Official 2016 5th Anniversary Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend!

[Keels]

I'm still holding out for a sprint triathlon that includes the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon.

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Hahaha I have the same * but I'm in the camp of I'd have to qualify for it to run it.

Star wars was sooooo rumored it was almost a given. I thought they'd do a special c2c for it to which they did. And that's nice. I just feel like there is soooooooo much star wars now. I don't see both races standing the test of time.

I'd love Pixar themed, and the mentioned Halloween, and Christmas but mostly Halloween. An Up! Or Toy Story medal would be amazing. Maybe with Toy Story Land opening they'll give Pixar more love.

As a huge Star Wars fan (HUGE!), I have to say that I agree. But as we've seen with all the Frozen paraphernalia everywhere, Disney hasn't met a dead horse it doesn't like to beat. Having said that, I did the inaugural SW Half in CA last year and I had a blast (see what I did there?)! I'm guessing that they thought the new movie coming out (NEXT WEEK, YOU GUYS, NEXT WEEK!!!) would generate a lot of interest. And maybe the popularity of Star Wars Weekends (may they rest in peace) gave them false hope that Star Wars fans would come out for a race weekend. Also, I don't know what the field is like for the WDW SW half, but the DL SW half field is quite small, so sells out faster. I think all of these factors (and others like Boston and even local races here - small window in FL for longer races) probably led to an overestimation in the interest in Florida.

But I need to do both next year to get that Kessel Run medal.

 

[Ariel484]

As a huge Star Wars fan (HUGE!), I have to say that I agree. But as we've seen with all the Frozen paraphernalia everywhere, Disney hasn't met a dead horse it doesn't like to beat. Having said that, I did the inaugural SW Half in CA last year and I had a blast (see what I did there?)! I'm guessing that they thought the new movie coming out (NEXT WEEK, YOU GUYS, NEXT WEEK!!!) would generate a lot of interest. And maybe the popularity of Star Wars Weekends (may they rest in peace) gave them false hope that Star Wars fans would come out for a race weekend. Also, I don't know what the field is like for the WDW SW half, but the DL SW half field is quite small, so sells out faster. I think all of these factors (and others like Boston and even local races here - small window in FL for longer races) probably led to an overestimation in the interest in Florida.

But I need to do both next year to get that Kessel Run medal.

OMGGGG they are beating Star Wars to death. I saw Star Wars coffee creamer at the grocery store.

I THINK - but am not sure - that the Star Wars races are similar in size to the Princess races. That is to say, huge. Just going off of the fact that all WDW resorts are host resorts, like Princess Weekend (as opposed to Wine & Dine weekend, which is a smaller race and doesn't have all resorts as host resorts).

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

OMGGGG they are beating Star Wars to death. I saw Star Wars coffee creamer at the grocery store.

I THINK - but am not sure - that the Star Wars races are similar in size to the Princess races. That is to say, huge. Just going off of the fact that all WDW resorts are host resorts, like Princess Weekend (as opposed to Wine & Dine weekend, which is a smaller race and doesn't have all resorts as host resorts).

Oh, that makes total sense! And as somewhat of a niche interest (relatively speaking, versus say, Pixar or general Disney like for marathon), that is a huge field. I have a lot of friends who are SW freaks (like closets full of carefully curated action figures freaks), but I am the only person I know who ran a SW half marathon.

And the SW marketing is WAY oversaturated. I remember the original trilogy (mostly ROTJ) and associated marketing because I'm an Old, and even that was mocked in the Spaceballs movie in a very hilarious way. The current marketing is the ROTJ marketing turned up to 11.

 

[Ariel484]

Back to Tink...

With the bib numbers and corrals coming out for Marathon Weekend, I'm seeing a few people who think that it's possible that Disney has messed up their corral placement, so I wanted to just put in a little reminder here...

When submitting your Proof of Time (here - due by February 2, so less than 2 months from now) runDisney suggests that you take a screen shot of the submission page (which you get at the end). Take this screen shot and print it out! If your placement is messed up when we find out bib numbers and corrals in April, this is the only way runDisney will adjust things for you!

It'll look like this (except obviously it would have your info, race name, time, expected finish time, etc.). I have a hard copy of this as well as a screenshot on my phone. Just in case!

