RunDisney returning to West Coast in 2024

[StarGirl11]

I was in DL over Labor Day last year, the early morning weather was pretty decent actually

Yeah you got lucky that year I’m afraid. Labor Day is notorious for being pretty warm. To the point I’ve got friends who wonder why I kept doing it (it’s my bday weekend)

Case and point I was there for Labor Day this year because of doctors. And we were under a bad heat warning the whole weekend.

2017 was bad enough to be technically classified as a black flag for the half. It technically wasn’t officially listed as one. But once you cut a run short it technically falls into that category according to people I talked too.

And Since they cut the run through Angela’s Stadium out for the back of the pack. And people were dropping like flies.

I remember after exiting Angels (I was one of the last group of people to make the cutoff). And hitting the street that’s about the 10 mile marker. And there were three different runners I passed that were just sitting on the side and there was a policeman going back and forth checking to see if they were okay and trying to encourage them to get moving if they could.

This year if we had been running probably would have had a similar situation. It was just that hot.

Also talking about this made me remember. The DL races usually had their final hard cut off around mile 10. Wonder if it will stay that way on the return. That final cutoff saved me a couple of times but especially in 2017. Since once I got past it I knew I was walking it in.

 

[Ariel484]

Very surprised by this announcement! With the radio silence since the last DL race (Tink in 2017 I think?), the rumors of Anaheim not really wanting DL to even have the races, and the way the races had changed up to that point (lack of entertainment, outsourcing the volunteers - I hope those things aren't here to stay), I thought they were just done. Great news that they are coming back.

In the past, they’ve had four race weekends, I think I have this right:

Mid January: Star Wars Light Side
Early May (first weekend?): Tinkerbell
Labor Day weekend: Disneyland Half Marathon (no specific theme)
Mid November (weekend after W&D): Avengers

They certainly don’t have to stick with past themes but if they go with four weekends again I’d expect something like this.

If I remember correctly, the Tink half fell on Mother's Day. DL park was crowded that day

Light Side I think (???) was the weekend right after WDW Marathon weekend...I vaguely remember reading about people who did both weekends back-to-back.

Looking at previous maps it looks like you get to run a lot inside the parks? Like for the 5ks? It seems at WDW it's a lot of parking lot or road running & just quick dipping into a park. Except for Epcot which you run around inside, but that gets old after a time or 2.

I would love to do a Tink or Avengers theme if they offer a 5k and an ultimate trip to DL for all that too. What is the weather like early May? I'd be coming from FL so used to heat already.

I agree with everyone else who said that the 10Ks at Disneyland were AMAZING. So much park time!

The half marathons (I did DL and Tink each one time) were tough for me because all of the parks portions happened at the start (first 4ish miles) and then after that it was into Anaheim for the rest of the race. I even remember running through a residential neighborhood during Tink where runDisney had put up "please be quiet" signs.

But the weirdest thing they did was start the Tink 5K *on Main Street* in Disneyland Park, right by the castle. Which was really a cool and unique experience, but it was very crowded at the start!

 

[VickiHD]

Very surprised by this announcement! With the radio silence since the last DL race (Tink in 2017 I think?), the rumors of Anaheim not really wanting DL to even have the races, and the way the races had changed up to that point (lack of entertainment, outsourcing the volunteers - I hope those things aren't here to stay), I thought they were just done. Great news that they are coming back.



If I remember correctly, the Tink half fell on Mother's Day. DL park was crowded that day

Light Side I think (???) was the weekend right after WDW Marathon weekend...I vaguely remember reading about people who did both weekends back-to-back.


I agree with everyone else who said that the 10Ks at Disneyland were AMAZING. So much park time!

The half marathons (I did DL and Tink each one time) were tough for me because all of the parks portions happened at the start (first 4ish miles) and then after that it was into Anaheim for the rest of the race. I even remember running through a residential neighborhood during Tink where runDisney had put up "please be quiet" signs.

But the weirdest thing they did was start the Tink 5K *on Main Street* in Disneyland Park, right by the castle. Which was really a cool and unique experience, but it was very crowded at the start!

I'm Legacy for Tink and I remember those "quiet please" signs in the neighborhood too. Even with that it was neat to see the neighbors outside cheering us on as well as kids looking out their front windows waving to us. The Red Hat Ladies were always fun to see and those ladies were really loud with their cheers.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Just remembered: OMG they can do Marvel there right??!!!!

