Marathon Weekend 2027

[SheHulk]

SAFD: I ran the 2014 WDW Marathon -- my first marathon! and though I dealt with calf cramps from being undertrained, and didn't get near the finish time I was hoping for, I wanted to try again the next year. I had done other races but it was so special running in the parks. I have a pic lying around somewhere, this was back when they mailed you a print of race photos you ordered, I have this ridiculously happy wide-eyed, ear-to-ear smile expression on my face running through MK. The rest is history. I think in a previous post I said I have run "just" the marathon 8 times, but I was mistaken, that was including 2 non-rD marathons. I've run six "just the marathon" WDW weekends, 2 Goofy challenges, Princess weekend a few times and got a Star Wars challenge in there in 2019, right before they killed it. I run a lot of non rD races, but I love these experiences so much.

Honestly I don't know if I will do MW this year, I have been saying I am taking a break from marathons and I would have too much FOMO not going the full distance on the weekend. I have my sights set on Princess 2027 right now.

 

[accm]

SAFD: my first race was the Disneyland Paris inaugural half in 2016. I signed up as a non runner who was planning on bring in France at the time and loves Disney. I was going to sign up for Marathon Weekend, but ended up getting pregnant, and was not about to sign up for my first marathon (and Dopey) at 3 months post partum.

Fast forward to covid, when I signed up for the virtual 5k challenge to get back into being active. Then when they announced Wine and Dine 2021 I signed up. I've done one weekend per season then. Did MW on 2023 and 2024, Wine and Dine 2024, and MW 2026. I've decided I'll be sticking to MW going forward.

 

[Psymonds]

Good morning, runDisney All-Stars! I just flipped my calendar to February, and wouldn't you know it? Sundays are for Disney!

I suspect some of our friends in the south are getting tagged with some wintry weather, so hopefully @camaker and you all don't mind me jumping in on SAFD this week.

For this week's SAFD, tell us about your runDisney experience. If you're new to runDisney, what are your runDisney plans for the coming year?

My first runDisney race (and first marathon ever) was the 2017 Marathon, hence my desire to come back next year for my personal 10 year anniversary. I returned in 2019 for Dopey and then did Goofy in 2020 and 2022 (I think those were the years). While the races are great, I love the high school reunion feel of Marathon Weekend - old friends from around the world gathering to catch up, run a few races, and have a few drinks.

Stay warm and safe this week, All-Stars!

My first runDisney race was the 2025 marathon. My first marathon, my first runDisney etc!

Being a west coaster I have complex relationship with RD. it's near impossible for me to do a weekend for wine and dine, for example, with the kids in school.

I'm trying to decide whether to Dopey or "just" do the marathon. DS17 will be 18 for Marathon weekend next year, asked him if he wanted to do the marathon and he's in, but definitely out on Dopey. (It may not have helped to ask him at the doctor's office while he was sick)

 

[anniebean]

Just got an email from Hope Story for sign ups for the 26-27 rundisney season. I’m officially signed up for the Dopey! It will be my first!
I don’t have much luck with sign ups directly thru rundisney (bad internet connection, too slow to click link….i dunno, but it stresses me out) so a charity bib is way to go for me.

 

[Herding_Cats]

More MW merch has hit the outlets (Vineland) as of yesterday. I think @marty3d was looking for something? Can likely find a personal shopper or someone in a rundisney specific bst group to shop for you. (Goofy hoodies and Ts, baseball jerseys, sport jerseys, Chip and dale shirts, etc)

 

[marty3d]

More MW merch has hit the outlets (Vineland) as of yesterday. I think @marty3d was looking for something? Can likely find a personal shopper or someone in a rundisney specific bst group to shop for you. (Goofy hoodies and Ts, baseball jerseys, sport jerseys, Chip and dale shirts, etc)

If you know someone let me know! I’m heading to Florida for work over the next few weeks but I’m on the wrong coast!! Still kicking myself for not getting the Goofy finisher shirt at the expo!!

 

[WDW 4 ME]

Started dabbling in the creatine world recently. Anyone have a favorite?

 

[Zutroy]

Started dabbling in the creatine world recently. Anyone have a favorite?

I really like the Legion creatine gummies. I’ve used powdered creatine in the past, but I always had a hard time consistently taking it. Switching to gummies made it so I was taking it every day. I found that my marathon training this year was so much easier because I was recovering faster. I was back to running normally two days post-marathon.


ar

 

[Baloo in MI]

SAFD:
Back from the glorious weather in Anaheim and trying to psych myself up to step out into the winter of mid-Michigan. Kai (my dog) is like you have been gone for a week, walk me for goodness sake! Figured it would be a good time to get caught up here.

My first runDisney race was Goofy 2015. Already a runner and a huge Disney person I was hooked! Since I have mostly done MW and SS, but did get into this last DL Half Weekend to get my Coast to Coast. I absolutely love the community, positivity and challenge of runDisney. I have no plans to stop anytime soon. I have said it before but my long term goal is to be the oldest runner out on the course one day and to keep running until then.

Next race will be Springtime Surprise, I am doing the challenge and when I finish the 10 Miler it will be my 60th runDisney race! Time to walk Kai.

