The Official 2013 Wine and Dine Half Marathon Thread

[capeseal]

First Half Marathon here too! I watched DH run the WDW Half in 2010 and it didn't even remotely cross my mind that I would EVER be able to do the same. Here I am 3 years later. And I'm even on track to beat his time!

I'm going to be a Debbie Downer here and say that I don't stop for characters. I've run two races: the WDW 5K in 2013 and the DLR 10K two weeks ago and the lines for characters in both races were wicked long. I'm not going to break my momentum for a character pic. Now I did for a pic of myself in front of the Castle but that's different.....I didn't have to wait in line for that one.

Think about your pace and whether or not you can afford to stop for photo-ops. There ARE stories out there about people getting swept while waiting for a character.

I don't think it makes you Debbie Downer that you don't stop for characters. I don't think I'll stop and I didn't during ToT. I'll lose too much momentum waiting in lines and (is it safe to say this here?) I'm not a big character person . My goal is to just keep running until the end and then enjoy some rides and a little food. I have found that if I stop running with my current ankle issues, it hurts too much to start again, whereas the pain is totally manageable if I keep jogging. I don't know if that makes any sense to our injury experts.

Happy training this week to everyone!

 

[Ariel484]

This will be my first half marathon EVER and I am SO happy to say it will be in Disney at the Wine and Dine! I remember seeing the marathon at Disney a few years ago and thinking WOW..I'd love to do a race in Disney...and now here I am!

Any tips on the Disney halfs? How much time is taken off do you think for some character photo stops? I definitely plan on doing a few character photo-ops Cant wait! Counting down the days until race day!

Erica

I haven't done a night race at Disney yet, but in my experience the lines for the character stops move pretty quickly. In the races I've done, there have been 2 CMs at each character to handle cameras and there are NO autograph books. I think the longest lines I've waited in were 7-8 minutes, definitely no more than 10. It could be totally different for this race though - there may not be as many CMs at the characters, for example. I've heard that there are not as many characters on the night courses, so that'll factor in too.

Personally, I don't think there's a right or wrong way to run these things. If you don't want to stop for characters, that's okay. If you want to stop at every character, that's okay too - along with everyone else in between. Finishing happy, healthy, and in front of the sweepers is the main goal.

If you do plan on getting pictures, I highly suggest bringing your own camera and not relying on the race photography. They may not get every shot and may not be set up at every character...and their photos are EXPENSIVE!

 

[cewait]

I can count on one hand the stops I have made for a character photo, but then I also started running this before the small, water resistant digital camera came around. I the early days, it was a disposal camera that would disintegrate if it got too wet. As a result, it is just not that important to me to stop for the photo ops. I just zone out or engage a fellow runner and have a fun time.

This reminds me of a fun day I had playing tag with a guy who was shooting mile markers. It may have been the 2007 or 9 full marathon where I was running to the mile marks and walking a few seconds when I happened on a Japanese runner patiently trying to flag a runner to stop to take his photo in front of the mile marker. I saw him at mile 4 as we hit the wide road coming out of Epcot. The guy was just a little faster than I so he would pack away his camera, pass me and just get the camera back out in time for my arrival. This started around mile 4, then mile 5, 6, 7… I think we missed one another around mile 10 and I never saw him again.

 

[PlutoBaby]

I haven't done a night race at Disney yet, but in my experience the lines for the character stops move pretty quickly. In the races I've done, there have been 2 CMs at each character to handle cameras and there are NO autograph books. I think the longest lines I've waited in were 7-8 minutes, definitely no more than 10. It could be totally different for this race though - there may not be as many CMs at the characters, for example. I've heard that there are not as many characters on the night courses, so that'll factor in too.

Personally, I don't think there's a right or wrong way to run these things. If you don't want to stop for characters, that's okay. If you want to stop at every character, that's okay too - along with everyone else in between. Finishing happy, healthy, and in front of the sweepers is the main goal.

If you do plan on getting pictures, I highly suggest bringing your own camera and not relying on the race photography. They may not get every shot and may not be set up at every character...and their photos are EXPENSIVE!

I stopped for two photo ops last year with the Chipmunks and my obligatory photo with Pluto in AK and I don't think I waited more than few minutes each time. The lines seemed to move pretty quickly as everybody wanted to keep things moving along. THE CM's are great about taking pics for you with your camera and making sure no one person is taking up too much time. Of course, the more popular the character, the longer the wait is, but I don't recall ever seeing more than maybe 6-8 people waiting at a time.

 

[Kat73]

Ok, now I'm curious. For those who've done the Wine&Dine before, or another Disney race. What are some of the characters you've seen? And, of course we would all love to see your pictures!

