Official Dopey 2017 Thread

[rteetz]

Dopey, Goofy & Marathon are still available, 1/2, 5&10k's are sold out 24 hours after general registration. I'm surprised that the Dopey didn't sell out right away, maybe Run Disney shouldn't have skipped the Boston Marathon Expo this year!

I think that's because a lot of Dopeys are waiting for next year.

 

[pixarmom]

I'm undecided on goals and a plan. I run mostly half marathons and I ran the WDW full Marathon in 2015 but this will be my first Dopey. At full effort, I'm a 1:52 half and just slightly sore. At moderate effort, I'm between 1:58 and 2:03, and not sore at all. At very little effort (running with my oldest son and having a ton of fun) we finished in 2:44 but I was super sore because I ran differently to match his pace - significant shin pain the next day.

Based on this, I'm thinking slower pace = pain and so:

5K with our youngest son. Slow and fun, but no shin pain because the distance is short - I've done this many times before and know it will be good.
10K on my own. I think I'll just go by feel - regular stride so that my shins don't hurt, but keep the breathing really easy.
Half on my own. Same as 10K strategy and try to come in around the 2-hour mark.
Full on my own. Mostly by feel. Not sure. In other words, absolutely no plan right now.

Another question is POT. Do I try to go sub-1:50 for a half between now and October for better corral placement? Or do I just submit a POT around the 1:58 half mark so that I don't push this? Would love suggestions.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I'm undecided on goals and a plan. I run mostly half marathons and I ran the WDW full Marathon in 2015 but this will be my first Dopey. At full effort, I'm a 1:52 half and just slightly sore. At moderate effort, I'm between 1:58 and 2:03, and not sore at all. At very little effort (running with my oldest son and having a ton of fun) we finished in 2:44 but I was super sore because I ran differently to match his pace - significant shin pain the next day.

Based on this, I'm thinking slower pace = pain and so:

5K with our youngest son. Slow and fun, but no shin pain because the distance is short - I've done this many times before and know it will be good.
10K on my own. I think I'll just go by feel - regular stride so that my shins don't hurt, but keep the breathing really easy.
Half on my own. Same as 10K strategy and try to come in around the 2-hour mark.
Full on my own. Mostly by feel. Not sure. In other words, absolutely no plan right now.

Another question is POT. Do I try to go sub-1:50 for a half between now and October for better corral placement? Or do I just submit a POT around the 1:58 half mark so that I don't push this? Would love suggestions.

My advice is the fastest time you can submit is always the best time. With that being said here are some estimates based on last year's corrals and converting your half time using McMillan.

1:48:49 half = 3:49 equivalent = Corral A for 5K/10K and Corral C for Half/Full
1:49:49 half = 3:52 equivalent = Corral A for 5K/10K and Corral D for Half/Full
1:52:00 half = 3:55 equivalent = Corral A for 5K/10K and Corral D for Half/Full
1:58:00 half = 4:08 equivalent = Corral A for 5K/10K and Corral E for Half/Full

These are just guesses based on last year and you could get the "Dopey" bump in your corrals as some have stated has occurred to them. The difference between C, D, and E will only be 3-6 minutes and an extra 1,000-2,000 runners so not necessarily a huge difference but a difference nonetheless.

Your strategy seems like a great plan. I will always advocate for running by feel.

 

[camaker]

I think that's because a lot of Dopeys are waiting for next year.

I'd really be surprised if a lot of people are really waiting for next year. I know it's an anniversary year, but I sincerely doubt that the vast majority of the running community knows or even cares about it being an anniversary. My best guess is that RunDisney is reaching market saturation with all the race weekends that they have in combination with some of the novelty of the Dopey starting to wear off. Another possibility is that they increased the number of Dopey slots available given its popularity the last few years and it's just taking longer to fill.

 

[rteetz]

I'd really be surprised if a lot of people are really waiting for next year. I know it's an anniversary year, but I sincerely doubt that the vast majority of the running community knows or even cares about it being an anniversary. My best guess is that RunDisney is reaching market saturation with all the race weekends that they have in combination with some of the novelty of the Dopey starting to wear off. Another possibility is that they increased the number of Dopey slots available given its popularity the last few years and it's just taking longer to fill.

Good point. I thought it would take a little longer this year to fill up but I'm surprised it's taken this long.