 

[disneylandlocal]

It's sort of a running joke/unwritten rule that no one does "just" a marathon or even "just" 5K. Every race has value and is an accomplishment we can be proud of. Not ragging on you or anything, just giving you the lay of the land.

That being said, I did "just" the the marathon in 2017 and it was great. One of my few gripes about MW (aside from the cost) is the overemphasis on Dopey. At any other race, a marathon is treated like the tremendous accomplishment that it is. At Disney, there's sort of a vibe from the merch, announce team, etc. that you didn't do enough.

Anyway, do what makes sense for you. Dopey and Goofy is definitely daunting, especially for your first.

You captured my concern. There seems to be so much focus on Dopey that the marathon itself isn’t given attention. I’ve done a few run Disney challenges (10k and half) because I like doing the 10k for fun/ pics and the half at my race pace. I also learned I didn’t like walking around the parks with a half medal and seeing all the people with challenge medals outshining me. I realize this is dumb to compare but I’m competitive.

 

[disneylandlocal]

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.

I hate the early wake ups and busses! Coming from the west coast I didn’t sleep at all when I did the wine and dine challenge.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

SAFD:

I started running the PTRR (sorry. Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta) in the early 90’s. and that got me back into running (back = I had run cross county in jr high). Also, the ex and I used to go to WDW regularly in the ‘90s, and I still have the memory of looking around and saying how cool it would be to get to run through the parks. I don’t know how I later found out that there were rD races; for all I know, we may have been there during one of the race weekends.

I had never run anything longer than a 10K before, but signed up for the 2009 Half and started training. In the meantime, I joined the Disney Running forum and started interacting with the online community. Two years later I wound up having dinner with the guy who had owned the DR site before Disney bought it.

Flew down, did the Disney Magical Express, did the half, and flew back on Sunday. I wore the medal all through the airport, on the plane, and back to the house. I put it in a shadowbox for my “one and done” distance race. [ cue laughter]

I missed the Ice-capades in 2010, but signed up for the 2011 Goofy, which was my 3rd ever Half and my first ever Full. On Sunday morning, my feet hurt so badly that I was sure I had broken bones in both feet. Goodness I’ve come a long way in terms of equipment and knowing to have multiple pairs of shoes, not to mention training and preparation.

So my first full was the morning after a half (cue the sound of many heads nodding….).

I had no idea what it would eventually lead to. [sound of more heads nodding]

Then came a lot of divorce and job change chaos, plus later meeting my DW and then coming back from our honeymoon just in time for covid. After two or three weeks of some very long days of working from home (covid had us super busy at work), I started pushing away from my desk every afternoon at 4 pm to go for a walk. The walks became jogs became runs. Rewind a number of years and I’m at a HS reunion and one of my classmates showed us a photo of a bedspread covered in medals. ?! Turns out she and her DH did one of the first Dopeys, and completing a Dopey became a bucket list goal. It appeared that for 2022 my work, child visitation, and finances would allow for me to do the Dopey, so I signed up for it, joined the rD boards, and started training. The rest is rD history and you can see the results in my signature. I completed the Dopey using my half-@ssed method, which is just a modified Galloway rwr, and finally did a non-rD marathon, the MCM a few years ago. I’ve dropped weight and feel so much better for the regular exercise that running has become one of my main activities and passions.

Other tidbits:

Like so many others, I come out of AK on Sunday questioning life decisions, and then 3 days after getting back from MW, I’m thinking about finding my next race.

W&D is the only WDW race that I haven’t done yet, and I hope to check that off in the next couple of years. I just signed up for the NYC marathon lottery, and plan to do so for Chicago in the near future.

Regrets: that I missed the Tower of Terror 13K, and the Star Wars races. They sounded like a lot of fun. Ditto not making it out to Anaheim, but maybe I can when they resume out there.

I enjoy the Half a lot because I can go down Main Street in the dark and see the castle all lit up. For the full, it is daylight by the time I get to the MK.

I used to dread Western Way, but now I’m fine with it, and have more dislike for the stretch between exiting AK and Western Way.

For 2027, I may do only the full so that I can have time to ride several rides and check that off my to-do list. And now that I’ve done a number of rD events, I’m now thinking more about also working rD events and not just running them. I may do another Dopey, but of late the Goofy is enough, as the 5K and 10K are over so relatively quickly.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I also learned I didn’t like walking around the parks with a half medal and seeing all the people with challenge medals outshining me. I realize this is dumb to compare but I’m competitive.

Medal envy is real. [cue the commercial for Dopeymine if you have moderate to severe medal envy...]

 

[Fenway1970]

There seems to be so much focus on Dopey that the marathon itself isn’t given attention.

I think it's poor Goofy that suffers the most since Dopey came along, just based on looking at the various sections of merchandise at the shop. Yeah, the Dopey section is always the worst, but even Mickey and Minnie still get some love in the marathon section. The poor sad Goofy rack still looks immaculate on Friday, like no one has even touched it.

Like so many others, I come out of AK on Sunday questioning life decisions, and then 3 days after getting back from MW, I’m thinking about finding my next race.

Hahaha yep. The combo of a crappy training cycle and the heat on Sunday had me sitting in the post-race bleachers thinking I would take a break from 2027 MW. I think that feeling lasted all of the time it took for the bus to get halfway back to the hotel.