Spring Surprise (March 31-April 3rd 2022)

[iheartglaciers]

W&D has been the only race weekend with a party for as long as I’ve been doing the races (since 2016).

I did the last Expedition Everest 5k and there was a really fun after party where we stayed in a part of AK til 2am! I think it was included in the registration price too!

 

[matt and beth]

Darn it! Got TOT and Everest right. Was hoping for Guardians of the Galaxy at Epcot and not the rat! Agreed with all that a party should be included in the late runs.

 

[1lilspark]

I’d say maybe instead of a party a voucher for complementary Lightning Lane access any time during the weekend to ride Ev—er oh wait it’s still down for maintenance till mid month

 

[klmcleod]

Interested in the 10k, and my only rundisney event has been at DL. Wondering about best hotel to stay at for 10k or info on transportation to the race. I think this is speculation at this point, but would the 10k probably based around epcot? Would an epcot resort be better to stay at, or does it really matter? How's wdw transportation to the race been in the past? Reliable? My DL race was a dream since everything was so close, but a wdw race is all new to me.

 

[AgentMama]

Guess I'll be going in for the challenge. Wasn't sure if I would participate in this weekend or not...

 

[jmasgat]

Interested in the 10k, and my only rundisney event has been at DL. Wondering about best hotel to stay at for 10k or info on transportation to the race. I think this is speculation at this point, but would the 10k probably based around epcot? Would an epcot resort be better to stay at, or does it really matter? How's wdw transportation to the race been in the past? Reliable? My DL race was a dream since everything was so close, but a wdw race is all new to me.

I don't think it matters anymore which hotel you stay at---unlike the old days, all Disney hotels have race/expo transportation. Also, even if the race starts at Epcot, you can't walk from an Epcot resort through the park to get to race start.Transportation is overall reliable, but there will always be some outside drivers brought in to drive on race day who can't get from point A to point B without issues. There's no way to predict.

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

Excited I might finally get to do the 10 miler, but bummed it is a morning race and there is no party. My husband is considering doing the Everest run.

 

[Dopey 2020]

Springtime Surprise!! You need to change your flights! And maybe add a day?

Not sure I like the runDisney sense of humor but ok I'll do it

 

[GreatLakes]

The gap day surprises me and I'm not all that excited about the race weekend so not sorry I have another race.

If you do the 3-way or 4-way challenge at Flying Pig you run the 10k Saturday morning, wait an hour or so, run the 5k, then Sunday morning run the half or full. A short turn around shouldn't be a problem over night.

 

[DopeyBadger]

A short turn around shouldn't be a problem over night.

I wasn't approaching it from a physiological standpoint, but rather a logistical one. If the 5k starts at 10pm, then corral release is 10-11pm. That makes the balloon lady finish at midnight. Buses would run till 1am. The buses start running again for the 10k hours later at 2:30am for a 5am start. So I was just looking at it from a logistical standpoint of the workers and putting the races on at potentially two different locations. It's certainly possible, but it seems like a lot of potential extra issues than a standard race weekend.

ETA - clarified the timing of bus beginning the "next morning" which is hours after the 5k would finish in a theoretical back to back day event.

 

[smctopia]

When this was first announced I was excited there was a virtual option because i enjoyed the virtual Star Wars halves in the spring. I am considering the 10K. Why in the world would anyone do the 5K virtually since you’ll miss out on the scavenger hunt? I feel the virtual should’ve had its own “surprise“ element.

 

[Popo]

I do not see back to back races as a good idea. There are too many issues to overcome. Some are simply logistical, i.e. taking down and moving the starting and finishing areas. Then there are issues that affect safety. Do. you really want the busses ferrying runners to and from one race and then a few hours later doing it again? You also need to consider road closures. Taking down the cones and opening one set of roads and closing another. Not to mention the law enforcement officers on the course keeping us safe. The clincher for me are the setting up of the water and medical stations. Considering the warm weather that we will likely see, these two issues alone militate against back to back races. All Disney runners also recognize that theses races are not possible without the volunteers. Not sure we could get the volunteers necessary for back to back races. I would rather RunDisney take the time and get it as close to right as possible.

 

[Onceuponamarathon]

I wasn't approaching it from a physiological standpoint, but rather a logistical one. If the 5k starts at 10pm, then corral release is 10-11pm. That makes the balloon lady finish at midnight. Buses would run till 1am. The buses start running again for the 10k hours later at 2:30am for a 5am start. So I was just looking at it from a logistical standpoint of the workers and putting the races on at potentially two different locations. It's certainly possible, but it seems like a lot of potential extra issues than a standard race weekend.

ETA - clarified the timing of bus beginning the "next morning" which is hours after the 5k would finish in a theoretical back to back day event.

