Marathon Weekend 2027

[marty3d]

SAFD: Thanks for jumping in @lhermiston! The winter weather ended up being largely a bust where I am, unfortunately. We were dead center in the dreaded "dry slot" between the two systems and sat watching absolutely nothing while getting pictures from my mother and daughter showing snow piling up higher and higher just a couple of hours to the west. They ended up with >12", while we were held to <2" by the time it filled in and reached us. Very disappointing.

You may be the only person I know who is complaining about not enough snow this winter!

PS Team Goofy here! I have done 3 Dopey's and while they are so much fun I prefer Goofy

Same! Though 28 is the Dopey anniversary year (and also Mickey's 100th and I wonder if that will play into the themes)

 

[sandam1]

SAFD I started with runDisney at Marathon Weekend 2019. Someone told me that I could run down Main Street and run through the castle and I said "I'm in. How far?" I originally said "one and done," but that first weekend was something special and I was hooked. Since then, I've only NOT been at Marathon Weekend twice (2020 when I did Princess and 2024 when I did Disneyland and when my mom's 70th birthday fell on MW) and I can't see myself voluntarily skipping the weekend again anytime in the near future. To quote the former Buffalo Bills head coach Marv Levy, "Where else would you rather be than right here, right now?"

This year I did the MW 10K and half marathon and then spectated the full and that's my tentative plan for 2027 too. There's a chance that my friend might be limited to the 5K which might convince me to add that. But not doing the 5K gave us the ability to go to the parks after the Expo without worrying about getting up the next morning, which I really, really enjoyed. I love the 10K course and will never turn down a trip through the castle, but it was so nice to be done after the half. I could go to a Saturday meet-up and not have to worry about saving my feet for the next day. We did a later dinner than we normally would. And spectating the marathon (we did Main Street and then headed over by Coronado) was the highlight of the weekend as it gave me a chance to hang out with some friends, while supporting others. It's the perfect balance between running, friends and vacation for me. And I feel like I've been there, done that with Dopey (twice) and there was absolutely no FOMO on Marathon Sunday to not be running.

 

[camaker]

You may be the only person I know who is complaining about not enough snow this winter!

Same! Though 28 is the Dopey anniversary year (and also Mickey's 100th and I wonder if that will play into the themes)

We average about 3” of snow per year here and will sometimes go for years between measurable accumulations, so a genuine snowstorm once in a while is more of a novelty than a nuisance. This storm was close to historic for the state, except for the swath where I live, so there’s definitely a feeling of missing out.

 

[SheHulk]

Does anyone just do the marathon ? I’m thinking of signing up for the 10k and marathon. I’ve never run a marathon so the thought of goofy or dopey is overwhelming.

What is the minimum POT half marathon time for corral placement in the full marathon? I’ll trace down the POT thread and cross post.

Thx!

I have done "just" the marathon 8 times. It's my favorite. I've done Goofy twice and never Dopey. Unpopular opinion around here but the half marathon course is pretty much the first half of the marathon course, so I don't really need to do that part of the course twice in a row. And two extra early wakeups on top of that just to do a 5k and 10k is just not worth it for me. I'd rather have those days for a regular vacation day. I know people love the challenges, and I'm not trying to yuck anybody's yum, but doing "just" the marathon is a great experience too. Highly recommend.

 

[Herding_Cats]

SAFD:
I was supposed to run the princess 10k in 2021 with SIL and it got covid cancelled. So then of course we switched to the no-shirt virtual option for ALL of the races because it was basically the same price and signed up for a local HM to earn our HM medal at (and did the 10k on our own.) That was my first "real" race. From there I signed up for a local marathon and Goofy 2022. I had been lurking and posting in this sub-forum starting in 2020 I think, and while I definitely felt like an outsider at that point, I really liked how much of a community it was here and managed to work up the nerve to attend the HH meetup.

