Seeking advice on 2026 marathon racing strategy

[prncssjas]

Good morning RunDisney friends,

I am seeking advice from all of you very smart RunDisney people regarding my racing strategy for marathon weekend 2026. I am signed up for the full and trying to determine my best approach if I decide to "race" or meet a goal time. I haven't decided yet if I want to stop for all the pictures, which is my typical approach at Disney or if I actually want to take advantage of the flat course and hopefully decent weather to run a stronger race. I will say that the castle pic is hard to resist!

I typically run straight through all of my training and races but wondering if using the galloway method would be beneficial at all during the full if I decide to run for time. I haven't used the run/walk method and would not train for the full in the fall using it. Is that a foolish mistake? In other words, do I need to train for the full using the galloway method to prepare me for the race using that same method? Maybe this is a question for @DopeyBadger --any suggestions? I was looking at the pacer charts from 2025 weekend and thought about joining the 4 hour finish pacing group (which is the 9:09 pace, 2 min run, 30 second walk). When I registered for the full, I submitted a PoT from a half in November of 1:47:43. Ideally, I would love to run the full as close to 4 hours as possible (and anything under 4 would be a dream come true).

I keep hearing that using the run/walk method doesn't just help with recovery -- that it allows you to run faster overall, especially in the longer distances but I would love to hear from those of you who have tried both.

Any thoughts or advice would be welcome and greatly appreciated.

 

[Naomeri]

I think you'd want to do at least some of your training runs with run/walk if you plan to use it on race day--probably the long runs?

 

[Herding_Cats]

If you’re considering racing using intervals, you should definitely do some training runs using intervals. Both to get used to the slightly different muscles you’ll use to transition between paces, and to figure out what intervals might work.

I’m never at the front of the pack, but castle pics would probably only cost you a minute to stop.

Have 2 options as you know the weather could be anything from 50s to 70s and high humidity during racing hours. And see how your training block goes! If you’re crushing it, it would make sense to run for a time goal, while if things crop up (injury, illness, etc)


I have had similar thoughts (more aiming for sub-6hr ) for the same reasons you listed, but I have other things to accomplish during the full at Disney next year.

 

[nancipants]

So, I've only done one marathon and it was verrrrry slow, but I have watched a lot of YouTube videos of past marathons (both livestreams with no editing and full-course videos with photo stop waits edited out). If you start in one of the POT corrals, there won't be a lot of crowding, and you can do character and photo stops without a lot of wait. You could treat those (and water stops) as your "walk" intervals and not lose a lot of time, then run continuously otherwise.

 

[fatmanatee]

If you're running a 4:00 marathon pace and especially if you end up in corral A, which you should be based on that POT, your castle pic wait time is going to be minimal, literally going to be in and out. Other photo ops should be quick too. Agree with @nancipants that these can end up being good opportunities for mini-breaks, I found it helped to have these.

 

[jmasgat]

I have nothing to add on run/walk. But I have "raced" the Disney Marathon--my first one (still one of my best times) and also as part of Dopey2018 (at which I BQ'ed) . Agree that the castle stop is minimal. And I use water stops as natural breaks. Pretty sure I started in B both times. So it's possible to do a fast "all-run" marathon at Disney.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

>>I am seeking advice from all of you very smart RunDisney people regarding my racing strategy for marathon weekend 2026.

OK, but I'd like to weigh in as well.....
1. I get wanting to take advantage of the flat course for a fast time, but I also hate the idea of not getting pics and enjoying the setting. Dittos to using photo stops as short rest breaks, and that you should have short lines considering your pace and likely starting corral.
2. Nothing new on race day, which is to say that if you are going to do a RWR for the Full, then train accordingly so that you are used to it. So I'm going to say "ditto" to @Herding_Cats comment: "If you’re considering racing using intervals, you should definitely do some training runs using intervals. Both to get used to the slightly different muscles you’ll use to transition between paces, and to figure out what intervals might work."
3. Yes, the RWR method does seem to help with both recovery and finish times. YMMV, but people have reported positive results in both categories.