 

[flvy]

@Ariel484 that is so important to mention! I ended up saving mine on impulse as a better safe than sorry thing on impulse. I honestly don't even care that much about where I am because I don't stop for pictures. Maybe someday but I'm not big on being in pictures yet.

 

[Ariel484]

@Ariel484 that is so important to mention! I ended up saving mine on impulse as a better safe than sorry thing on impulse. I honestly don't even care that much about where I am because I don't stop for pictures. Maybe someday but I'm not big on being in pictures yet.

I AM!!!

 

[flvy]

I AM!!!

I give new meaning to not photogenic

 

[Polkalaladots]

This all very inspiring, one day I will have the guts to do a marathon. And it will be in Disney!!

 

[flvy]

This all very inspiring, one day I will have the guts to do a marathon. And it will be in Disney!!

Start small and work your way up! I wouldn't attempt a full marathon yet either!

 

[courtneybeth]

I'm in 'preparation mode' for 10K training. I signed up for the 12K's of Christmas - stupidly fun race where you run a 1K per day for 12 days in a row starting on Saturday the 12th. I'm going to make it a point that I run the entire K per day. It's only .62 miles but that'll be a good test of endurance and stamina.

I understand my husband's reasoning on this other issue but... 2016 will be the year of the 10K and doesn't want to start the challenges until 2018. That means that 2017 is another year of 10K. I'm kind of bummed about this because I feel like I'd rather step it up to a half marathon for Avengers. He's thinking that January 2018 is challenges and we'll already be trained for halfs but just doing the 10K instead. IDEK what his rationality is at this point but he wants to start in 2018?

 

[Ariel484]

I'd recommend doing a half before doing a challenge, personally.

 

[flvy]

Maybe do a local half first to give him a confidence boost because that might be the issue here. Halfs for races and training for the challenges in 2017 makes sense. You've got some time to convince him. Sometimes you just have to dive headfirst into the deep end. As long as the training is there it shouldn't be an issue. I've found with running anything is possible if your head is in it.

That said I got my first thermal pair of tights today! Just in time for unseasonably warm temps this weekend...

 

[Keels]

I did three Halfs before I ran my first RD half, and only because of that did I step up and do a "mini" challenge on those race weekends - the 5k and the Half.

I would definitely run a half marathon before I would jump into a challenge.

But I feel like my "minis" made me a lot more prepared for my first RD challenge - Dopey next month.

 

[flvy]

WHOOT DOPEY!! I'm pumped about you doing that @Keels!1

She reminded me that I'm going to be doing a few of "race weekends" where I do a 5k or 10k one day and follow up with a half the next. Which is easy because I live in a smaller state, hard because I work in sales and weekends are $$ days. It'll be just one or two, but just to be ready for what I want to do in 2017 as far as the race challenges go and getting my legs ready and there before winter training. It's so crazy to have most of 2016 mapped out run wise when it hasn't even started.

 

[Ariel484]

It was all mental for me when I first started running. Had to know I could do a 5K before I did a 10K. Had to know I could do a 10K before doing a 10-miler...had to do the marathon before Goofy.

What am I talking about, it was all mental...the mental aspect of running is still like 95% of the challenge for me.

 

[dec2009mama]

I never did a half before I ran my first Disney challenge!!! and I was fine!
The furthest I ran was 15K before PDC along with my usually workout regime! It was a wonderful accomplishment once I finished!

 

[Ariel484]

Hey, I'm not saying people shouldn't or can't jump right to challenges...just not what I would do or recommend.

 

[courtneybeth]

Maybe do a local half first to give him a confidence boost because that might be the issue here. Halfs for races and training for the challenges in 2017 makes sense. You've got some time to convince him. Sometimes you just have to dive headfirst into the deep end. As long as the training is there it shouldn't be an issue. I've found with running anything is possible if your head is in it.

Somehow we went from one extreme to another. Now I'm running a half marathon through RNR in January. I think i'm going for the Hall of Fame because why not. Four hours is a long time to finish - so I'll probably just do my best and enjoy the scenery and music.

 

[flvy]

How much of a pain will it be to get from a resort on Harbor Blvd to the race start? Is the walk over a nice warm up or a I regret everything and need a taxi moment?