Official inaugural Tower of Terror 10 miler thread. September 29, 2012

[ahoff]

Well, can't really complain about the heat, it's Florida, after all. Something that can't be controlled. (remember the freezing temps of the Jan race a few years ago?) I was not expecting it to be that hot, but had run some races here on LI over the summer and they were just as hot. Was sort of hoping it would have rained as it did the previous two days. I felt it was not much hotter than last year's W&D, which was a few weeks later.

It was much more organized tha the previous ToT race, where there were no corrals and the signs with your running pace to help you line up must have been in a different language than most of the people running that year spoke. But I thought funneling everyone from a three lane wide road through a one lane gate was not too bright.

Also the last ToT race was run a little different last time, with you running the opposite way to the finish line, and you exited the finish area through RNRC. Then again there were many more entrants this year. And the last ToT also had a theme and a scavanger hunt, which was a little more interesting.

The course through WWOS was similar to the last race, I was expecting the gravel road and had no problem with it. I thought running through the stadium was kind of a neat addition, but was sort of oblivious to all the things mentioned here. But I also run without my glasses.

Going down the stairs to the bag pick-up was worse than going up, but the whole process took very little time. I did not know where bag pick-up was, but that was my fault for not reading all the directions in the packet, I expected more signage.

I did not stay too long for the party, had a picture taken with Darth Vader, had a burger (definately needed some food) and went to bed.

Will I do it again? Maybe. Right now my focus is on January!

 

[becky11]

I found it hard to juggle the Poweraid, water bottle, banana, box of food all while trying to walk and get out of the finish area. A nice plastic bag would have been helpful to carry things.

OMG yes, yes, a thousand times YES!!! I think this after every race!!

Also the last ToT race was run a little different last time, with you running the opposite way to the finish line, and you exited the finish area through RNRC. Then again there were many more entrants this year. And the last ToT also had a theme and a scavanger hunt, which was a little more interesting.

I *loved* the theme/scavenger hunt for the last ToT 13K. If they had it for this race, it would have made the heat/humidity a little more bearable. But only a little.

Oh, and what's with Stich all over the official race merch? Was he ever mentioned as the 'character' for this race? He's not anywhere associated with ToT, and I didn't see him anywhere on the course.

 

[MelindaRuns]

I did ToT 10 miler too and can't wait for Wine and Dine. I live in MN and think between now and W&D I'll be wearing warmer clothes to train for running warmer temps, just in case. ToT weather was so weird- I'm a native southerner and hot/humid has never bothered me before. For some reason the weather at ToT was making people sick right and left. I've never seen so much puking in all my life! My 13 year old daughter had to take off her shirt before mile 1 and just run in her bra top (she certainly didn't want to, but felt the need physically to get cooler). The race shirts were black, and lots of people wore them during the race. I think they held in a lot of heat. We finished, but slower than we would have liked: 2:49. Two of my daughters (ages 12 and 15) ran it together in 2:18, and my 14 year old son ran it in 1:24.

I had the same observations as many here- sparse entertainment, odd sharp turns (the half marathons don't have those turns to that degree- why this race?), and yes- WHY was Stitch on all the official merch? I dont really consider him a villain.

As Cripey i think mentioned, I have never been aware of so much BO, either, and this was just in the corral waiting to start. It was just a sea of humanity, pretty much all the way for us. We started in B, and got passed some, but a lot of people were behind us all the way (thousands), but it seems from reading some posts that I should have at least seen the people on bikes or the balloon sweeper. I might have just been too delirious to notice (lol) but I'd love to know what to look out for.

All in all I just think this race has a lot of room for improvement. It's a let down because, come on, this is Run Disney- its not their first rodeo. They know how to put on an event. Why this one tanked I have no idea. Even putting weather aside, which isn't their fault, I felt there could have been more on course entertainment, characters at every mile marker, not just a painted sign with a character on it with a spotlight on it. That was lame.