Agree, it's not so much that a person can't do it physiologically. It's the logistics involved at a race this size.

 

[bumbershoot]

Would an epcot resort be better to stay at, or does it really matter?

Doesn't matter. Be on one of the first buses, get to the starting area, hang out until it's go-time.

 

[matt and beth]

Doesn't matter. Be on one of the first buses, get to the starting area, hang out until it's go-time.

I was hoping to be on the last bus. Lol. More sleep, warmer in my bed, less time on my feet… let the worried crowd pack the first buses… can you convince me way we should be the early bird?

 

[camaker]

I was hoping to be on the last bus. Lol. More sleep, warmer in my bed, less time on my feet… let the worried crowd pack the first buses… can you convince me way we should be the early bird?

Buses can and have gotten lost on the way to the races. When they first start running there are usually multiple buses queued up to board, but later on you’re at the mercy of the “bus cycle“ as to when the next one arrives. Once you get to the starting area, there’s still security to navigate and usually a pretty significant walk to the staging area and then corrals that takes more time.

It comes down to how much extra stress you’re willing to take on for that extra sleep. Do you really want to start your race day with “when is that bus getting here, I’m close on time” or “omg, where is this driver taking us” for a very expensive race weekend? It’s all a personal preference, but I’d rather be there early and relaxed waiting for the race to start than be a ball of stress wondering if I was going to miss my corral or the start of the race entirely because I went for a few extra minutes of sleep.

 

[bumbershoot]

I was hoping to be on the last bus. Lol. More sleep, warmer in my bed, less time on my feet… let the worried crowd pack the first buses… can you convince me way we should be the early bird?

The person I was responding to is doing her first WDW event. For people in that situation I especially encourage them to be on the first bus because they have no idea what the corral situation is like. Or, more importantly, the pre-corral situation.

But even as someone who has been doing WDW (and some DL) rundisney events since 2013, I try to be on the first few buses.

I overslept once and the panic of being on a later bus is not fun.

2014 nighttime wine and dine (the rained-the-whole-way so-called "splash and dash") as we sat in our corrals at wwos we watched a huge line of buses unable to offload passengers because of their protocol of where they could unload. I was in a later corral and we were walking to our start and those buses were still there.

Twice I have been in corrals when word went through the crowd that there were accidents on the roads. One time it stopped up a bunch of cars. Another time it stopped a bunch of buses.

Junk happens, and I'd rather be bored and cold in the corral area with thousands of brand new buddies than stuck on a bus.

 

[matt and beth]

The person I was responding to is doing her first WDW event. For people in that situation I especially encourage them to be on the first bus because they have no idea what the corral situation is like. Or, more importantly, the pre-corral situation.

But even as someone who has been doing WDW (and some DL) rundisney events since 2013, I try to be on the first few buses.

I overslept once and the panic of being on a later bus is not fun.

2014 nighttime wine and dine (the rained-the-whole-way so-called "splash and dash") as we sat in our corrals at wwos we watched a huge line of buses unable to offload passengers because of their protocol of where they could unload. I was in a later corral and we were walking to our start and those buses were still there.

Twice I have been in corrals when word went through the crowd that there were accidents on the roads. One time it stopped up a bunch of cars. Another time it stopped a bunch of buses.

Junk happens, and I'd rather be bored and cold in the corral area with thousands of brand new buddies than stuck on a bus.

And just like that you convinced me to grab an earlier bus

 

[Baloo in MI]

In 2020 at MW, I hit the snooze button a few too many times and ended up getting out the door about an hour later than initially planned for the Half. I ended up waiting for the bus, then waiting on the bus for more runners to arrive / super stressed the whole time. The bus ride went pretty smooth and I was starting to relax as we pulled into Epcot. Until I saw the line to get through security, it was so long and unfortunately really slow.

in the end I had to run from security to bag drop off and then all the way to the corrals. I was in the C corral. A, B and most of C has already gone. I slid into the back of the corral and just kept going. Not the warm up I wanted, that is for sure! At the Marathon the next day no snooze button, out the door early and it was complete smooth sailing.

 

[bumbershoot]

In 2020 at MW, I hit the snooze button a few too many times and ended up getting out the door about an hour later than initially planned for the Half.

I can FEEL the remembered stress as I read your post.

The overslept part of my post above was the day that my already-old iphone decided it didn't have an external alarm sound anymore. Thankfully it still vibrated and I had my ring tones and alarms set with vibration, and luckily it was right next to my head so I eventually heard the sound of it buzzing. I was also glad that I always lay out my clothes and put my running belt stuff together the night before. I was putting bodyglide on my feet sitting on the ground waiting for the bus, trying to not hyperventilate.

I tried hard to focus on the people around me who had planned to go that late, and that helped calm me down, but oof it wasn't fun.