 

[Chasing Dopey]

I'd really be surprised if a lot of people are really waiting for next year. I know it's an anniversary year, but I sincerely doubt that the vast majority of the running community knows or even cares about it being an anniversary. My best guess is that RunDisney is reaching market saturation with all the race weekends that they have in combination with some of the novelty of the Dopey starting to wear off. Another possibility is that they increased the number of Dopey slots available given its popularity the last few years and it's just taking longer to fill.

The growth in the sport has slowed recently, so that could be part of it. It is also possible that word of the Dark Side fiasco is spreading, and may be casting a pall over the whole runDisney brand.

 

[camaker]

The growth in the sport has slowed recently, so that could be part of it. It is also possible that word of the Dark Side fiasco is spreading, and may be casting a pall over the whole runDisney brand.

I'm interested to hear more about this. I know folks were unhappy with the merchandise situation and there was a lot of crowding in the later corrals, but personally I had a great time at Dark Side weekend and have seen many good reviews on the weekend along with the bad. To call it a fiasco seems awfully harsh. Especially for an inaugural.

 

[Ariel484]

Transportation was bad after the races and, for those that were staying at Wilderness Lodge, non-existent one of the mornings (from what I've heard). They've done enough races at this point that they shouldn't be making mistakes like that anymore.

 

[rteetz]

The growth in the sport has slowed recently, so that could be part of it. It is also possible that word of the Dark Side fiasco is spreading, and may be casting a pall over the whole runDisney brand.

Yeah I've seen that Team Shenanigans article making the rounds and a lot of people are in agreement taking a brake from RunDisney.

I'm interested to hear more about this. I know folks were unhappy with the merchandise situation and there was a lot of crowding in the later corrals, but personally I had a great time at Dark Side weekend and have seen many good reviews on the weekend along with the bad. To call it a fiasco seems awfully harsh. Especially for an inaugural.

I think the bus situation during the 10K at WWoS was a bid deal too. Many were really disappointed with on course entertainment as there were really no characters out for the races on course. The meets before and after the race were crazy and had early cut off times. This may have been an inaugural but it's not their first race ever they've been doing it for 20+ years.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

I'm not doing Dopey, but I enjoy reading along with the thread anyway. I wasn't planning to actually post, but I saw the conversation about Wisconsin runners and needed to give a shout-out to my fellow Wisconsinites @DopeyBadger, @rteetz and @WiscRunner! I live in the Milwaukee area as well. Good luck to all of you running Dopey (and everyone else too!)

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

Lots of little ones around, but then in May I'm doing the "Conquer the Capital" races in Madison. That'll be my first back-to-back race, hopefully it will get me ready for Dopey! How about you?

I thought about doing that challenge! It won't happen this year, but maybe next year! Still thinking about potentially the Twilight 10K part though.

 

[rteetz]

I'm not doing Dopey, but I enjoy reading along with the thread anyway. I wasn't planning to actually post, but I saw the conversation about Wisconsin runners and needed to give a shout-out to my fellow Wisconsinites @DopeyBadger, @rteetz and @WiscRunner! I live in the Milwaukee area as well. Good luck to all of you running Dopey (and everyone else too!)

Awesome! Thanks for sharing On Wisconsin!

 

[rteetz]

I'm not doing Dopey, but I enjoy reading along with the thread anyway. I wasn't planning to actually post, but I saw the conversation about Wisconsin runners and needed to give a shout-out to my fellow Wisconsinites @DopeyBadger, @rteetz and @WiscRunner! I live in the Milwaukee area as well. Good luck to all of you running Dopey (and everyone else too!)

Awesome! Thanks for sharing On Wisconsin!

 

[rteetz]

I'm not doing Dopey, but I enjoy reading along with the thread anyway. I wasn't planning to actually post, but I saw the conversation about Wisconsin runners and needed to give a shout-out to my fellow Wisconsinites @DopeyBadger, @rteetz and @WiscRunner! I live in the Milwaukee area as well. Good luck to all of you running Dopey (and everyone else too!)

Awesome! Thanks for sharing On Wisconsin!

 

[rteetz]

Whoops sorry for the duplicate posts

 

[Chasing Dopey]

I'm interested to hear more about this. I know folks were unhappy with the merchandise situation and there was a lot of crowding in the later corrals, but personally I had a great time at Dark Side weekend and have seen many good reviews on the weekend along with the bad. To call it a fiasco seems awfully harsh. Especially for an inaugural.