The finish line was anemic at best. The abrupt turn out of backstage and BAM- we are there, not even right in front of ToT, which is what I thought. It took forever to walk up that hill. We tried to stop before the hill to adjust the snack box, banana, water and powerade they gave us (I was so dripping with sweat I couldnt hold on to anything and just wanted to eat the banana not only for much needed sustenance but to get it out of my hand) but was told to keep it moving. Walking to bag check and standing in the hot, smelly mass of people for 20 minutes to go down the stairs, get my bag, and walk back up the stairs wasnt cute, Run Disney. They should get a logistics team on that pronto. Too enclosed.

The womens changing tents were like saunas!

Ok- and did anyone else hear the announcer while we were waiting to go to the start saying things like "this is your last chance to back out of the race", "quit now while you can" and "IF you finish...."? Was this in keeping with the villain theme? I've done 11 half marathons, and wasn't scared of the distance, but my 12 and 13 year old daughters hadn't don't anything longer than a 5k before ToT, and I think that scared them a little. I told them it was part of the villain theming, but idk- seriously it was weird and just wasn't obvious to me. I'm all for theming, but make it apparent. The elevator thing at WWoS I sort of got, but I think I was in a mental fog and it was lost on me a little bit. The baseball players uniforms was a little unclear (I just figured they were dead, or somehow disappeared?). I didn't even notice the Twilight Zone host someone mentioned. I saw the scoreboard with teams and a score on it before we could see the actual field and thought maybe a game was being played, but thought- what an odd time of night for a game... Lol. Serious mental fog from hear and humidity.

They could have done a really neat set up as we were coming up to the field- little signs that let us know the back story on what they had set up on the field. It would have been cool to notice the details.

My family (3 members besides us 5 runners) were completely exhausted from just waiting in the heat. We don't feel we really got our money's worth from the after party, for what it was touted to be. They were able to ride like 3 or 4 rides. It wasn't nearly as "exclusive" as I thought it would be from how I read the description. We went to MNSSHP the next night, and THAT is how the after party should be. Not so crowded. If there is going to be that much of a demand, make the race party over several nights and let people chose a date. I personally would have paid more to go on a different night and been able to enjoy it. It literally took me an hour from my finish to walk up to my family, go to bag claim, change in the womens tent and walk back to my family near ToT. ToT then had a 30 minute wait. I said no way and we left without riding anything. I saw only one or maybe 2 villains in the park, but I was trying to get my bag and get changed. No characters at all at the finish. It was dark at the finish and I was hoping this was part of the spooky theming, but nope- just seemed halfway closed down.

Would I do it again? I'm assuming Run Disney will listen to suggestions from runners. I hope they do a total revamp. I'm proud of my kids that ran and persevered. This wasn't an easy course. My 12 and 13 year old daughters who hadn't done anything longer than 5k races before (both had done longer training runs for this) both say they want to do a half now. I'm sure they could, after doing 10 miles in that weather.

I'm especially proud of my 14 year old son who got 10th in the 12-17 age division and 234th place overall!

Oh, and one more thing on the heat/humidity. I just did the Castaway Key 5k in the blazing hot sun last week, and it was more comfortable than the ToT weather.

 

[GBBTomorrow]

I really loved this race and thought so much about it was fantastic. Unlike others, I thought the gravel road leading into WWoS was AWESOME! I thought it really carried through the theme beautifully, was a nice change of pace, and felt good on my feet and legs after all the pavement. I know it's narrow, but it's only for a little while and it has a good "fun factor."

Running on the highways doesn't bother me, as there really is only so much space in the parks to run us through. It makes sense that a lot would be out on the roads. Having the overpasses is nice, too, as it gives you a chance to use some different muscles going up and down these gentle slopes.

I thought running through WWoS was a blast, and I hadn't really been too excited for that part. Running around the track, through the baseball stadium, being on the Jumbo Tron: all cool.

Volunteers were fantastic. Medical was great. Party was fun. Yes, lines were long in the beginning, but as it got later everything was pretty much a walk-on.

I just have two complaints/suggestions:

1) As with all Disney races, I am disappointed in the "UNISEX" shirts. "UNISEX" is code for "MALE." There is nothing "unisex" about them, as they are made only for the male frame. For as much as these races cost, and for the huge number of women running, it seems reasonable that there should be separate shirts for men and women. It's disappointing to wear these boxy, man-shaped shirts. The Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, for example, is one HUGE race that gives a choice of men's or women's shirts. It's time for RunDisney to do the same.

