OFFICIAL Jan 2011 Half Marathon, Full Marathon, Dopey or Goofy Challenge Thread

[jpmom]

We are staying put at AKL...

and will drive over to Epcot, albeit earlier than we anticipated.

Never thought I'd have to sleep in the car pre-race, but seems like that's what we will do.

When the race starts - I should head immediately over to TTC, right?

and where should I watch from Poly?

So glad I found this thread...
as first time Disney marathoners, it's been really helpful

 

[cewait]

We are staying put at AKL...

and will drive over to Epcot, albeit earlier than we anticipated.

Never thought I'd have to sleep in the car pre-race, but seems like that's what we will do.

When the race starts - I should head immediately over to TTC, right?

and where should I watch from Poly?

So glad I found this thread...
as first time Disney marathoners, it's been really helpful

You will want to head out as soon as you can to the TTC as it is at mile 4 or the race. Once you come down the ramp you will want to stay on the monorail station side or west side of the course. as you look at the lay of the land, the tick booths will be behind you and the tram tunnel just in front towards the street. Once your DH passes then head in the direction of the ticket booths following the side walk in front of them. You will pass a parking lot as you parallel the street out front. As you get to the other side of the parking lot you are now on Poly property. From a runner,s perspective the in intersection of Seven Seas and Floridian. Though the whole stretch of the road in front of the Poly is a goood location. You will definitely need to play it by ear when steaking out locations.

 

[cewait]

First I just want to say that the advice offered on this forum has been such a huge help for me, thank you all soo much!!!

I have a quick question for my DH, since he will be a cheer squad member this race. We are staying at CSR and I am racing the Half Marathon. I see from the final instructions that the buses will stop at 5:00AM for the marathon days. If he decides to drive that morning instead of getting on the buses, will he be able to get to the TTC and take the monorail to Epcot past 5AM or will he find himself in a jam if he doesn't take the marathon bus around 445AM? We were thinking he could either park at SOG (since we are military) and take the monorail at the Poly or get to the TTC and take the monorail from there.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!!

First, the busses stop at 4 AM. There are straggler busses but if you wait too late then you risk sitting in a bus until it can offload shortly after 7. Plus, if busses are running later than 4-4:15 they will be pretty crowded and runners would need to be given preference.

Next the most sure way of getting the the TTC is to hop the bus with you on race morning. He can then monorail up and have a great cup of coffee at the Kona Cafe

He can park in the MK parking lot but he needs to be out there earlier rather than later. The course takes us through the toll booth so there is a need to detour if he waits later than 4:30 to drive up. The detour would be to take Buena Vista (the road running in front of CSR) to the east,, making a left turn out of the resort. He should stay on BV going past the BWV, DHS and CBR. Once under Epcot Dr, he should turn left on Bonnet Creek heading north. He will go past the OKW and POR and the start on the left. Following BC up to Vista where the road tees left or right. He wants to head left towards the MK. At N world dr, turn right and head up towards the contemporary. On the left is the MK parking lot. It will usually have one of the gates open on race day morning.

Note he does not want to attempt driving to the SOG too late if that is an option he wants to do. The road is a one land road once the cones are placed and traffic control is in place.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Your problem sounds the same as mine. I did my 10 mile on Dec 24th and started having knee pain around 8.5 miles. I iced the next few days and felt good enough on Tuesday to run again. I went to the gym thinking I'd be fine for 3 miles, but by 2.5, they started to ache again. I have been icing ever since and resting and don't plan to run again until the race. I'm hoping it's enough so that I don't have to suffer through the entire race.

I had planned on doing the run/walk for the race, but may end up walking most of it. My husband is going now (wasn't supposed to before) and he's a bit behind on his training...so we are just going to slow it down and enjoy the scenery!

I'm in the same boat. I actually injured this knee back at the beginning of November. I have had good luck with it not really hurting till about 8 miles in- until my long run of 11 miles on Dec. 24th and then it started hurting at mile 3. I kept up my run/walk intervals and finished. I've been babying it along and at this point just want to be sure I can finish in enough time! This is my first half. I am confident that I have the endurance to finish it- at my first 10 miler I still had energy left, that was Dec. 10th. I ran 2.5 tonight and it was good. I did put on the strap and I think that helped. I plan to run another 2-3 on Wednesday or Thursday, and that's it. Good luck to you for a pain-free run!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Two quick questions for Marathon weekend veterans (and my sincere apologies if they have already been answered farther back in the thread, and I missed it!):

1. Breakfast the morning of the race- what do people do? I will be at POR not DVC this time, so I won't have a toaster to make a bagel or groceries at hand. Suggestions? I don't want to just run on a powerbar and gatorade to start. I usually eat some protein before a long run, an egg and half a bagel or so. I'll be running the half.

