Marathon Weekend 2026

[WDW 4 ME]

I’m vegan and agree!!

Aww, thank you!!! I’m beyond thrilled to be in this small group of people who have accomplished this feat!! Thought about adding some tagline in my email signature so everyone would know I’m a part of the official marathoner club but didnt want to be too annoying!!

I love a half. It’s a challenge but manageable. Definitely want to do more marathons, but will probably still be limited. That training schedule is so consuming. Especially with kids, pets, full time job, house and yard. I feel l let so many things go the past few months, in order to get my training in. I can definitely see myself doing one a year though!!!!

 

[Herding_Cats]

Was the marathon seriously only a week ago?!

 

[Erica1016]

I will definitely work on him!!!!

I'm a hoot!

 

[prncssjas]

Sorry we missed the meet up on Marathon morning (the A/C in our room at the GF went haywire the night before and they had to call for engineers from the Magic Kingdom at 1:30am to come service it... sleep? I don't know her....) but I am enjoying reading everyone's experiences (good and bad)--I cannot believe it's been a week. I don't know if we will do the full again (I'll take my Disney vacation with a side of only mildly sore quads please) but I am thrilled to have earned those damn ears.

Hugs from the freezing polar vortex that is Michigan.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Totally agree. We were at the expo for over 4 hours (the virtual queue estimates were horribly off), and after all that we walked in and out of the merch area in about 5 minutes. The merchandise was IMO horrible--especially Dopey, which is why we waited. We walked out with Chip and Dale shoes--that's it. The last couple races have been like this for me. The merchandise is like the parks... generic, cheap-looking, and mostly meh. It's nothing like the merch when I first started (2017 Light Side).

I’ve been a vocal critic (to my limited audience of my family and this board) of all of their merch since they’ve transitioned to almost exclusively Disney-branded clothing in the parks and rD. They charge premium prices for what I think is objectively non-premium merchandise. In the rare instances I like a design, the materials and/or craftsmanship seem shoddy. And vice versa.

To be fair, I would never be their biggest customer and probably shouldn’t be their target audience. Still, the Brooks shoes I purchased this past week were the first piece of merch I bought in the official rD merch area in over 5 years. They should be able to do better than that.

 

[matt and beth]

I’ve been a vocal critic (to my limited audience of my family and this board) of all of their merch since they’ve transitioned to almost exclusively Disney-branded clothing in the parks and rD. They charge premium prices for what I think is objectively non-premium merchandise. In the rare instances I like a design, the materials and/or craftsmanship seem shoddy. And vice versa.

To be fair, I would never be their biggest customer and probably shouldn’t be their target audience. Still, the Brooks shoes I purchased this past week were the first piece of merch I bought in the official rD merch area in over 5 years. They should be able to do better than that.

And to be fair… go to the WDW golf courses and they have some great branded merch that looks awesome

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

So there’s no Brooks rD merch besides the shoes and the race shirts themselves?

 

[The Expert]

So there’s no Brooks rD merch besides the shoes and the race shirts themselves?

The Club jacket this year is also Brooks, but I'm not sure anything else was. I really thought at least some of the core line might be, but no. I thought I wanted the puffer vest but putting it on in person, it felt like thin plastic. Awful!

 

[marty3d]

Was the marathon seriously only a week ago?!

I'm the opposite - I can't believe it's already been a week since the marathon (and DATW). Maybe it's because I've only been home for 2 days and now packed and flying out again tomorrow but my brain is convinced it's only been 3 or 4 days. (Maybe I just need sleep)

 

[jpholic]

The Club jacket this year is also Brooks, but I'm not sure anything else was. I really thought at least some of the core line might be, but no. I thought I wanted the puffer vest but putting it on in person, it felt like thin plastic. Awful!

I really like the updated Canopy jacket from Brooks, I was eyeing it all Marathon weekend with envy. They released some new colors in the updated fit on their website sans Club logo if anyone is looking for a new run jacket. I ordered the burgandy but really was tempted by the neon pink. Easier to find me when I get lost in the wilderness on them long runs.

Brooks Canopy Jacket

 

[Poohverine]

I really like the updated Canopy jacket from Brooks, I was eyeing it all weekend with envy. They released some new colors in the updated fit on their website sans Club logo if anyone is looking for a new run jacket. I ordered the burgandy but really was tempted by the neon pink. Easier to find me when I get lost in the wilderness on them long runs.

