Official Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend - The Dark Side 2017

[KAT4DISNEY]

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but did anyone else notice that the half marathon start time is listed on the website as 5:30? Wasn't it supposed to be 5:00, and isn't that what it was last year?

I thought I saw somewhere that this year the races were all going to start at the same time.

 

[wehrengrizz]

Acclaim Travel is offering buy one race get one free for Dark side right now if anyone is interested.

Why is this so tempting?????? lol is this for either coast? Also, I guess you'd have to do the package for both? or....? Asking for a friend.

 

[cavepig]

Star Wars Half Marathon - The Dark Side
Sunday, April 23, 2017
5:30 a.m.
Start: Floridian Way
Finish: Epcot®

Star Wars 10K
Saturday, April 22, 2017
5:30 a.m.
Start: Floridian Way
Finish: Epcot®

Star Wars 5K
Friday, April 21, 2017
6:00 a.m.
Start/Finish: Epcot®

Directly from the Run Disney website for this year. Of course they could change once the event guide comes out I suppose.

 

[bryana]

Why is this so tempting?????? lol is this for either coast? Also, I guess you'd have to do the package for both? or....? Asking for a friend.

What do you mean for either coast? I take it to mean if you buy one dark side bib then you get a second dark side bib free.

 

[mbwhitti]

Yay for the challenge - and I love the bargaining aspect

Haha! Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have any buyers yet.

 

[Darkwing_Duck_CJ]

My wife and I are excited to be doing our first RunDisney 5k at Star Wars Dark Side, and I have a question for you run vets out there, if I could? My wife and I are staying in Caribbean Beach and we will have use of a vehicle, if it will help. We are daily rope droppers and know our way around "The World" very well, but don't have ANY reference for RunDisney timing. If the race starts at 6, what would be everyone's recommendation for timing that morning? Should we drive or bus (we figured drive is always better on a normal day to epcot, but does it change with RunDisney)? Any other pointers? Thanks everyone!

 

[cavepig]

My wife and I are excited to be doing our first RunDisney 5k at Star Wars Dark Side, and I have a question for you run vets out there, if I could? My wife and I are staying in Caribbean Beach and we will have use of a vehicle, if it will help. We are daily rope droppers and know our way around "The World" very well, but don't have ANY reference for RunDisney timing. If the race starts at 6, what would be everyone's recommendation for timing that morning? Should we drive or bus (we figured drive is always better on a normal day to epcot, but does it change with RunDisney)? Any other pointers? Thanks everyone!

I don't drive so can't help with that, but I know drivers on here who say it's usually not bad driving in traffic wise. I usually catch the bus 2 hours before from a resort or not too long after they start running them as I like to be there early.

I know for Darkside last year they had characters out beforehand and they cut the lines early and they were long, so if you want any of those beforehand you want to get there as early as possible and a car would get you there earlier than the buses I think.

 

[croach]

My wife and I are excited to be doing our first RunDisney 5k at Star Wars Dark Side, and I have a question for you run vets out there, if I could? My wife and I are staying in Caribbean Beach and we will have use of a vehicle, if it will help. We are daily rope droppers and know our way around "The World" very well, but don't have ANY reference for RunDisney timing. If the race starts at 6, what would be everyone's recommendation for timing that morning? Should we drive or bus (we figured drive is always better on a normal day to epcot, but does it change with RunDisney)? Any other pointers? Thanks everyone!

I find the buses very easy and convenient to use but that may vary from resort to resort as far as pick up locations. I don't how it will be for Star Wars because the 5k field might not be as large, but for marathon weekend the buses couldn't leave to take you back to your resort until after 7:00. This may not affect a you but it's just something to be aware of in your planning.