2) Why didn't they have the bag retrieval down in the bottom of the Fantasmic theater? It's huge, it's right there, and it would save that long walk juggling snack boxes, ice bags, drink bottles, etc. They could have done the same set-up, but without the long, long, long slog across the park.

Overall, though, I'll go back for this race again. I had a blast and thought it was a great length and a ton of fun.

 

[yulilin3]

I really loved this race and thought so much about it was fantastic. Unlike others, I thought the gravel road leading into WWoS was AWESOME! I thought it really carried through the theme beautifully, was a nice change of pace, and felt good on my feet and legs after all the pavement. I know it's narrow, but it's only for a little while and it has a good "fun factor."

Running on the highways doesn't bother me, as there really is only so much space in the parks to run us through. It makes sense that a lot would be out on the roads. Having the overpasses is nice, too, as it gives you a chance to use some different muscles going up and down these gentle slopes.

I thought running through WWoS was a blast, and I hadn't really been too excited for that part. Running around the track, through the baseball stadium, being on the Jumbo Tron: all cool.

Volunteers were fantastic. Medical was great. Party was fun. Yes, lines were long in the beginning, but as it got later everything was pretty much a walk-on.

I just have two complaints/suggestions:

1) As with all Disney races, I am disappointed in the "UNISEX" shirts. "UNISEX" is code for "MALE." There is nothing "unisex" about them, as they are made only for the male frame. For as much as these races cost, and for the huge number of women running, it seems reasonable that there should be separate shirts for men and women. It's disappointing to wear these boxy, man-shaped shirts. The Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, for example, is one HUGE race that gives a choice of men's or women's shirts. It's time for RunDisney to do the same.

2) Why didn't they have the bag retrieval down in the bottom of the Fantasmic theater? It's huge, it's right there, and it would save that long walk juggling snack boxes, ice bags, drink bottles, etc. They could have done the same set-up, but without the long, long, long slog across the park.

Overall, though, I'll go back for this race again. I had a blast and thought it was a great length and a ton of fun.

I totally agree with you. Alot of people are talking about the lack of spectators on the course, logstically impossible since Osceola Parkway was completely closed, how would have people gotten there. I did miss the characters at the staging area and at the finish line, I think that would have made a huge difference. As for the characters on the course I thought it was fine. For the price ($90) you got alot more than what you get for the Princess Half, for example ($140). You got an after party and yes it was crowded but the lines for the major rides wasn't bad, aside for Tower. You got characters that never come out in the park, like Maleficent. I think what impacted people the most was the heat and humidity. I had a great time, I paced myself and adjusted and had a horrible pace (16:22), but I finished strong and enjoyed the park until 3:30am.

 

[becky11]

1) As with all Disney races, I am disappointed in the "UNISEX" shirts. "UNISEX" is code for "MALE." There is nothing "unisex" about them, as they are made only for the male frame. For as much as these races cost, and for the huge number of women running, it seems reasonable that there should be separate shirts for men and women. It's disappointing to wear these boxy, man-shaped shirts. The Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, for example, is one HUGE race that gives a choice of men's or women's shirts. It's time for RunDisney to do the same.

TOTALLY agree!!!

 

[JCH]

I totally agree with you. Alot of people are talking about the lack of spectators on the course, logstically impossible since Osceola Parkway was completely closed, how would have people gotten there. I did miss the characters at the staging area and at the finish line, I think that would have made a huge difference. As for the characters on the course I thought it was fine. For the price ($90) you got alot more than what you get for the Princess Half, for example ($140). You got an after party and yes it was crowded but the lines for the major rides wasn't bad, aside for Tower. You got characters that never come out in the park, like Maleficent. I think what impacted people the most was the heat and humidity. I had a great time, I paced myself and adjusted and had a horrible pace (16:22), but I finished strong and enjoyed the park until 3:30am.

The only issue I had with characters was the stretch between WWoS back to HS. It felt like there were places characters should have been, and I was wondering if I was so far towards the end that they took them away. I guess not, though, saw I saw every character on every list.