Yes, they can. From 2014 through 2017, there was an Avengers themed race at Disneyland. I do not say this to rain on anyone's parade or destroy anyone's dreams, but after its first year, the Marvel races never sold out and had very low attendance. We're talking under 10,000 runners.

Very excited! I did Avengers Half (the last runDisney to be held in the West Coast). Not familiar with runDisney at WDW - do those races usually sell out immediately, or are spots available for a while after registration opens?

Sell out times vary. In 2011 and 2012, the Disneyland Half races took a very long time to sell out. The first Avengers race sold out in 2 1/2 hours. The first Star Wars race sold out in 2 hours and the challenge much faster.

I expect the first to be really rough just by virtue of being the first but hopefully it settles down after that.

I anticipate at least the first year will be very tough. Things may get saner in the second year depending on how much demand they're able to meet in 2024.

In the Before Times they didn't even always sell out right away (I believe Avengers 2017, which was the last DL race, wasn't sold out) so I'm holding out hope that it won't be too chaotic.

I registered for Avengers 2017 3 weeks before the race. They were still selling bibs at race weekend. However, Tink sold out as fast as Princess did.

Am I understanding right that the half weekend was typically Labor Day weekend previously? That doesn't seem ideal from a crowd or a wether perspective....

Always Labor Day weekend. Sometimes the weather was warm, but doable, sometimes brutal. I was down there Labor Day weekend this year and what would have been race day was 112 degrees at 11:00am.

If I remember correctly, the Tink half fell on Mother's Day. DL park was crowded that day

Light Side I think (???) was the weekend right after WDW Marathon weekend...I vaguely remember reading about people who did both weekends back-to-back.

Once Star Wars came in, the runDisney race calendar went as follows:

Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend also had Star Wars The Light Side

Mothers Day or early May had Tink

Labor Day weekend also had the Disneyland Half.

Mid Novemberish had Avengers.

Honestly, I do not expect all the themes to return. I think only the Disneyland Half will keep its theme. I do think a women's themed race will continue, but possibly with a new theme. As much as I really want Star Wars and Marvel race themes to continue, I fear those race weekends will either be discontinued or rethemed.

 

[Tall Todd]

Planning Dopey '24 and some Disneyland races at the end of the year for a Coast to Coast. Pretty excited.

 

[Ariel484]

Honestly, I do not expect all the themes to return. I think only the Disneyland Half will keep its theme. I do think a women's themed race will continue, but possibly with a new theme. As much as I really want Star Wars and Marvel race themes to continue, I fear those race weekends will either be discontinued or rethemed.

Agreed, I do think DL Half weekend is the only theme that is “safe.” I also wonder if they’ll start back up with the DL half (so technically races come back in 2024 but not until September?) since it was their signature race weekend like Marathon Weekend is at WDW.

I could see Tink coming back but it’s a pretty limiting theme. Not sure what else they could do to be the West Coast version of Princess though?

 

[1lilspark]

theme guesses assuming that there are 4 weekends like Florida/Years past....

1) Disneyland (rotational theme or classics like WDW)
2) Tinkerbell/Fairies/Princess/Happy Endings
3) Marvel/Star Wars/ Villain
4) Pixar

 

[fatmanatee]

Agreed, I do think DL Half weekend is the only theme that is “safe.” I also wonder if they’ll start back up with the DL half (so technically races come back in 2024 but not until September?) since it was their signature race weekend like Marathon Weekend is at WDW.

I could see Tink coming back but it’s a pretty limiting theme. Not sure what else they could do to be the West Coast version of Princess though?

Something around heroines? I agree on them not sticking with Tink as a full weekend theme. RD has changed a lot since 2017, there are higher expectations in terms of theme, medal variety, etc. The Light Side half medal was a variation on the Medal of Yavin all three years they held that race, and although it’s among my favorites I don’t expect that one to come back if they choose to go with a SW weekend. IIRC the Avengers weekend was similar, they had a half medal based on the logo.

 

[The running raven]

I’m so excited! Do you think they’ll also offer virtual versions?

 

[fatmanatee]

I’m so excited! Do you think they’ll also offer virtual versions?