 

[wehrengrizz]

What do you mean for either coast? I take it to mean if you buy one dark side bib then you get a second dark side bib free.

aaaand this is why I was too tired to be on disboards last night!
haha I definitely read it as buy one bib get one free, like one race now (SWDS) and another future one. Why? I have NO idea. Thanks for pointing that out, sorry guys!
ETA: @MommaoffherRocker this is in no way appealing or tempting anymore

 

[Darkwing_Duck_CJ]

I don't drive so can't help with that, but I know drivers on here who say it's usually not bad driving in traffic wise. I usually catch the bus 2 hours before from a resort or not too long after they start running them as I like to be there early.

I know for Darkside last year they had characters out beforehand and they cut the lines early and they were long, so if you want any of those beforehand you want to get there as early as possible and a car would get you there earlier than the buses I think.

Thank you for the reply and great advice!!

 

[Darkwing_Duck_CJ]

I find the buses very easy and convenient to use but that may vary from resort to resort as far as pick up locations. I don't how it will be for Star Wars because the 5k field might not be as large, but for marathon weekend the buses couldn't leave to take you back to your resort until after 7:00. This may not affect a you but it's just something to be aware of in your planning.

thank you for the reply! We are thinking car for sure

 

[NurseRunner]

So I took the bait and upgraded to the dark side challenge. Who am I supposed to email to get the half fee refunded?

 

[Chasing Dopey]

My wife and I are excited to be doing our first RunDisney 5k at Star Wars Dark Side, and I have a question for you run vets out there, if I could? My wife and I are staying in Caribbean Beach and we will have use of a vehicle, if it will help. We are daily rope droppers and know our way around "The World" very well, but don't have ANY reference for RunDisney timing. If the race starts at 6, what would be everyone's recommendation for timing that morning? Should we drive or bus (we figured drive is always better on a normal day to epcot, but does it change with RunDisney)? Any other pointers? Thanks everyone!

Having done both, the answer is car. More sleep in time, no need to bag check if you want to take stuff, super close from CB, and very fast/low traffic. If it starts at 6, you can probably leave at 5:30, but as this is your first runDisney, you may want to give yourself some extra time.

 

[Darkwing_Duck_CJ]

Having done both, the answer is car. More sleep in time, no need to bag check if you want to take stuff, super close from CB, and very fast/low traffic. If it starts at 6, you can probably leave at 5:30, but as this is your first runDisney, you may want to give yourself some extra time.

We thought leave at 5:00 so we had time to enjoy the process and say hi to people, so it sounds like that and driving will give us tons of time. We're really excited to add this to the list of awesome Disney experiences. Thanks for the great input!

 

[cavepig]

So I took the bait and upgraded to the dark side challenge. Who am I supposed to email to get the half fee refunded?

There's a transfer form you need to fill out on the rundisney site under Darkside, under registration & at the bottom of Registration Policy. They do take $45 as a transfer fee.
Here's the link directly to it https://secure.as1.wdpromedia.com/media/rundisney/star-wars-wdw-half-marathon/SW-DS_TransferForm.pdf

It does say from needs to be in by Jan. 19, 2017 so you might want to call first.

 

[croach]

For folks who did the race last year, how were the character stops during the 10k and the half? Hoping for some good options on the course.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

For folks who did the race last year, how were the character stops during the 10k and the half? Hoping for some good options on the course.

I have it posted in my report from last year:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/re...rnal-update12-31.3483669/page-3#post-55617296

 

[Dis_Yoda]

The 501st will probably be out at one of the theme parks we run through - until the course map comes out we can't tell where exactly it most likely will be!

 

[bryana]

aaaand this is why I was too tired to be on disboards last night!
haha I definitely read it as buy one bib get one free, like one race now (SWDS) and another future one. Why? I have NO idea. Thanks for pointing that out, sorry guys!
ETA: @MommaoffherRocker this is in no way appealing or tempting anymore

LOL - It happens to the best of us!

 

[croach]

I have it posted in my report from last year:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/re...rnal-update12-31.3483669/page-3#post-55617296

Thanks!