I always try to pick 1-2 characters that I will stop for, and usually there is a list so I can plan in advance. I try to pick one around the halfway point and one towards the end so if I'm not at pace I can skip it. I thought about stopping for the Hyenas, but I thought for sure the Queen of Hearts would be out since I saw the cutout driving in. Alas, just a cut out.

 

[ludari]

Just arrived home after the TOT Weekend. I really enjoyed my visit but I am sure it has been mention by previous posted that the heat and humiidity where tough to deal with for both the 5K and 10-milers especially since I was wearing a costume for both. I have never seen so many people pass out or vomit in any previous race I had done. Nevertheless I really enjoy hanging out with my great friends, meeting new people and accomplishing another RunDisney race. I just need to complete the Wine and Dine Half to accomplish my goal of completing all the runDisney heavy medal events for 2012.

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

This was my second Disney race, and I agree with everyone. Compared to the Princess, this one was BORING. I really think they held everything for the after-party. It was nothing like the entertainment at the Princess. And the sharp turns were ridiculous. I also HATED the trail run. I walked most of that. And the finish was such a let down. WHERE was Mickey? Or at least somebody??

The humidity was insane (and I'm a southern girl). My hands swelled up like crazy. They felt like they would explode any second. They were seriously twice their normal size. It was miserable. I started to get worried when it looked like my wrists were next. I stopped at the medic table and they gave me an ice pack that worked wonders. Did anybody see the guy dressed head to toe in the plush alligator costume? How in the world did he not pass out???

I have got to learn how to run for the correct distance b/c Runkeeper had me at 10.50!! I think it was all the bobbing and weaving I was doing?

I was so excited to see the temperature for Saturday night, but was NOT prepared for the humidity. And I'm a Floridian! When I ran my first half last year (coincidentally the Wine and Dine on this very same weekend) it was NOWHERE near as humid. I was completely drenched in sweat within the first half mile. I've never gotten so drenched on any run before in the past year of running. However, the weather isn't something Disney can control, so that wasn't something I was upset with them over

The lack of entertainment was sad. This race was the most disappointing one I have run with them yet. I had such HIGH hope since Twilight Zone and Halloween are two of my favorite things - this whole experience of the race itself made me feel like the event coordinators dropped the ball and put something together at the very last minute.

I had no idea that the race official was supposed to be Rod Serling. It wasn't until I was running through WWOS and saw the guy on the big screen that I realized who he was supposed to be portraying.

If this was a villains race, why wasn't there a villain starting it (a la Mickey/Donald/Fairy Godmother at other races) or ending it? I kept thinking the entire time I was running, "Ah, now eventually you do plan to have villains on your, on your villains run, right? Hello?"

The best entertainment on the entire course? The guys in the baseball stadium sitting in the stands with their signs - Worst Parade Ever, mom jokes, etc.

There were so many walkers. SO MANY. Especially in the beginning. And with each turn getting on/off Osceola Parkway, it slowed down to a walk because there were so many people. My time was hideously bad and I was so angry that it was over an hour off of what I had predicted. I am hoping this time doesn't hurt my time for Wine and Dine placement, but I have a feeling it will.

When I got in line to take a picture with my medal, the photographer was telling people to just hold their box of food and drinks behind their back to take their picture, because sitting things on the ground was slowing the line down. Well, no one wants a finisher picture holding all of that junk!

All in all - not a race I would run again, unless a lot of changes made.

And Disney, PLEASE bring back those fabulous bags at the end of the run that had a banana, bagel, peanut butter, and some other little goodie in it. Those boxes stink (and are hard to juggle with the bottle of water and Powerade, too).

 

[RebelAthena]

I'm wearing my medal to work today-- it really is AWESOME!! Thanks for the heads up about it glowing in the dark. For all my gripes with RunDis, "they done well" with the medal.

 

[JCH]

FYI, the 5k pictures are up on Brightroom. Hopefully that means 10 miler pics soon! Although I am a little afraid of how bad I am going to look in a few of the stretches

 

[Jubilee]

Most of my views have already been stated multiple times in this thread but I'll contribute nonetheless.

