Orlando Sentinel Story about running out of Water

[ultramickeymouse]

I have added a story by the Orlando Sentinel about running out of water at the marathon to my website http://www.DisneyRunning.com under the marathon heading. I don't think this will happen again for a few years. I am still going to send my comments to Disney about this as I am a RD for ultramarathons and this could be dangerous. I counted 2 aid stations completely gone, 1 without PowerAide, 4 without cups, and 1 with gels or bananas in miles 10-20. Luckily my wife and I always carry water bottles. Many struggling runners didn't!

Thanks,

Robert

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

From the sounds of things--it all seemed quite wacky. No excuse to run out of water. They had these horrible race conditions 2 years ago (high heat)..and they didn't run out of water then (I was at the back of the pack...so I would have been SOL if they did).

They are trying so hard to get big on the racing circuit with their destination events....that this absolutely can become very very dangerous.

 

[ultramickeymouse]

I emailed the report from a volunteer at the WDW marathon (listed below) to Disney. Here is Disney's response to it. Can you believe it!

Disney states:

"I would take some of these emails and postings with a grain of salt. As you can see, many at this water stop already had other issues that they were blaming Disney for and then stretched the truth beyond what I thought they would. Enough said."

Volunteer stated:

I. d. from Orlando (1/7/07)

It was a hot day this year (70's and 80's!) and it was well known in advance it would be. However our water stop had even less water than previous years and 2/3's of the way thru the day, we were out of water at mile 19. Runners swore at water stop workers, some runners saying that they had been without anything to drink for 4 miles, as other stops also were without any beverage or food. Whoever was in charge this year is a total buffoon.
I worked the water stop and was witness to the anger and pain of the runners. Many of us even used all of our own supplies of drink and food for the runners. It's good that some people had brought their cars to the stop as their cars contained these supplies. The runners did understand that Mickey mismanagement was to blame, however they still were so mad and upset, they just had to let it out. I will never work another Disney marathon again, having seen this and also witnessed how the management treated a large group at our water stop, because they had brought their cars to the stop (like they had been doing for many years! I'll not go into it, but it was really embarrassing and the lady who dished out the abuse should be relinquished of her duties.
I will go into it instead - this person told everyone that they would not get the one-day Disney passes that they were entitled to as volunteers for the water stop, because cars had been driven to the stop. This even affected people who had not brought cars, but had taken a bus to the site! This lady again exhibited all the intellect of a buffon. I hope management of Disney will severely admonish this person.

 

[Goofyin08forErica]

Unbelievable!!!

I was one of the lucky ones who brought her own bottle of water, otherwise I would have had to go a very long time without any hydration.

Whom ever at Disney sent you this reply should be made to walk/run the marathon course under the same conditions we did with water stations: without water/powerade, out of cups, being restricted to only 1 small cup of water, and then being told that he was exaggerating.

Erica

 

[DisneyMarathon]

I hope many 2007 participants would email Disney regarding the lack of water , missing half-marathon medals, etc. Hope Disney will address such issues seriously, considering their entry fee is higher than many marathon races.

Below is the link that I use to email Disney race. Choose "Marathon Endurance" as the subject.

https://secure.disney.go.com/dwws/en_US/action/detail?name=ContactUsInfoDetailPage

 

[Goofyin08forErica]

I just finished emailing them. Hopefully they will realize that this is a serious problem and fix it vs blowing it off!

Erica

 

[LindaBabe]

If you ask me, (grumpy old woman here, who watched the suffering from the sidelines) it's time for a well organized boycott of the WDW marathon weekend complete with publicity.

 

[disneybelle]

I heard a volunteer at the first Osceola Pkwy water stop say under his breath to other volunteers "they're out of water at the next stop too, but don't asay anything". I didn't have my own fluid as I thought the race would be sufficiently supported. Fortunately I had hydrated well and suffered no ill effects of the heat.

I read the article and the comment form the race director that only one stop ran out was incorrect. I personally experienced 3 stops without water.

I do plan on writing Disney about my experience, but won't do so until I have a final draft that is not so heated.

 

[TiffJ]

I just gave them my 2 cents.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I've known people who have volunteered at water stops in the past. Sometimes there are people in charge who treat the volunteers like pack mules.