 

[sandam1]

I typically run straight through all of my training and races but wondering if using the galloway method would be beneficial at all during the full if I decide to run for time. I haven't used the run/walk method and would not train for the full in the fall using it. Is that a foolish mistake? In other words, do I need to train for the full using the galloway method to prepare me for the race using that same method?

This question reminds me of the story that I heard Galloway coach Chris Twiggs tell about the first time that he and his wife used run/walk was at the Disney marathon. They had followed Jeff's training plan, but never used walk breaks. At the Expo, they heard Jeff talk about walk breaks and decided to try them during the marathon - and (spoiler alert) both of them got significantly faster times. If you want to hear the whole story (it's a good one!), you can listen to it here below. What you are looking for starts about 30 minutes in and has a lot of great information that should answer a lot of your questions.

Now, would I recommend doing this without having ever tried out intervals before? No, because I'm not gutsy enough. I would recommend trying it a few times during your race pace workouts, just so you know how it feels. But that's just me. I've heard of numerous people using run/walk for the first time during a race and doing fine.

I keep hearing that using the run/walk method doesn't just help with recovery -- that it allows you to run faster overall, especially in the longer distances but I would love to hear from those of you who have tried both.

If you want to hear someone who is winning races with run/walk, you need to check out Marc Burget. He was on the 3-2-1 Go Podcast (Episode 14) and the Rise and Run podcast (Episode 160). He is also usually the fastest pacer for the Disney World Marathon.

 

[Dopey 2020]

If you want to hear someone who is winning races with run/walk, you need to check out Marc Burget. He was on the 3-2-1 Go Podcast (Episode 14) and the Rise and Run podcast (Episode 160). He is also usually the fastest pacer for the Disney World Marathon.

This - he is a machine, I have run with him multiple times at both Wine and Dine and MW. He is within a couple seconds at every mile marker. He is also very nice and willing to talk with you, I think most Galloway pacers are. This past MW he was pacing 3:30, our split at the half was 1:44:42, his full clock time was exactly 3:30:00 with a net of 3:29:49. I lost them at mile 24 but got my PR a couple minutes behind the group. I would be very hard pressed to run even a 4 hour full without breaks.
@prncssjas I am by no means an expert but I can say it works for me, and always recommend it. Most of my running is continuous, I think it helps me build a strong base and better stamina, but once I get out to 15+ miles I go to intervals. If I were to guess I’d say 85% of my training is continuous and 15% intervals. For me that does two things -
1 - it allows me to keep a decent pace on my long runs (I try for 2 minutes or less off of my desired race pace) with less overall effort and a much easier recovery.
2 - it’s enough to practice different intervals. For you it could be enough to see if you like RWR or not. You can also experiment with do you want longer slower intervals or faster shorter intervals to get the same pace.

https://race-planner.com/run-walk-calculator
This is the calculator I use to play around with paces. Currently I’m using Galloway’s recommendation of 4:00/:30 for an average 8 min mile, and I run a little faster than Marc was running as I’m trying to get a few minutes under that 3:30

 

[FlyingDonut]

My first time doing run walk was at this year's DL Half. I'd trained running all the way through and had a goal for a sub 2 hour run. I met the pacers at the start line and decided to run walk with them for miles through the parks and leave if run walk didn't feel good.

A confounding variable is that my fitness probably was a bit better than 2 hours, but I felt great the whole race. I left them around mile 11 and ran all the way to the finish, setting a personal PR for a 2 mile distance. I finished in 1:56. It's impossible to know what I would have gotten running, but there's no way I would have been as comfortable at mile 10.

I wanted to test if run walk was good for me more directly, so I'm now finishing up a Galloway training plan for another half I hope to use as PoT for future races. Almost every workout has incorporated walk breaks at some point in time (I ran all the way through two 40 minute runs.) An additional challenge for this race is the pacers won't be run-walking, so I'll have to do that myself. I can share here how that goes in about a month.

Part of the Galloway method is using mile time trials he calls "magic miles." In the past few months my fastest time trials have been the ones that incorporated two 20 second walk breaks, and I'm now the fastest I've been since high school.

If there are other run-walkers on the boards I'd love to have a spot to talk about the strategy. Though I've heard of a lot of people doing it online, I haven't found a spot where they all congregate.