It's 100% accurate that this group is BIG driver in the fact that I've run in 5 MW at this point. Even DH wants to stay an extra day to hang out with all of your for DATW!! I love how communal MW feels like, so it'll be interesting to see what the vibe is for PW. Having run the first SS weekend, that was totally a party vibe and waaay less intense than MW imo.

 

[matt and beth]

SAFD:
We started with a Princess race a few years ago doing a fundraiser for Noah’s Light now Dragon Masters in honor of our son that beat brain cancer at 4. Had a lot of fun and our 7 year old daughter made me promise to run Dopey with her when she came of age. Coming out of Covid she reminded me we had to run. Lo and behold we could still register in September!!! We’ve ran everyone since. Also, been hammering the wine and dine race with a few princess sprinkled in. Favorite… probably Wine and Dine. Love the food and atmosphere

 

[fatmanatee]

SAFD: my first experience was the 2016 Star Wars half, did the following year in both DL and WDW. Was planning on doing Rival Run in 2020 but then… COVID. After that I was struggling with what to do once races started opening up again, particularly with SW races disappearing, and talked myself into Dopey. Since then it’s been roughly one race weekend a year, either in DL or WDW, but with DL going away i might make MW my main.

 

[dobball23]

Does anyone just do the marathon ? I’m thinking of signing up for the 10k and marathon. I’ve never run a marathon so the thought of goofy or dopey is overwhelming.

What is the minimum POT half marathon time for corral placement in the full marathon? I’ll trace down the POT thread and cross post.

Thx!

I did "just" the marathon in 2023. I had done Dopey three times and had never run a standalone marathon, so I wanted to see how I would do (I set a PR at the time). We flew down from PA on Saturday, I ran Sunday and then flew home Monday. It was considerably cheaper than Dopey! I enjoyed it, but I did return for Dopey the following year.

 

[dobball23]

SAFD: My first RunDisney experience was the half marathon during Marathon Weekend 2013. My wife wanted to do a cruise and I promised if she could do a half marathon, then we'd go on a cruise. She did an awesome job of getting in shape and we did the half marathon on Saturday and then got on the Disney Dream on Sunday.

We returned to RunDisney in 2018 when following knee surgery I decided I wanted to try a marathon (I went all in on Dopey). I had seen a live stream of the marathon and saw all kinds of people finishing in 4 hours and it inspired me, despite my first thought when I crossed the half finish line in 2013 being "I can't imagine turning around and doing that again."

I have only participated in Marathon Weekend, and that remains my focus.

2013: Half marathon (no training, other than just being in shape)
2018: Dopey (ran 5K, 10K, marathon -- did half with my wife)
2020: Dopey (hot! and still did parks)
2022: Dopey (focused more on running, didn't do parks, avoided people so we didn't get sick before a cruise we had scheduled for the day after the marathon)
2023: Marathon
2024: Dopey
2026: Dopey (didn't run the half or full due to injury)

I've wanted to try other weekends, but after doing Marathon Weekend so much, it doesn't seem "worth" the trip from PA for the other weekends. Plus, Marathon Weekend just seems to be the premiere weekend, and I enjoy it so much. It also fits best with our schedule for traveling.

 

[KCO5988]

SAFD: My first rundisney was the 5k + goofy in 2013 for the unofficial Dopey. I had just done my first marathon in the fall of 2011 and in my head, this would be a great next challenge. I lived in the DC area at the time and had other races and goals in mind and kind of just forgot that rundisney was a thing until I moved to GA with my family 3 years ago and now I'm addicted! This year's goals for rundisney is Dopey again in 2027 and as many other race weekends as I can get DH to agree to!

 

[FFigawi]

Unpopular opinion around here but the half marathon course is pretty much the first half of the marathon course, so I don't really need to do that part of the course twice in a row.

That’s not an unpopular opinion in my book. The half is by far the worst of the four courses. Running up Main Street in the dark with the castle lit up is about the only thing that saves it.

 

[SheHulk]

That’s not an unpopular opinion in my book. The half is by far the worst of the four courses. Running up Main Street in the dark with the castle lit up is about the only thing that saves it.