Brooks Canopy Jacket

I bought this jacket for a race they sponsored that I ran last year (Vancouver). Not sure if it’s this specific version, but it’s my go to run jacket. Super light, packable, but does the job when I need it for some protection against cold/wind when running.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Random replies:
1. Yes, it's hard to believe it has been less than a week. And with the cold front with freezing temps that has come through, it's hard to believe how warm and comfortable I was a week ago
2. I train in the afternoon heat and humidity of Atlanta, so the temps last week were a non-issue for me. The half was borderline for a full costume, and the full was definitely warm enough to dictate no costume and dress for the heat. So not to make light of anyone who had heat-related issues, but for many of us, it wasn't too bad. That said, I would have loved if that cold front had made it there Sat night instead of Sun night....
3. The MW "free" shirts are really sub-standard in terms of both looks and wearability, and I said so in the survey
4. I did pre-buy the race jacket and have found it very comfortable. And was happy to have to trade my XL for an L to have it fit better!
5. I surprised myself by buying a pair of the castle shoes and have worn them nearly every day since the expo. Not for running, but otherwise yes. I even wore them to church this morning. So Brooks for the W on shoes, and an L for the shirts.
6. My 2009 and 2011 Champion shirts are all still in very good shape and get worn regularly.
7. I've never wanted much out of the post-race food box, at least on the bus back to the resort, and especially the chips and plastic cheese. So Monday in German was the first time I've ever had the plastic cheese and found it to be tastier than expected. So much so, that I had some more of it with my Fritos while watching football this afternoon.
8. I thought the merch building shirts were better than the actual race shirts, and wound up buying a couple of them. The all worn out Goofy shirt makes me chuckle.

 

[marty3d]

8. I thought the merch building shirts were better than the actual race shirts, and wound up buying a couple of them. The all worn out Goofy shirt makes me chuckle.

This is my one Merch regret this year - not buying that shirt.

 

[cburnett11]

I rarely buy any merch at the expo but surprisingly got Group 1 so went in early on Wednesday. I got in a fairly quick dopey line but didn’t like anything, so ended up with just a magnet. I did like the simple white 1/4 zip marathon weekend shirt. I bought that and a coast to coast wicking shirt that I will rightfully (hopefully) wear in 2 weeks.

Echoing what others have said about the Champion race shirts… I still wear my 2016-2019 marathon shirts throughout the colder months for runs. They are comfortable and they all still look great!

 

[SheHulk]

Got the survey and didn’t bash too much because honestly we had a great time. The merchandise wasn’t to our taste and we never were asked for a detailed comment unfortunately. I’d like something a little more conservative/heterosexual male. Like Princess is designed for a certain style and well deserved. Or the other… Wine and Dine black mesh shirt (shaking my head). Maybe if they can stop and think, “hey… what can the contractor dude wear to the office without everyone pointing and laughing at him”. That would be great. Just a small section of toned down merch would be great

I was specifically asked about merch on the survey and I think I conveyed the same thoughts as you. Maybe not "heterosexual male" lol but more like "middle aged lady". I did say that even though I like vacationing at Disney and am a proud runDisney runner, I don't want to buy things with big bright graphics splashed all over it. Spirit jerseys aren't my thing for example. But when I started running MW 10 years ago, I could find a tank or tee shirt that had a running Mickey on it to be sure, but was good running material and a bit more subdued. Maybe they are appealing to younger folks, which is reasonable. Anyway I hope I represented both our thoughts well.

 

[JediKnightXan]

I got a survey yesterday (Saturday), I think in my case ignorance is probably bliss, as I never knew any of the before times. I was pretty complimentary, given the size of the field and all the extras they have to deal with (setting up entertainment, and dealing with possible hostile business partners in park ops ect.) I think they was run as well as any local race I do.

I was a little harsher on the expo particularly the hours after the first day, no way to do the expo without cutting in to a park day, would greatly appreciate if they were open first thing in the morning, or were open later. I got there about 7:15 Wed night so i had a very whirlwind experience there, but so glad I did that rather than cutting a park day short to get there.

Merch wise it was all "fine" I'm generally not a big merch person when we go to Disney as I prefer to save the money so I can afford to go again. I wanted to get something for this as it was my first marathon. Got the coffee cup and had preordered the jacket. Very happy with both. I looked at the Marathon hoodie, design was nice, but I have enough "tech" hoodies, that it wouldn't get warn much. Also l have the same thing as Matt and Beth and Shehulk though, I couldn't ware any of the stuff I saw to work without getting a LOT of flack for it. A subtle mickey logo can work, but full characters not so much.

Side rant... I HATE the ads on this site. This message took 5X longer than it should to type with ads reloading and me having to reengage the text block. Sometimes I could only get one character in.

 

[Naomeri]

Side rant... I HATE the ads on this site. This message took 5X longer than it should to type with ads reloading and me having to reengage the text block. Sometimes I could only get one character in.

Ad blockers are your friend. DisBoards was getting to be almost unusable for me until I installed them.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Side rant... I HATE the ads on this site. This message took 5X longer than it should to type with ads reloading and me having to reengage the text block. Sometimes I could only get one character in.

THIS!!!!

 

[WDW 4 ME]

I'm a hoot!

Oh, we could tell that from our first meeting!