I think you could run-walk for your first time at a race, but if you were running for a serious PR I'd train that way at least a little. You could also be like me and run walk just the first few miles and see how it feels. The worst case scenario is you'll end up on pace with less than a marathon to go.

 

[The Expert]

If there are other run-walkers on the boards I'd love to have a spot to talk about the strategy. Though I've heard of a lot of people doing it online, I haven't found a spot where they all congregate.

I think you've found us! I'd venture to guess at least half (maybe more) of this board does r/w/r.

 

[nancipants]

I think you've found us! I'd venture to guess at least half (maybe more) of this board does r/w/r.

So what I'm hearing is that you should make a run/walk/run thread.

 

[The Expert]

So what I'm hearing is that you should make a run/walk/run thread.

Okay, twist my arm...
https://www.disboards.com/threads/run-walk-run-discussion.3965064/

 

[Zutroy]

Good morning RunDisney friends,

I am seeking advice from all of you very smart RunDisney people regarding my racing strategy for marathon weekend 2026. I am signed up for the full and trying to determine my best approach if I decide to "race" or meet a goal time. I haven't decided yet if I want to stop for all the pictures, which is my typical approach at Disney or if I actually want to take advantage of the flat course and hopefully decent weather to run a stronger race. I will say that the castle pic is hard to resist!

I typically run straight through all of my training and races but wondering if using the galloway method would be beneficial at all during the full if I decide to run for time. I haven't used the run/walk method and would not train for the full in the fall using it. Is that a foolish mistake? In other words, do I need to train for the full using the galloway method to prepare me for the race using that same method? Maybe this is a question for @DopeyBadger --any suggestions? I was looking at the pacer charts from 2025 weekend and thought about joining the 4 hour finish pacing group (which is the 9:09 pace, 2 min run, 30 second walk). When I registered for the full, I submitted a PoT from a half in November of 1:47:43. Ideally, I would love to run the full as close to 4 hours as possible (and anything under 4 would be a dream come true).

I keep hearing that using the run/walk method doesn't just help with recovery -- that it allows you to run faster overall, especially in the longer distances but I would love to hear from those of you who have tried both.

Any thoughts or advice would be welcome and greatly appreciated.

My advice is to practice now whatever you plan on doing during the marathon. I don’t run/walk, and I run a 3:20 marathon. But I usually see the 3:30 pace group during the race, and there’s a huge difference between the number of people who start in that group and who finish. A 3:30 marathon is an 8 min/mile pace, but to do run/walk, the pace group runs at 7:30. To be able to finish in time, the faster pace groups have longer run portions, and this seems to thin the herd as people can’t hang for long at that speed. I personally find running continuously at 8:00 min/mile much easier than running at 7:30 for four minutes and then walking for 30 seconds.

If your goal is to run for time, your focus should be on training. No matter how you run your marathon, it’s the work you put in the months before that will matter. I would run the marathon like how you trained. And while run/walk is great for new runners to be able to finish races, I think its benefits decrease as speed increases. Also, it’s a product being sold with overblown promises like “no one ever gets injured and you’re actually faster!”

 

[FlyingDonut]

I personally find running continuously at 8:00 min/mile much easier than running at 7:30 for four minutes and then walking for 30 seconds.

Zutroy runs faster (and finishes quicker) than me, but even at my slower pace I think feeling comfortable at a pace was important to my positive experience. I tend to run faster than I should and get tired. I think I was lucky that the pacers I first run / walked with basically ran at the pace I wanted to run at. Then the forced walk breaks prevented me from getting tired.

If the run pace had felt fast I think it would've been a lot harder, even if walk breaks were longer to compensate.

 

[prncssjas]

I personally find running continuously at 8:00 min/mile much easier than running at 7:30 for four minutes and then walking for 30 seconds.

Also, it’s a product being sold with overblown promises like “no one ever gets injured and you’re actually faster!”

Thanks @Zutroy for this very honest response to my question. It's very helpful, as I love to think about all perspectives. Because I am not a run/walk/run person right now, that's what I am trying to determine--if running at a faster pace with walk breaks will feel more difficult than simply running through it at a slightly slower pace--I don't have the answer yet. Have you tried it yourself and found it to be an overblown promise? I see so many praising it and I find myself cynical (like could this truly help me?). . This is not about my ego--I have no issues with walk breaks--this is all about how to maximize my performance. And you are 100% spot on, regardless of running straight through or not, I need to train for the time goal I want.

