Official Avengers Half Marathon Weekend 2015 Thread

[courtneybeth]

Any additional postings from Disney about the race merch? I've seen the white Dooney Bag (boo!) repeat from last year - but nothing else. We're 5 days out - shouldn't we see something by now?

 

[Ariel484]

Any additional postings from Disney about the race merch? I've seen the white Dooney Bag (boo!) repeat from last year - but nothing else. We're 5 days out - shouldn't we see something by now?

I'm guessing you won't see anything else about Avengers until Wine & Dine is done.

 

[Kathymford]

Alright folks. I fell in love with a Santa sparkle skirt, so I'm thinking Santa SuperHero or possibly Santa Minnie Superhero? HA. Thoughts?!

 

[DVCFan1994]

Any additional postings from Disney about the race merch? I've seen the white Dooney Bag (boo!) repeat from last year - but nothing else. We're 5 days out - shouldn't we see something by now?

I'm guessing you won't see anything else about Avengers until Wine & Dine is done.

I agree with Ariel. I am hoping Monday or Tuesday, because I'll be on planes for 8 hours Wednesday!

 

[Ariel484]

I agree with Ariel. I am hoping Monday or Tuesday, because I'll be on planes for 8 hours Wednesday!

Yikes!!

 

[DVCFan1994]

Yikes!!

Yup Gotta do what you gotta do to get from one coast to the other! We didn't get a direct flight, so it's Providence to Chicago and then Chicago to San Diego. Spending a day and half there before heading up to Anaheim.

 

[Castle2Castle]

We are doing the 1/2...Is 4:15 an ok time to start making our way to the race from the Howard Johnson's??

We stayed at the Ramada two years ago, which is roughly the same distance as HoJo from the pedestrian entrance to the esplanade. All you're doing is walking there, passing the park gates, and walking through DTD to the start. You'll get a sense of how long it takes when you go to the expo for packet pickup since that's at the Disneyland hotel, but for us I think it was maybe a 20-25 minute walk -- bearing in mind your casual walking pace may vary from normal time to 0-dark-thirty...

If you start walking at 4:15 you should be fine.

 

[S'Mores]

Do you all know if marathonfoto is doing a discount at all for Avengers Weekend? I got the $100 gift cert for $65 for the '14 PHM and was hoping for a deal like that for this race.

 

[courtneybeth]

I agree with Ariel. I am hoping Monday or Tuesday, because I'll be on planes for 8 hours Wednesday!

I really would like a shirt or jacket (if possible) for the race and to use while I train for Tinkerbell. I'm too impatient to wait until Thursday night after work when I pick up my race packet!!!

 

[EDS19]

Did our last training run today. Woke up and it was 30 degrees in Utah... AHHHHH! So we went to a local rec center, running that far inside was a little challenging but better then being out in the cold.

Saw some pictures of Disneyland this week, the Christmas decorations are looking GREAT. Also saw the list of special holiday food that will be in the parks starting on Friday.

Do you all know if marathonfoto is doing a discount at all for Avengers Weekend? I got the $100 gift cert for $65 for the '14 PHM and was hoping for a deal like that for this race.

I tweeted at MarathonFoto to ask if they would have any special pre-sales. They replied and said they would have a pre-sale and to watch for it on social media. For the Disneyland 10K I did the pre-purchase for $50 and received $75 credit. For anyone who hasn't purchased the photos before I think it is totally worth it. If you give a wave or something to get the photographers attention they will take more pictures of you. Also grab the photographers before and after the race and ask them to take a picture. My sister and I were able to get like 30 really nice pictures.

 

[StartedByAMouse]

Decided a few weeks ago to do the Run Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood 10k as a final tune-up before the Avengers Half. Happy to say that I set a P.R. and at the pace I was running, according to McMillan, I would have broken my half P.R. that I just set in August at the Disneyland Half by almost 5 minutes. Now the dilemma is, do I try for a new P.R. in the Avengers or do I do a more leisurely pace like I was planning? Hmmm ....