Yeah I worded that wrong... the unpopular opinion I was voicing was that challenges aren't necessarily better to me and then the half marathon comment was more a justification for that. I wish they'd change up the half marathon course for WDW Marathon weekend and Princess too.

 

[nancipants]

That’s not an unpopular opinion in my book. The half is by far the worst of the four courses. Running up Main Street in the dark with the castle lit up is about the only thing that saves it.

Literally the only reason I want to do the half next year. I've never gone down Main Street in the dark (I start too late during Princess and I'm too slow during the marathon), so a marathon weekend half is my only opportunity.

 

[3princesandaprincess]

SAFD:
I don’t remember when I first heard about runDisney… sometime back in 2012?? I was a beginner runner at the time. I told DH if I could ever train enough to run a half I’d want to do it at Disney. Well, I ran my first local half in 2013, but with kids, jobs, etc never made it to a rD race.
Fast forward to 2024, when we happened to be on a family vacation during MW. I loved seeing all the runners and remembered that dream. After 12 years though, a half seemed old hat. . So I ran my first marathon at MW in 2025. And Dopey in 2026…and hopefully ’27! Thankfully I think after running this year DH is hooked now too!

 

[lukemorenus]

Sadly, I think my personal WDW marathon streak will end in 2027 (it began in 2012) ... I'm scheduled for heel/achilles surgery on Monday and will also need the other foot done later in the year... ugh

Achilles #1 underway

 

[JediKnightXan]

I hope the surgery went well and everything heals the well and quickly!!

 

[jrsharp21]

Achilles #1 underway

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. I tore my achilles in 2012 and had surgery to repair it. Definitely feel free to message me if you have any questions about recovery, tips or tricks, etc.

 

[jrsharp21]

SAFD: In 2019, my wife did the half marathon. Me, my wife, my daughter, my son, all flew down to WDW not knowing anything about rD races and what to expect. So the 2019 set up was the old starting corrals out on the road. I think even the finish line/reunion area was different. Me and the kids ended up waking up with my wife and going to the race with her that morning. And when she left to walk to the corrals, we essentially sat at the finish line, in these small metal bleachers, for almost three hours. We had no idea what to expect. The kids were not happy. LOL.

After that, I decided I wanted to do the 2020 half marathon. Signed up for it, and both wife and I did it. Obviously there was no 2021 race. So when they announced MW would be coming back for 2022, we decided we wanted to do the half marathon again. I remember registration day. We were sitting in a baseball stadium watching my son play. Registration went live and both of us were trying to register. But none of us were able to get the half marathon. But look, Dopey is still open. What the heck. Registered for Dopey. Told myself Dopey would be one and done. Now I have done Dopey ever year since and committed to 2027 already. LOL

For Disneyland, this was my first year doing the HM weekend. Knowing that DL was going on hiatus again, figured it possibly could be my last chance to get a coast to coast medal. So just got back from doing all three races there.

I keep telling myself that at some point I should probably stop with the rD races and do other things. But they are so addicting. Once you get back home, you already start planning for the next one.

 

[Goofed98]

SAFD: My first runDisney was Marathon Weekend 2010 (Disney on Ice). I hadn't run any races prior to that (ever), but we had been down the previous year and I saw everyone walking around with medals, and my dad challenged me. So, I signed up for Goofy in 2010.

It was a fantastic learning experience, and I wound up running Goofy for the next 10 years.

After 2020, between race cancellations and some life stuff, I didn't make it back down until this year, and I signed up for Dopey. I enjoyed the 5k and 10k, thought the half was a miserable course (for that many people. if I lived there and got to run it by myself each week, I'd probably love it), and really enjoyed the full.

For 2027, I'll probably sign up for Dopey again, but there's a very real chance I do the 5k and 10k with my brother, skip the half, and then run the full. I like to keep my options open, but I just didn't enjoy that 13 miles on Saturday.