No more CC5k (even DIY going away)?

[anricat]

I saw a comment online from a recent cruiser (last week) that they went to go run the CC5k and were told it's discontinued. I clarified because when we were onboard a few weeks ago, we were able to run it on our own whenever and then stop by the bike rental for a medal. She said, nope, no medals. They don't have any and wouldn't be getting any more and the 5k is official done for good. Can any other recent cruisers confirm? This is sort of a bummer.

 

[mlayman7]

We were on the fantasy last week. It occurred (run on your own, not sure how they can discontinue this) and medals were given still (could discontinue this). I wish it was back to how it used to be though.

 

[MinnesotaDisneyFan]

Ran it on my own in July and got a medal at the bike rental kiosk. Ran it again on my own August 17 and was told at the bike rental kiosk there are no more medals (but they were still being helpful explaining the route to others). It occurred to me that they advertised and sold a Castaway Cay 5K official challenge with Marathon weekend in January, so they must plan to have it at least then, but other than that it may be discontinued. I was really enjoying the DIY version as it was a lot less hectic than when you used to get off the ship with all the other runners.

 

[loislane]

This makes me sad. Was hoping to at least walk it next Thursday and get a medal.

 

[baby1038]

My son ran it on august 12 and received a medal.

 

[AquaDame]

Doing it unofficially made me a little stressed so we got bikes instead. How do they know if you really run it? If they hand it out to anyone who asks.. then is it special anymore? (Full disclosure I already have two medals from doing it too which encouraged my laziness - the little plastic mickey head with "winner" from a long time ago and the rubber themed one).

 

[anricat]

I have pretty mixed feelings about the whole DIY aspect. On the one hand, it was definitely less stressful. We were able to do it on July 29 with our daughter riding on one of the bikes (due to recovering from a fractured ankle) which was really nice. And you're not waiting around for things to get going and making the trek out there and such.

On the other hand, it feels less like an actual event or race, which is sort of less climactic. There's something about running a 5k with a bunch of people and starting together and crossing that finish line.

I wonder if for the official runDisney challenge they will really only do the 5k from now on in conjunction with that event?

@AquaDame, you inspired me to dig out the medals. Here are the different medals I could rustle up from our household. Sort of funny that one of them has an actual year on it. I wonder if they made any year-specific ones for any other years or only for 2015? The left Mickey head was 2014. The one with the red ribbon to the right of the 2015 one would have been 2017 and the one on the far right is 2022.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Can anyone tell me what the official 5K entailed? This seems like such a low maintenance activity to supervise

 

[AquaDame]

Oh d'oh! Silly me, I never noticed they changed them! I saw folks grabbing rubber ones in 2020 & 2022 and assumed it was still the same style. They were wrapped up in plastic so folks weren't bothering to put them on really either but I admit I didn't look closely at the few who did.

These are the only rubber ones we have. Since the ribbon was blue and I hadn't looked at them in years I didn't know.

 

[mickey squared]

We did a B2B August 1-6, 6-11 on the Disney Dream and were told both times when we ran/walked independently that they were not giving medals anymore. They said "supply issues", but it seems like it depends what ship you are on!

 

[Cheburashka]

Can anyone tell me what the official 5K entailed? This seems like such a low maintenance activity to supervise

You signed up in advance upon boarding, like for an excursion. Runners met the morning of and exited the ship together, like for an excursion, and began the run together. Some staffers were posted at the finish line to hand out medals and take pictures of you with your medal.

Yeah, easily manageable for DCL. Just like the future cruise desk, and paper navigators, and the officers' pin trading, all things that haven't returned. Little things that made cruising DCL a special experience, but that are easily cut in a corporate boardroom.

 

[Rob1872]

From what I remember from the past, one of the reasons that they stopped having the formal group go out was that more and more people started to sign up for the 5K and then once they got off the ship ahead of everyone else head to the beach and start hogging the beach umbrellas, etc.

I'd stop it too if half of my 'runners' were just trying to cheat and get off the ship before their turn........

 

[Princesca]

Tim Tracker tried it last week and was told that they were redesigning the medals and were temporarily out.

 

[WB1971]

You signed up in advance upon boarding, like for an excursion. Runners met the morning of and exited the ship together, like for an excursion, and began the run together. Some staffers were posted at the finish line to hand out medals and take pictures of you with your medal.

Yeah, easily manageable for DCL. Just like the future cruise desk, and paper navigators, and the officers' pin trading, all things that haven't returned. Little things that made cruising DCL a special experience, but that are easily cut in a corporate boardroom.

This. Precisely.

 

[anricat]

From what I remember from the past, one of the reasons that they stopped having the formal group go out was that more and more people started to sign up for the 5K and then once they got off the ship ahead of everyone else head to the beach and start hogging the beach umbrellas, etc.

I'd stop it too if half of my 'runners' were just trying to cheat and get off the ship before their turn........

I would be really surprised if this was the reason. First off, the group never seemed so large that CMs couldn't manage to keep the group together, "hey, sir, ma'am, please rejoin the group." And second, even if a couple of people did manage to get away, CC is sooooo big and there are soooo many chairs and umbrellas, I can't see that it would constitute enough people "hogging" these things that it would create such a gigantic problem for DCL that they would completely cancel the entire activity as a result.

 

[anricat]

And we got race numbers to pin on just like a normal race and they had the photographer set up near Marge's Barges to get a photo when you were done and heading back to the ship. It was a lot of fun.

 

[unveilmyeyes]

This. Precisely.

Except that doesn’t explain why the DIY is going away

 

[anricat]

Except that doesn’t explain why the DIY is going away

Because they have to buy the medals. I'm sure it doesn't cost them much, but it probably adds up over time. Another line item to nix to save a few pennies.

 

[DCLMP]

I always go for a run at castaway. I never expected a medal for it. There's a nice trail on the adult side that runs along the beach if you want to vary from the normal route.

 

[DCLMP]

From what I remember from the past, one of the reasons that they stopped having the formal group go out was that more and more people started to sign up for the 5K and then once they got off the ship ahead of everyone else head to the beach and start hogging the beach umbrellas, etc.

I'd stop it too if half of my 'runners' were just trying to cheat and get off the ship before their turn........

The run doesn't start before regular debarkation. That makes no sense.