Haven't done a lot of non-runDisney races since I started running 3 years ago. I was a bit worried about this one because there were no corrals, a combined 5k/10k start and a slower minimum pace than Disney at 18 min/mile but then realized that the entire entry field was the same number of participants as ONE corral from one of the Disneyland races. Got off to an OK start, no worse than the Star Wars Half in January, but the course opened up by about the 3/4 mile mark. Great weather. My favorite part was at the turnaround for the 10k (the course was an out-and-back) when I looked up and saw the Griffith Observatory and Hollywood Sign in the morning sunlight above the buildings to the right.

I usually try to get off to a fast start and hold onto my pace the best I can but today I kept getting faster as the race went on, negative splits each mile, with my last mile being my fastest of the day. My wife and daughter were walking the 5k and I was expecting to get in about 15 minutes after them but with them taking a bit longer than planned and me going a bit faster than planned, I wound up crossing the finish line less than 30 seconds after them.

I was able to keep my breath and keep a great stride. Hopefully, I can duplicate the efforts next Sunday. Looking forward to a great race whether trying for the P.R. or just enjoying the course.

Good luck to everyone running in whichever race you're entered next weekend!

 

[RD-SOX]

Yup Gotta do what you gotta do to get from one coast to the other! We didn't get a direct flight, so it's Providence to Chicago and then Chicago to San Diego. Spending a day and half there before heading up to Anaheim.

I'm flying Manchester to San Diego on Wednesday also, yup 8 plus hours. Then we will head up to DL on Friday. We fly standby so maybe into Chicago, maybe into Baltimore. See you there!!

 

[tparty10]

We stayed at the Ramada two years ago, which is roughly the same distance as HoJo from the pedestrian entrance to the esplanade. All you're doing is walking there, passing the park gates, and walking through DTD to the start. You'll get a sense of how long it takes when you go to the expo for packet pickup since that's at the Disneyland hotel, but for us I think it was maybe a 20-25 minute walk -- bearing in mind your casual walking pace may vary from normal time to 0-dark-thirty...

If you start walking at 4:15 you should be fine.

Thank you!

 

[DVCFan1994]

I'm flying Manchester to San Diego on Wednesday also, yup 8 plus hours. Then we will head up to DL on Friday. We fly standby so maybe into Chicago, maybe into Baltimore. See you there!!

I'm in central mass, so providence and Manchester are pretty equidistant. Providence was cheaper this time though. Good luck getting on the flights you want!

 

[RD-SOX]

Any advice from all you veterans.. are the two parks busier on Friday or Sunday? Trying to decide on Friday and Saturday parks with race on Sunday or Saturday parks, race then parks on Sunday....

 

[rangermom]

Hi there! DH and I are doing the 5k this weekend. This is our first run disney and we are staying at the Disneyland Hotel. What time would you recommend leaving the hotel to register? I see that it opens at 3:30 am, but is it so busy we need that early?

Thanks!

 

[MeridaAndAngus]

Does anyone know if they are adding some extra security check point from prior Disneyland races? I don't remember seeing a recommendation to get to the corrals by 4am for either of the previous Disneyland Half weekends, but I could have glossed over it.

 

[DVCFan1994]

Does anyone know if they are adding some extra security check point from prior Disneyland races? I don't remember seeing a recommendation to get to the corrals by 4am for either of the previous Disneyland Half weekends, but I could have glossed over it.

Where did you see this?

 

[Davidg83]

Does anyone know if they are adding some extra security check point from prior Disneyland races? I don't remember seeing a recommendation to get to the corrals by 4am for either of the previous Disneyland Half weekends, but I could have glossed over it.

I just saw that email too and thought it was pretty wierd. I wonder if it's in response to the giant corral mess caused from late arrivals during Dumbo?

 

[MeridaAndAngus]

Yes, it was in that email we just got with waiver reminders. I do wonder if it's because of the Dumbo issues.