I would imagine it’s highly likely. They’ve continued to offer virtual options for WDW so it seems like this has been a big success for them.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I could see Tink coming back but it’s a pretty limiting theme. Not sure what else they could do to be the West Coast version of Princess though?

I would love to see them do some kind of fairy tale coast to coast similar the 2016 and 2017 Kessel Run Challenges. Maybe they choose one movie/princess as the half theme for the year and if you run the half on each coast, you receive the special challenge medal and the regular Coast to Coast medal.

IIRC the Avengers weekend was similar, they had a half medal based on the logo.

Even in 2017, Avengers had moved away from the Avengers A on the medals. 2017 Avengers Half Marathon was Black Widow's symbol.

I’m so excited! Do you think they’ll also offer virtual versions?

Yes. I think this generates revenue from them from runners who might really love a theme/medal/character for that year, but for whatever reason are unable to run the race in person, but still want the medal. I'm guessing that the cost of the medal/shirt and shipping is significantly lower than what they charge for the virtual races. I've done virtual races because I liked the medal, but could not possibly run the race in person, including going the ebay route for the medal.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I would love to see them do some kind of fairy tale coast to coast similar the 2016 and 2017 Kessel Run Challenges. Maybe they choose one movie/princess as the half theme for the year and if you run the half on each coast, you receive the special challenge medal and the regular Coast to Coast medal.

Even in 2017, Avengers had moved away from the Avengers A on the medals. 2017 Avengers Half Marathon was Black Widow's symbol.

Yes. I think this generates revenue from them from runners who might really love a theme/medal/character for that year, but for whatever reason are unable to run the race in person, but still want the medal. I'm guessing that the cost of the medal/shirt and shipping is significantly lower than what they charge for the virtual races. I've done virtual races because I liked the medal, but could not possibly run the race in person, including going the ebay route for the medal.

They did have the special coast to coast medal for doing Princess and Tink, so I could see them doing something similar again.

 

[Popo]

They did have the special coast to coast medal for doing Princess and Tink, so I could see them doing something similar again.

 

[fatmanatee]

Bumping this for the recent news. One race announced, not clear if other races are coming later in the year.

 

[Z-Knight]

They effectively moved the labor day weekend to replace what was lightside before.

I did marathon weekend in 2016 at Disney World then flew to Disneyland a couple days later to do light side and had a total of 10 medals with coast-to-coast (didn't do 5k in light side)... I wanna do that again!!

 

[fatmanatee]

Now that I have some time, some thoughts on what they’ve done with the schedule:

- I’m surprised! Very surprised. I kinda expected that they’d resume DL races in the second half of 2024 after announcing the 2023-2024 “season”.
- I also didn’t expect them to move what I would consider the main race weekend to January. This means you’ll have both that month, and certainly a group of people who will travel from one race weekend to the other. This would be neat but I’m not sure it’s a possibility for me.
- Anything is possible but I’m skeptical that they’ll hold a May event right now. I can easily see May as part of their Wine and Dine to Spring schedule. No races in summer, serving as the “offseason” for RD.
- No idea what that means for fall. They could have no races, they could have the two that they previously ran, or they could split the difference and have one. Without having any knowledge of if there will be other races and if i’ll even be able to do them, I might just have to go for this first weekend back.

I posted a reply to their IG asking about future weekends and although I don’t expect a response, maybe they’ll listen and clarify things.

 

[GreatLakes]

I'd be very surprised if we see a second DL race in 2024. I think they want to see how well it will do and how easy it is to work with the city before they possibly add a second race in 2025.

 

[Tiggerette]

I'd be very surprised if we see a second DL race in 2024. I think they want to see how well it will do and how easy it is to work with the city before they possibly add a second race in 2025.

Maybe that's the reason registration is early in Feb. 2023.

 

[hotblooded]

Wow, and registration coming up in just one month. I wish it wasn't back to back with MW because I already plan to take the second half of December off, and this could be awkward with PTO.

 

[jodeja]

Woo-hooo!! I'm so excited to see a Disneyland event on the website!!
Was hoping to sign up for Club runDisney prior to the first Disneyland race so that I'd have a better shot at actually getting an entry (planned to just throw money at the problem), but now it seems that won't be possible. I'll just have to take Feb 14 off work to sit in the queue - if it doesn't sell out in the first minute!