As a Floridian, I am used to the heat. I train nearly every day in the late morning (heat of the day) outside, but it is usually NOT as humid as the race was, and because the sun was not out, I felt the sweat had no chance of even slightly evaporating, if that makes sense. I was completely drenched and when I used the restroom after the race, I literally had to peel my capris off...lol

Again, this was not to the fault of Disney, as I know this has been the date for F&W race for a few years, so despite the time of year I was more interested in this race because a.) I cannot eat or drink alcohol after I run distance anyway, b.) I love dressing up and c.) it was inaugural year and I thought the villain bash was going to be insane.

That said, I thought the run was overall just average. They need improvement for next year, surely. The shirt was about 3 sizes too big and they ran out of small and extra small to trade out (this was on Friday AT 1PM.) I thought a 10 miler was interesting considering it's sort of an odd number but there were definitely less vendors at the expo. I did my last long run 3 weeks beforehand (11 miles) and I found this run to be fairly easy in terms of the terrain. It did not bother me whatsoever, but I did find it to be somewhat boring.

I had a costume on with a tutu and dumped it about .25 mile in when I saw the people with bags for the discarded clothing. I noticed only 1 set of 2 people with bags for the clothing, unlike the princess where I felt like I saw these people for miles, lol. I was glad I had gotten rid of it, though I should've just bag checked it. I was able to hit a stride after that. I thought the floats from Animal Kingdom were cool and was very excited to see the hyenas. I was about to stop for them as the line was still short (corral a - my husband was in corral c and said the lines were super long when he went by) but I was hoping there would be something better to come - like STICH in the ToT uniform - so I was saving my stop for that. Then I saw Facilier and he looked awesome, so I was about to stop but my picture was taking crap photos with all the moving spirits in the background and the lighting, so I just kept going.

I thought passing others on the other side of the road was cool and it was fun to hear and scream the words of encouragement to each other. When we were only barely starting up the street, we saw the first wheel chair going by on the other side and people went nuts. I almost cried, lol...

Passing McDonalds smelled awful and I thought I could possibly be sick just based on that, lol. I loved the "elephant graveyard" and the dirt run, but again, I was in a and my husband said that he totally bottlenecked at that part and he hated it. I did not like running on the concrete sidewalk but it wasn't the end of the world as we were still able to pass people at that point. I thought the field was cool and I loved both the track and dirt road areas. Saw a funny sign in the crowd from a guy drinking a beer (Worst Parade Ever!) I passed Jeff Galloway during his walk right as we were exiting the Wide World of Sports area and he was chatting with a whole group of people saying his first race was something like back in 1963 or 68. So amazing.

After that point I felt great and was able to get some sprinting in. I just couldn't wait to see what they had in store for us at the DHS entrance. I loved the screen at Lights, Motor, Action but was expecting an announcer and either a character or the Lightning McQueen car (this seemed like a given to me...) Backlot Tour was pretty cool, but there was a lot of zig-zagging at this point. I was waiting to see Star Wars characters because I knew we were sort of near it a few different times, but I didn't see anything related.

By mile 9, based on the entertainment I had seen, I was completely expecting multiple characters at the finish line and/or a lot of hoolpah and it didn't happen. When we passed the sorcerer's hat, it should've been the finish line. It was "fun" over there, at least. The last mile definitely seemed like at least 1.25 mi, and I was sad that you never knew where it was going to be and then suddenly, there it was! Not a lot of build up. Got a medal from a really nice person and saw a few funny signs as I exited (Chuck Norris never ran a 10 miler!!)

I saw a ton of people at medic, and I guess if you aren't used to the heat and had never trained it, this was borderline dangerous if you didn't pace yourself properly. The "goody boxes" and treats were very similar to the 2012 Princess 1/2, but because bag check was further away, I had to carry them all to the bathroom with me before having a bag to put them in.

I loved the Indiana Jones bag check area and the changing area was a great idea, but I forgot to bring clothes like a dummy. After meeting up with my husband and seeing his limping (he did not train at all whatsoever despite my nagging, yet was only 14 minutes off my time just based on his naturally abilities, build, long legs, and used to run cross country in high school) we decided to just get to bed. We had woken up before 7am that day for the kids races and the following day we had our MNSSHP so we didn't want to stay too late. At this point, I had actually forgot to even think that it was a possibility Darth Vader would be out so I'm disappointed in the event that this information was not posted anywhere or, say, given to us to look over in the 3 hours beforehand we had standing around before the race.