What they said above. Don't get me wrong, I had a total blast as I had a friend to run with the whole way for the half, and stayed with DW for the 10k, and that's really the best way to do it. (Although the 10k was NOT fun.) I think part of the problems were rookie mistakes, which were so surprising considering this isn't their first rodeo. Transportation was a huge problem going in, and going out because they were finishing at WWoS. That was a mistake. There is only one way out (unlike Epcot) and they weren't prepared. They usually don't have Orlando races starting so close to the parks. (They maybe should have consulted with Spectrum Sports who runs the Anaheim races.) I knew the bottlenecks would be bad, but not that bad. (Especially the 10k. That was a disaster for thousands of people.) There are still some hiccups with photopass, which will get better, and they need to allow people to search orphaned pictures. DW still has no finish line picture for the half. And we couldn't get a picture together because there were no places to get one after food and bag check, and a few people were a bit rude about pushing people along.

So, really it comes down to overall service to the customer. It was just a very off weekend for them. If it were their first one ever, a lot would be forgiven. Compared to Light Side in January, though, BIG step backward.

EDIT: Having said all that, we have plans for more, in large part because we're meeting friends from all over the country for these races, including Dopey. After Princess for our anniversary next year, I think we'll be traveling elsewhere.

 

[opusone]

I'm interested to hear more about this. I know folks were unhappy with the merchandise situation and there was a lot of crowding in the later corrals, but personally I had a great time at Dark Side weekend and have seen many good reviews on the weekend along with the bad. To call it a fiasco seems awfully harsh. Especially for an inaugural.

I was very happy with Star Wars Dark Side as well. However, this was my first rD event so I don't have other rD events to compare to, wasn't interested in merchandise, didn't have any bus issues, didn't stop for any character photos, and was in an early corral so no crowding. Even though I had a great time, I think other people have valid complaints, some of which could easily be fixed, and others that couldn't. I agree that "fiasco" applied to the whole weekend is harsh as overall it was an extremely well-run event.

 

[camaker]

Yeah I've seen that Team Shenanigans article making the rounds and a lot of people are in agreement taking a brake from RunDisney.

I think the bus situation during the 10K at WWoS was a bid deal too. Many were really disappointed with on course entertainment as there were really no characters out for the races on course. The meets before and after the race were crazy and had early cut off times. This may have been an inaugural but it's not their first race ever they've been doing it for 20+ years.

That was an interesting and well-written article and I can certainly see a lot of his points. The parts of the race weekend I experienced were free of a lot of the complaints in the article. I never had bus troubles and I was happy with the music and atmosphere of the races, especially since I don't do character or photo stops.

This being only my second rD event (along with WDWMW) I guess the gloss has not worn off the experience for me and I don't have the perspective from running multiple years and seeing a degradation of the product. I also tend to be a bit more forgiving of shortcomings in specific areas as long as I am enjoying the entirety of the event.

 

[DOOM1001]

The growth in the sport has slowed recently, so that could be part of it. It is also possible that word of the Dark Side fiasco is spreading, and may be casting a pall over the whole runDisney brand.

I agree that there's been a downturn in people running from a couple of years ago,for example I just came back from my run club and a couple of years ago there was never any fewer than 90-100 people out there and many days closer to 120 or more,I remember national running day 2014 there was over 300 and in the last couple of times I've gone its been more in the 40-60 range.I however don't know what you consider the Dark Side fiasco,there are things that could be improved but overall I liked the race weekend and plan on being out there next year,I know the bus situation was far from ideal but I made the best of it,the bus I was supposed to take looked like a 90 minute wait so I took the bus with the shortest wait whatever it was and ate breakfast at that particular resort,I'm sure RunDisney will hear comments and improve next year(like having more merchandise!!) but it was far from a fiasco in my opinion.

 

[Chasing Dopey]

I agree that there's been a downturn in people running from a couple of years ago,for example I just came back from my run club and a couple of years ago there was never any fewer than 90-100 people out there and many days closer to 120 or more,I remember national running day 2014 there was over 300 and in the last couple of times I've gone its been more in the 40-60 range.I however don't know what you consider the Dark Side fiasco,there are things that could be improved but overall I liked the race weekend and plan on being out there next year,I know the bus situation was far from ideal but I made the best of it,the bus I was supposed to take looked like a 90 minute wait so I took the bus with the shortest wait whatever it was and ate breakfast at that particular resort,I'm sure RunDisney will hear comments and improve next year(like having more merchandise!!) but it was far from a fiasco in my opinion.

I'm curious. What corral were you in?