2. How do I know what start corral I will be in? My friends and I registered separately, what if we end up in different start corrals? We are all first time racers.

Thanks!
Christine

 

[Pumbaa80]

First I just want to say that the advice offered on this forum has been such a huge help for me, thank you all soo much!!!

I have a quick question for my DH, since he will be a cheer squad member this race. We are staying at CSR and I am racing the Half Marathon. I see from the final instructions that the buses will stop at 5:00AM for the marathon days. If he decides to drive that morning instead of getting on the buses, will he be able to get to the TTC and take the monorail to Epcot past 5AM or will he find himself in a jam if he doesn't take the marathon bus around 445AM? We were thinking he could either park at SOG (since we are military) and take the monorail at the Poly or get to the TTC and take the monorail from there.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Just FYI...
SOG sent us an e-mail that says, "Vehicle access will be totally closed from 0430 to 1000 hours on the morning of the marathon."

Kelli

 

[cewait]

Two quick questions for Marathon weekend veterans (and my sincere apologies if they have already been answered farther back in the thread, and I missed it!):

1. Breakfast the morning of the race- what do people do? I will be at POR not DVC this time, so I won't have a toaster to make a bagel or groceries at hand. Suggestions? I don't want to just run on a powerbar and gatorade to start. I usually eat some protein before a long run, an egg and half a bagel or so. I'll be running the half.

2. How do I know what start corral I will be in? My friends and I registered separately, what if we end up in different start corrals? We are all first time racers.

Thanks

Christine

No problem.

First for breakfast you really want to follow current processes on long run mornings. So the bagel part is relatively straight forward. Te food court will be open early, around 2-2:30. I would suggest purchasing a bagel the day before and then heading back to the food court on race morning to toast it. Toasters are located in the common area with the drinks, utensils and such. I am not sure about getting egs that morning. Most food courts are on a reduced menu that morning, so it really depends on the food courts and what they open that morning. It may be worth a discussion on Friday with the food court manager.

You will know at the expo what corral you are in. To get an ideal, I have been estimating 3000 per corral in the half. In the event you and your friends are split, you can all move back to the corral furtherest back. No one can move up without providing proof of time for a faster corral at the race expo.

 

[verticalchaos]

Thanks Coach. I actually found out that I'm starting in wave 7 so I'm pretty far back. That's a good idea about the mile markers. I figure I'll be focused on so much of what's going on around me that it will help. One thing I do know is training runs by myself can be pretty boring. But, when I compete in the actual races I get a tremendous amount of help from all the people cheering on the sides of the road. In going to the races as a spectator I never realized until I actually ran one how much of a lift runners do get from it.

How did you find that out already? I thought we wouldn't know the wave/corral assignments until getting the bibs at the expo.

 

[dismagiclover]

Here is another spectator question. I'm running the full and we are staying at BWV. The plan all along has been for DH and the kids to see me on the Boardwalk towards the end of the race and then walk over to meet me in the finish area. I'm now thinking it would be fun to see them another time too. We won't have a car that week. So do you think it is possible for them to get over to AK to see me and then back to the Boardwalk in time to see me there. (I figure those 7 miles or so will take me around 90 minutes by that point.) Also where is a good location to spectate in AK? We have APs so entering the park isn't a problem, but would the parking lot be a better place? Thanks. I can't believe it is so close. I'm still scared to death, but I've put in the training so I know I can do this!

 

[Goofed98]

Last year, my brother was able to take pictures of me outside of AK (right by the entrance, roughly mile 18), and then he was able to make it over to the World Showcase, and I saw him and the family again in England.

And yes, it was definitely a nice boost.

 

[PrincessPE]

A friend of mine found out you could email the RunDisney people ahead of time to find out your corral. We all got a respones earlier this week as to our starting points in the race.

 

[PrincessPE]

How did you find that out already? I thought we wouldn't know the wave/corral assignments until getting the bibs at the expo.

A friend of mine that's doing the marathon on Sunday found out that you could email the rundisney people ahead of time to find out your corral and wave. He sent an email to them in mid December and we just found out earlier this week.

 

[verticalchaos]

A friend of mine that's doing the marathon on Sunday found out that you could email the rundisney people ahead of time to find out your corral and wave. He sent an email to them in mid December and we just found out earlier this week.

Eh...it's only a week out now. I don't think I'll bother them when they're probably super busy getting everything ready.