So, all in all, that's my take. I am 99% I won't do it next year, just because I would like to try the F&W instead and I don't have the funds to do them all, but I would recommend it in the hopes that they will learn from and improve upon it. I think if you aren't quite to 1/2 marathon standards, 10 miles is a good time.

I thought about stopping for the Hyenas, but I thought for sure the Queen of Hearts would be out since I saw the cutout driving in. Alas, just a cut out.

Ditto, totally!!! We got so excited when we saw the cutouts that morning....there could have at least been more of them, sheesh lol.

 

[Danhockey04]

I enjoyed the race overall. I will do it again next year and know improvements will be made. My biggest disappointment was the lack of characters, I only got Stitch, Grave Diggers, Hyenas and Scar, and Facilier. I actually had the camera this time around for them and they were lacking.

The heat in my opinion was not bad at all, neither was the humidity. But I did most of my training at 6 PM in Florida, which is usually really hot and really humid in the summer with 1-2 water stops for a 10+ mile run. That's how the area is laid out and that's what I dealt with.

The only reason I had an issue with the heat was my costume. I had the Queen Narissa costume (from Enchanted), which was vinyl material on the outside. The costume itself was 5 or 6 pounds, not breathable at all and a full-length costume. I was well prepared going into the race about wearing the costume and slowing my pace down, which it slowed too much. I had a regular race outfit on and then two more layers above it, then the vinyl. I really enjoyed the costume and didn't have too many issues running in it. I finished with a very slow (for me) 1:52, I should have finished this race in 1:25 or so. I did a walk/run for this race, which I never do, mainly cause of the costume. I walked up all the bridges to save my legs for the flat parts.

I enjoyed the trail run; however, I did think the bigger rocks could have been swept off. I was wearing the barefoot, vibram shoes and it was uncomfortable running over the bigger rocks. The start was fine in my opinion and enjoyed that the spectators were right there with us, but the end was badly placed and executed.

Overall, with my costume and the heat from it, I still enjoyed the race. However, next year, I will get a retro-fitted costume rather than the actual one to help with running.

 

[stasijane]

I was wondering if anyone knew what overall time or time per mile would get you in coral A? I was in coral B and I cut off over 2 mpm from the time that I entered.

 

[PrincessV]

Pictures are up on brightroom! Um, am I missing something - is it really $35 for ONE PICTURE???

 

[JCH]

Pics are up if you search for Tower of Terror. On the negative side, Bright Room has figured out we can get the pictures and has a Bright Room filter over the whole thing. It's awful as I can't even see myself in most of them since the word Bright Room is completely over my face! On the plus side, the 50% of code EndOfSummer50 does work for ToT stuff! I think I am going to get bordered 5X7s of my finisher photo for ToT and Princess. I could never bring myself to spend 18 bucks for one pictures, but 9 for a professional photograph with an event border seems much more reasonable.

 

[JCH]

Pictures are up on brightroom! Um, am I missing something - is it really $35 for ONE PICTURE???

For the digital download, yes. But you can get prints as low as 7.50 with the EndOfSummer50 code. If you like one, do that and scan it. And it looks like we now know who the picture stalkers are.

 

[pixystickgrl]

I got the elevator thing, but I was confused about the baseball uniforms at all of the bases and outfield. There was also a score on the scoreboard with specific team names, but I don't remember what they were. What was that from?

I didn't see the baseball uniforms but did notice the screen and scoreboard. My friend who was running with me said the team names they had listed there were Twilight Zone references. I though it was a nice touch but not many people would get it.

 

[PrincessV]

For the digital download, yes. But you can get prints as low as 7.50 with the EndOfSummer50 code. If you like one, do that and scan it. And it looks like we now know who the picture stalkers are.

Hee hee, yep! I've got my race recap mostly done and was waiting to see if any pics turned out decently. Thanks so much for the code! I really don't want prints, but I can stomach $17.50 for digital rights.

 

[PrincessV]

My friend who was running with me said the team names they had listed there were Twilight Zone references.

YES! I totally forgot there were a couple TZ episodes that involved baseball teams/players.