Official 2016 Dopey Challenge Thread

[dburg30]

I just can't decide what to do lol. I really do want to do the Dopey again. But I cant be perfectly Dopey, so do I really want to do the whole Dopey? Or do I drop and go goofy? Have a possibility of a job change coming up. One of those that I have no idea when it could happen. I have to consider if that will mess up my training (shouldnt) and would I be allowed to have that time off (probably can, but no way of being sure). Decisions, decisions...

 

[Ariel484]

The 10Ks are really popular. I think it would still sell out even if Dopey went away.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

When I ran the Goofy in 2014, I purchased the photo option for both races at the Expo. I got all of my pictures along the course, and all of my character photos, for both races for about $150. The pictures turned out great and with so many character stops, it was worth it. It also had all of my friends who ran with me because we got our pictures taken together.

Question: Do they do something similar for the Dopey? Can I buy one package that would cover my photos from all 4 races?

 

[Outonarun]

Yes, they have offered this for both 2014 and 2015 Dopey events.

Last year (2014), the digital download for all four races included all the runner's photos and videos, general photos, and a musical slide show for $134.95.

 

[Barca33Runner]

When I ran the Goofy in 2014, I purchased the photo option for both races at the Expo. I got all of my pictures along the course, and all of my character photos, for both races for about $150. The pictures turned out great and with so many character stops, it was worth it. It also had all of my friends who ran with me because we got our pictures taken together.

Question: Do they do something similar for the Dopey? Can I buy one package that would cover my photos from all 4 races?

The digital download for all of my dopey pictures was, I believe, $114.95. With the expo deal of $100 gift code for either $65 or $70 (I forget), it came to about $90 total expenditure to get all of the digital prints.

 

[Hockeychic]

I am hoping to be in. Will see what my physical condition is by registration. I have already done numberous Disney races including goofy and the unofficial dopey but would love to do the official in 2016 as it is right before I turn 50

Kim

 

[BuckeyeBama]

The digital download for all of my dopey pictures was, I believe, $114.95. With the expo deal of $100 gift code for either $65 or $70 (I forget), it came to about $90 total expenditure to get all of the digital prints.

Yes, they have offered this for both 2014 and 2015 Dopey events.

Last year (2014), the digital download for all four races included all the runner's photos and videos, general photos, and a musical slide show for $134.95.

Thank you both - I prefer not to carry a camera and love this option at this price.

 

[WDWarchitectureguy]

I took advantage of the MarathonFoto discount at the Expo. $65 then for a $100 coupon code. The $114.95 - $100 plus tax (in TX) was $16.18. So I spent $81.18 and got all the pictures from all the races. It was recommended at the Expo to wait a week or so until after the races to download your photos. They will keep adding photos as they process them, but there is no notification system to tell you that you have new photos.

I carry my smartphone on event and the CM's next to the Photo people will gladly take a pic as well. Just have it ready. Those pics were fine for sharing via social media but the nice high res shots I downloaded suitable for framing.

 

[Hockeychic]

What training plan do you all intent to follow? I am waivering between Higdon and Galloway....what are your thoughts

 

[jeanigor]

What training plan do you all intent to follow? I am waivering between Higdon and Galloway....what are your thoughts

I started doing Disney races follow Higdon plans, but migrated to Galloway style because it fit my schedule and goals better.

 

[Ariel484]

What training plan do you all intent to follow? I am waivering between Higdon and Galloway....what are your thoughts

I wanted to use Hugdon's Dopey plan but got injured right before training would have started. Instead I used Higdon's Novice 1 Marathon plan, making sure to get in a few weeks with 3 consecutive days of running and 1 week with 4 consecutive days of running. Worked great for me!

 

[IamTrike]

Our running group decided we are definitely doing marathon weekend, but I'm still trying to figure out whether or not to do Goofy + 10k or Dopey. I'd like to to Dopey but it means taking another day off work, getting childcare for another day and another day in a hotel at Disney. I love doing it but the rational side of my brain is struggling with incurring about an additional $350 in expenses to do a 5k.

 

[nervous1sttimer]

I am struggling with the weak Canadian dollar right now. If the BOC cuts our interest rate again in March, the dollar is predicted to go as low as $.61. That raises the price for Dopey registration to over $900 alone. Plus airfare and hotels (all in USD) and I am thinking about deferring Dopey to 2017 and hope the dollar has recovered by then. I just hope the rumors that this is Dopey's last year are wrong!

 

[Hockeychic]

I will be watching the Canadian dollar as well. If it drops below 75 cents I will most likely be out. Where in Canada are you from?

 

[IamTrike]

I am struggling with the weak Canadian dollar right now. If the BOC cuts our interest rate again in March, the dollar is predicted to go as low as $.61. That raises the price for Dopey registration to over $900 alone. Plus airfare and hotels (all in USD) and I am thinking about deferring Dopey to 2017 and hope the dollar has recovered by then. I just hope the rumors that this is Dopey's last year are wrong!

Wow this is a wrinkle I never though about for international travelers. I hope that your dollar stays strong enough that you all can attend.

 

[rteetz]

After running my first Disney race this year I am really interested in running Dopey. If not 2016 hopefully soon after.

 

[nervous1sttimer]

I will be watching the Canadian dollar as well. If it drops below 75 cents I will most likely be out. Where in Canada are you from?

Ontario, actually very close to Detroit so we typically fly from there. I have not been doing any cross-border shopping lately! I recently bought tickets for a show in Detroit that cost $367 USD. The charge to my MasterCard (which I use because it doesn't charge any ForEx fees) was $458. And it's supposed to get worse before it gets better. *sigh*

 

[Baloo in MI]

What training plan do you all intent to follow? I am waivering between Higdon and Galloway....what are your thoughts

I used Galloway to prepare for the Goofy Challenge this past January. I am certainly no speed demon but I felt prepared and had a really great race experience. I have not used Higdon, so I can not speak to the effectiveness of that plan. I really liked the Galloway plan though! Good luck!

 

[ANIM8R]

+1 for the Galloway plan - it really helped me get my arms around a good training strategy.

But I made a couple of modifications:
1) (Going off memory) I think Galloway's mid-week runs call for around 30-45 minutes. This is just me - but as I approach the weekends with the longer runs, I also increase the mid-week runs. The first time through the plan I found the long runs to be very difficult. My thinking was that I was running less than an hour during the week then expecting to run 2-3 hours on the weekend. So, now I run 60-75 minutes during the week and - again, this is just me - I found it helped tremendously in completing the longer, weekend runs.

2) I cap my training runs at 20 miles. Just me - but after the first time through the Galloway plan, I just didn't find any extra benefit from going past 20 on a training run.

 

[Neoflynn]

not going dopey but ill be running the 5k and the Full and my DW will be running the 5k and 10k, and kiddo will be doing the kids race, my nerves are still going crazy in anticipation of registration day but I think we have devised a divide and conquer strategy that should get everyone registered without to much hassle assuming active.com cooperates, maybe one day ill go dopey but I figure I better get a full under my belt before I try any of the challenge options