One--a TNT volunteer....they were done with their duties and had boarded their bus...and a CM got on and wouldn't allow the bus to leave until something was done (I think tables moved or something). The person I knew volunteered to do it personally as I guess they had some volunteers who signed up to hand out water who had no business to be acting as pack mules.

I was going to say I wouldn't believe you got such a response from Disney--but I am not surprised. I do not think they appreciate the volunteers as they should.

Disney seems to be behaving as though they have no business organizing races.

I had severe issues with them last year over the disorganization of the kid races. They skipped my youngest child's age group to let the diaper patrol go. No offense to those families--but with a diaper..they have a place to go. Skipping the potty training/newly potty trained age group was just plain STUPID! And making kids stand out in teh hot sun for over 2 hours for something that was specifically listed to take less than an hour. I didn't bother writing a letter---but I will not allow my children to participate with that anymore. I'm a meanie and told them they would have to do the 3 mile jaunt for their medal.

 

[disneybelle]

Don't get me wrong. The majority of the volunteers were great and I always made sure to thank them (even the ones I didn't take water from). Overall they were very sympathetic and handled the runner's angry barrages very well. It was a case of don't shoot the messenger, but some runners may have been in too mych pain to realize that.

Unrelated to the water issue, but relating to marathon customer service...DH realized after about 3 miles of the full that his Goofy wristband was missing. He stopped to speak with a black-shirted, credential -wearing, radio-toting marathon "official" and was given the brush off..."oh well, nothing we can do...you'll just have to deal with it when you finish." For the next several miles instead of enjoying the run, he obsessed over the difficult time he'd have receiving credit for Goofy. (This is after the missing Donald medal for many runners the day before). Fortunately we approached a second "official" as we entered backstage at Magic Kingdom and received the Disney customer service I'm used to. Instead of a brush-off, she took bib# and chip# and told us to continue on while she radioed ahead. Not sure if these guys were Disney or not, but Too much grumpy at such a fun event can put the damper on things.

 

[gruZ]

I sent my two cents this afternoon. I'll post any reply (not that I'm counting on anything).

 

[ddoll]

I personally sufferd ill effects from there not being any water or Powerade at the end of the half. I sent them a note too.

 

[ultramickeymouse]

I think I am going to suggest to Disney that they start a "VIP Aid Station Package" like the VIP Runner Tent and VIP Spectator Package. Runners pay an additional $50 and get a wristband that entitles you to a special tent at every aid station with water, PowerAde, and food(at the approriate points). They would guarantee they would NEVER run out of supplies even if the regular aid station did!

What do you think

Robert
http://www.DisneyRunning.com

 

[escape]

Robert, this is fine but....

I don't think you should have to pay extra for guaranteed water and/or sports drink. This should be a given.

 

[Dennyha]

I think Robert was being facetious.

 

[escape]

I think Robert was being facetious.

Ha! I think you're right. I'm a little slow this am.

 

[WDWFAN9]

Well I wrote about the water situtation (fortunately I carry my own water) and to express my disappointment at not being able to go down Main Street during the full. That is a real highlight and gosh, I was ahead of the sweepers and should have been able to see the castle when I entered the park.

 

[ultramickeymouse]

Ha! I think you're right. I'm a little slow this am.

Sometimes I can't hide my true self

Hi all,



I received an email from Jon Hughes who is the RD of the WDW races. He requested my phone number which I emailed him yesterday afternoon. I believe he will call me after their staff meeting on Monday. I was told by an EMMI that this will include the many issues of the 07 races.



I you have something you would like me to discuss with Jon, please PM or email it to me and I will mention it.



I believe everyone should email Jon directly with their comments and concerns before Monday so he will the true scale of uphappy runners. His email address is Jon@emmi.com . Only through mass emails can we get them to correct past issues for future races. They can blow off a few people but if they get dozens or hundreds of emails, they have to take us seriously. Even if you emailed before, please resend them to Jon directly before Monday.



If you get responses from him, please send them along. I will post the gist of my phone conversation and any results.



Thanks,



Robert

http://www.DisneyRunning.com