

I had a whole pared-down trip plan. Fly down on Thursday night, and come home Monday morning and "only" run Goofy. And then I talked DH into the 5k with DD. Ok, now we fly down Tuesday night, come home Monday morning. That's still pared back, right? And I was only pricing things out at that point; nothing was booked.

But nooooo. DH says "let's fly down on Monday so we can do a park day on Tuesday." So I booked Monday morning flights down, and Tuesday afternoon home because it was more money to fly home Monday, and we had enough points to stay another night. Plus DH enjoyed DATW. (You know who you are!)

But the Monday flight was so early (5am) that we would have gotten a hotel room near the airport on Sunday night. And MIL would be coming over Sunday afternoon anyway in that case. So then we switched to a Sunday evening flight. And contacted the dis member we rented points from to see if we could extend our RIV studio for another night. (He was able to.) Which means I'm ONLY moving rooms ONE TIME this trip!

And that is how you go from a 4 night Disney trip, to 7 night Disney trip, a to a 9 night Disney trip. With 2 nights in a RIV studio.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

Training starts today for the Galloway plan for the half! I’m doing the 10K and half so I’m using the 18-week challenge plan. Let’s see if I can be better about actually following it this time! My RunDisney training has been severely lacking in the past.

 

[The Expert]

And that is how you go from a 4 night Disney trip, to 7 night Disney trip, a to a 9 night Disney trip. With 2 nights in a RIV studio.

 

[accm]

Atta girl!

But for real, in my defense it's not always my fault.

I had a whole pared-down trip plan. Fly down on Thursday night, and come home Monday morning and "only" run Goofy. And then I talked DH into the 5k with DD. Ok, now we fly down Tuesday night, come home Monday morning. That's still pared back, right? And I was only pricing things out at that point; nothing was booked.

But nooooo. DH says "let's fly down on Monday so we can do a park day on Tuesday." So I booked Monday morning flights down, and Tuesday afternoon home because it was more money to fly home Monday, and we had enough points to stay another night. Plus DH enjoyed DATW. (You know who you are!)

But the Monday flight was so early (5am) that we would have gotten a hotel room near the airport on Sunday night. And MIL would be coming over Sunday afternoon anyway in that case. So then we switched to a Sunday evening flight. And contacted the dis member we rented points from to see if we could extend our RIV studio for another night. (He was able to.) Which means I'm ONLY moving rooms ONE TIME this trip!

And that is how you go from a 4 night Disney trip, to 7 night Disney trip, a to a 9 night Disney trip. With 2 nights in a RIV studio.

See this was 100% on me, with a little help from the DVC waitlist gods.

This was supposed to be a "short" trip. Minimum time required to run Dopey. So Tuesday to Tuesday (because I didn't want to have to deal with packing on Sunday after Dopey). But what's the point of going to work just on Monday? And if I'm going Monday, I might as well add on Sunday as well. And point wise, this cleaned us out for 2026 points (perpetual borrower over here).

Fast forward a few months, addontitis strikes again and we add on a 50pt BWV contract. I start thinking, why not go Saturday? So I put in a waitlist for a boardwalk view studio thinking there's no way it'll match. Lo and behold, it does.

Then this morning I'm looking at flights since Westjet is having a sale. The only flight on Saturday lands at night, BUT if we fly the day before, we land at 10:30am. So 2 days for the price of one night. And really, who's going to go to work on Friday, January 2nd anyways?

So here we are - our bare minimum trip turned into a 11 night trip

 

[pluto377]

@accm and @Herding_Cats I had a similar journey, but not as many nights added on. Started with just Wed-Mon. Then the flight times came out and I wouldn't have arrived until early afternoon on Wed. Did I really want that much stress about the expo the day before Dopey, plus miss out on all the merch? No, I did not. So Tuesday added on.

Then I started thinking, this is probably my only chance to actually go to DATW since I'm probably not going to be able to swing another Dopey for a while. So my Monday flight became Tuesday and voila, one week solo in Disney coming my way in January!

I've also gone from telling myself I'm only getting a one-day park ticket to trying to figure out how I can get a side hustle that will earn me enough money by Christmas to afford a 4 day ticket

 

[Herding_Cats]

 

[nancipants]

You all are making me really glad I'm a local.

 

[JackosinDIS]

Haha yes this is me as well… started Weds to Monday, but there wasn’t a direct flight on Weds so moved to Tuesday. Then some friends wanted to come along, so booked a bigger room, Tuesday to Tuesday! Full blown vacation now with park tickets (10k and marathon thrown in somewhere for me and DH). Ooops

 

[marty3d]

I've also gone from telling myself I'm only getting a one-day park ticket to trying to figure out how I can get a side hustle that will earn me enough money by Christmas to afford a 4 day ticket

This is me. Last (and only) time I did MW solo I only did a 1 day park ticket - but I also was just running (half) the half. Now with Goofy I'm thinking at least 2 days. I need 1 for DATW, 1 for Saturday, why not also go Sunday?

I haven't yet succumbed to adding additional nights but that's likely because I am going to visit family on the Gulf coast Wednesday and Thursday.

I did manage to cut my points usage for my airline tickets almost in half yesterday due to a seat sale.

 

[Disneyhanna]

I always want to leave in buffer for marathon weekend since the last couple years it has been a challenge to get out of MN for those waiting until Tuesday/Wednesday of the race weekend. But then if fly to MCO on Monday, well I might as well come in for the weekend since I have an AP, right? So here I am flying in on Friday, for a total of 11 nights

Then DL goes ahead and announces it's the last race weekend for a while, and they have some amazing themes, so now suddenly I'm adding that trip as well. All in all I'll be spending over 50% of January at Disney...

Did I mention January is one of our busiest months of the year at work? I tell my direct reports, live your life and you make work fit around it. So I'm just setting a good example. I sure pay the price for it though, and will be doing some work from hotel mixed in there

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I've also gone from telling myself I'm only getting a one-day park ticket to trying to figure out how I can get a side hustle that will earn me enough money by Christmas to afford a 4 day ticket

Maybe a kidney to sell?
Build a still in the backyard and sell hooch?

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I don't know that I've had any medals that I've disliked, other than the clanking sound while trying to wear one in the park.
For that reason, I'm going to try to remember to bring a couple of pipe cleaners that can be used to secure any moving parts from moving/rattling/clanking. (One year I grabbed a long stem from some of the vegetation and wrapped it around the moving part of the medal so as to pad it and prevent movement and noise).
DATW: Just how long does this go on? One on hand, it sounds like a lot to spend to get into Epcot to just spend more, OTOH, I've never done it and FOMO and all that....

 

[matt and beth]

Maybe a kidney to sell?
Build a still in the backyard and sell hooch?

If you or someone in your traveling family is in the military you can get pretty reduced tickets. Our son who is NG and visits with us picks them up.

Also, if first responder, EMS, gov employee, or school teacher you can join GOVX.com. They have a reduced ticket deal.

Just a couple of ideas

 

[The Expert]

DATW: Just how long does this go on? One on hand, it sounds like a lot to spend to get into Epcot to just spend more, OTOH, I've never done it and FOMO and all that....

However long you want! We usually start at 11 at Mexico and slowly make our way around via Norway, China, etc. We stop in each country and some folks pick up a drink (alcoholic or not) and maybe some food, we chat, hang out a while, and move on. People come and go throughout the day and the last of the group usually breaks up around 4-5ish, imho. Join us!