 

[cewait]

Here is another spectator question. I'm running the full and we are staying at BWV. The plan all along has been for DH and the kids to see me on the Boardwalk towards the end of the race and then walk over to meet me in the finish area. I'm now thinking it would be fun to see them another time too. We won't have a car that week. So do you think it is possible for them to get over to AK to see me and then back to the Boardwalk in time to see me there. (I figure those 7 miles or so will take me around 90 minutes by that point.) Also where is a good location to spectate in AK? We have APs so entering the park isn't a problem, but would the parking lot be a better place? Thanks. I can't believe it is so close. I'm still scared to death, but I've put in the training so I know I can do this!

Yes it's doable (sp?). With AP's getting into the park is a benefit, but not really necessary. Remember the park paths are reLly kind of narrow making it tough to see you coming and for park guests to get by. If they want to go in, make it Dinoland since it is a little more open.

I find more spectators as we exit. We exit a gate at the far east end of the parking lot, then follow a sidewalk up to the front gate, tram area. From there, by the bus stops and out into the parking lot towards Osceola. By far the front area is easier to get out of once you pass.

As far as the Epcot viewing, England is a great place to catch you again. It is a great little pick me up just before a small little hill

I would also suggest they try to hit the TTC (mile9). Busing can be an issue at your pace so a taxi up to TTC from the BWV is a good option. Though I can see with kiddo's how that option may be a tough one

Here is a link to a course map. Go to Map Options in the upper left and select Open Roads and you can get a decent detail of the course in the park.

http://beta.mapmyrun.com/routes/fullscreen/516484/

 

[cewait]

Eh...it's only a week out now. I don't think I'll bother them when they're probably super busy getting everything ready.

I agree, even if it were December 1 I am not a fan of thousands sending emails asking lots of questions about corral location..... A corral position is what it is and you cannot do anything about it until the expo anyway. If you need to change it, then bring a proof and change it. Otherwise, enjoy the race. It's not hard to see where we are all in a relative manner, an exact position is just not that important.

 

[liznboys]

Here is another spectator question. I'm running the full and we are staying at BWV. The plan all along has been for DH and the kids to see me on the Boardwalk towards the end of the race and then walk over to meet me in the finish area. I'm now thinking it would be fun to see them another time too. We won't have a car that week. So do you think it is possible for them to get over to AK to see me and then back to the Boardwalk in time to see me there. (I figure those 7 miles or so will take me around 90 minutes by that point.) Also where is a good location to spectate in AK? We have APs so entering the park isn't a problem, but would the parking lot be a better place? Thanks. I can't believe it is so close. I'm still scared to death, but I've put in the training so I know I can do this!

Carissa and I will be at AK on Sunday, and I was thinking maybe we could cheer you on there! Sounds like in front of AK after you have run through it may be the way to do it...hmmm..

 

[dismagiclover]

Here is a link to a course map. Go to Map Options in the upper left and select Open Roads and you can get a decent detail of the course in the park.

http://beta.mapmyrun.com/routes/fullscreen/516484/

Thanks Charles! That is the most awesome map I love the detail it shows of the parks! I'd love to see the Fam at the TTC, but with the kids I think it would be too big of a pain especially because it would be around 8:00 am. I think they will make it to the AK though. If DH has his way they will just cheer for me outside. If my kids get their way they will head into the park and ride Dinosaur Dumbo while they wait.

Carissa and I will be at AK on Sunday, and I was thinking maybe we could cheer you on there! Sounds like in front of AK after you have run through it may be the way to do it...hmmm..

That would be awesome Liz! I figure I'll hit mile 18 around 10:00. It all depends on how much I stop and smell the roses. (You know I like doing that) I'll give you a call that morning to give you an idea where I am.

 

[deleckidesign]

Went to the gym today...did some arm machines...and wanted to do just a little jogging on the treadmill...not a lot in case my knees started to hurt. Only did a mile and felt great! Thought about going back to do more, but had to stop myself just in case my knees aren't all the way better yet. Soooo ready for next weekend to get here!!

 

[FFigawi]

For anyone who is interested, Run Disney just announced that there are 27,000 people entered in the half next weekend.

 

[rubato]

For anyone who is interested, Run Disney just announced that there are 27,000 people entered in the half next weekend.

Is that higher than normal? I wonder how many corrals that means and how many runners in each. If we go by Coach's guess, 3000 per corral would evenly divide to 9, so that's probably about right.


As if I haven't had enough to deal with, my son and I are now sick. 102 fever, achy, sore throat. Just great! I guess the good news is that it should be out of the way by the time the half starts in exactly one week, but I was hoping to get a few runs in to catch up from the tendonitis.