I did love and appreciate the podcast that @sandam1 shared from Chris Twiggs and listened to the entire thing, especially liked the moment at 51:19--I have nothing to lose by just trying it. Thank you for that recommendation and link.

Perhaps I try this method in a few training runs and a local 10k or half this summer and see how it feels and decide. I really appreciate all your very thoughtful responses. This board is the best.

 

[prncssjas]

If the run pace had felt fast I think it would've been a lot harder, even if walk breaks were longer to compensate.

This is an excellent point, btw. I agree!

 

[Dopey 2020]

@prncssjas I will add to the discussion a bit more, as you can see for everyone who loves RWR there are those who don’t, so that’s where the idea of what have you got to lose comes in to play. That being said it looks as though you are more like me in that you want to try RWR to get faster times rather than just to finish a distance. If that is the case I would recommend at least a HM. A 10K really doesn’t see the advantage that the breaks give over such a short distance. From what I’ve seen is the farther I run, the more my pace will start to drop off. Using intervals from the start means I can go much further at the same pace. For example if I go out continuously running at 8:00 for a HM I’m at 8:30 or slower by mile 10, yet when I ran wine and dine I actually changed it up to race Marc and the 1:45 pacers and went with 3:30/:30 to their 4:00/:30 and was in the 7:15 range when running the whole race beating them with a 1:42. It’s being able to run the second half of any race at the same split that really shaves the minutes off your PR. A 10K really doesn’t ever see you dropping off pace over 6 miles so it may not get you the best comparison between running and intervals.
Best of luck and have fun with it.

 

[GollyGadget]

@prncssjas I will add to the discussion a bit more, as you can see for everyone who loves RWR there are those who don’t, so that’s where the idea of what have you got to lose comes in to play. That being said it looks as though you are more like me in that you want to try RWR to get faster times rather than just to finish a distance. If that is the case I would recommend at least a HM. A 10K really doesn’t see the advantage that the breaks give over such a short distance. From what I’ve seen is the farther I run, the more my pace will start to drop off. Using intervals from the start means I can go much further at the same pace. For example if I go out continuously running at 8:00 for a HM I’m at 8:30 or slower by mile 10, yet when I ran wine and dine I actually changed it up to race Marc and the 1:45 pacers and went with 3:30/:30 to their 4:00/:30 and was in the 7:15 range when running the whole race beating them with a 1:42. It’s being able to run the second half of any race at the same split that really shaves the minutes off your PR. A 10K really doesn’t ever see you dropping off pace over 6 miles so it may not get you the best comparison between running and intervals.
Best of luck and have fun with it.

This is a very interesting discussion. I'm rwr curious but most of the testimonials are from athletes who are slower than me. I don't see much about sub 1:45 HM and rwr.

However, I'm much more likely to positive split in a 5 or 10K than I am in a half or full. A lot of that is racing strategy and a willingness to risk the pace at the shorter distances.

All that is to say, I'm still curious but not enough to devote an entire training cycle to it.

 

[RuntheMouse]

Because I am not a run/walk/run person right now, that's what I am trying to determine--if running at a faster pace with walk breaks will feel more difficult than simply running through it at a slightly slower pace--I don't have the answer yet. Have you tried it yourself and found it to be an overblown promise? I see so many praising it and I find myself cynical (like could this truly help me?). . This is not about my ego--I have no issues with walk breaks--this is all about how to maximize my performance. And you are 100% spot on, regardless of running straight through or not, I need to train for the time goal I want.

I might be able to give some insight here. I started running using R/W/R. I still do it loosely, I walk when my heart rate gets wonky. DH is coming back from an injury and is using R/W/R to assist. We ran together this past week for the first time in a looooooonnnnggggg time. One day I took the lead and the next he did. Our overall pace was within a couple of seconds but I was feeling it after the R/W/R day. It jokingly told him he was trying to kill me! So as much as it helped me get started, following a formal plan with it doesn’t work for me anymore.