**can't wait for the race!**

Personally the idea of having my picture taken while I've been running sounds like a rather scary idea But if I happened to spy Chip and Dale and there was a short line, I might be tempted to stop


Hugs to all in/ with family in DC today!!

 

[PlutoBaby]

Ok, now I'm curious. For those who've done the Wine&Dine before, or another Disney race. What are some of the characters you've seen? And, of course we would all love to see your pictures!

**can't wait for the race!**

Personally the idea of having my picture taken while I've been running sounds like a rather scary idea But if I happened to spy Chip and Dale and there was a short line, I might be tempted to stop


Hugs to all in/ with family in DC today!!

Let's see...besides the aforementioned critters, there's a bunch of bugs from the Electric Parade outside AK, Green Army Men, Darth Vader, Woody, dancing ostriches, and I think some Storm Troopers. I don't remember them all. And if I could figure out how to post some darn pics for you I would. I just can't seem to make it work!

 

[Strawberry's mom&dad]

Not a character I know, but the only pic I had taken during the Disneyland 10k


I am not sure I will carry my camera during the wine and dine. My camera does not take the best pictures in the dark.

 

[StarGirl11]

Well this will take a few posts. But here are the various photos I've accumulated over the races before my weight got the better of me (and yeah I checked my old race results I used to be a lot faster before my weight went up again, so hopefully after the bariatric surgery I will start to see a time improvement again). Anyways photos:

Really glad I got the next two when I did. The line for them was really long this year:

Fun fact most people weren't posing when they stopped for a photo with him. But I realized that he kind of wanted people to pose with him thus my stance and expression here:

It's a bit sad to look back because this was before my weight issues swung back in full force. I actually had the time to stop for all the characters along the course. I don't know if this was just how quick the lines were moving or how fast I was moving. But I do miss stopping for photo.

 

[Strawberry's mom&dad]

Nice pics.
I noticed your hydration belt. I have been looking for one that can hold 2 bottles like yours. Do you know who made your belt?

 

[StarGirl11]

Nice pics.
I noticed your hydration belt. I have been looking for one that can hold 2 bottles like yours. Do you know who made your belt?

Hold on I'll have to check I bought that belt a couple of years back.

Now those were from Disneyland 2011. And were taken with my own photo. The next set our from Run Disney 2012. And when Disney decided to ask Brightroom to actually take photos of the runners with the characters at the several of the stops. Not all of them mind you. But a lot of them. Results, much better photos:

This one's actually my avatar. And is a personal favorite of mine. Because here I am hot and sweaty and I am just having been sick for the last three weeks from a sinus infect finally feeling better (that illness was the reason I didn't finish the race, missed training). And the cast member still lets me put my arm right there. Made my morning:

Fun fact. This was my first time seeing Duffy. I had no clue who he was. But I figured if he was out on the course he must be somewhat important:

And this is part of the reason why I miss doing character stops along the course. For the Disney races they like to bring characters out that you don't normally get to see outside of the parties, like Flynn:

Another personal favorite. Naveen was asking me for pixie dust since I was wearing Tinkerbell wings. I wasn't really processing things well enough to respond properly but I was processing enough to get a good laugh out of it!

Okay for anyone wondering what's going on here. Well this was right where I hopped on the swag bus between 15 and 16. There was this really nice lady on one of the bikes who volunteered to take my photo so me and Captain Jack Sparrow are looking off towards my phone. And Barbosa is looking off towards the the photographer. Whoops!

Fun fact I can generally how long a line is going to take based on it's length. Generally being the key word here. Sometimes for whatever reason shorter lines take longer than they should and longer lines move faster than they look. But most of the time I'm on time with targeting.

 

[StarGirl11]

Okay to the person asking about the Hydration Belt their name is Ultimate Direction. And their website can be found here: http://www.ultimatedirection.com/

It's a fantastic belt. I can fit my keys, my phone, my GU, pretty much anything I want into that thing easily. It's part of the reason even though I've been told I should downsize I have yet to find anything that makes me as happy as it.

You can tell this was Tinkerbell's first year. Because well I was at both WDW and Tinkerbell and didn't bat an eye. The moving of Tinkerbell to the adjacent weekend of the WDW Marathon remains a sore point to me. Because I really, really want to try the WDW Marathon again. But I also love the fact I have yet to miss a single Tinkerbell. And I can't do a Marathon and a 1/2 back to back. I tried to do a 1/2 and a 1/2 back to back. I succeeded, barely.

Both Tinkerbells I have spent time playing 'Hide and Go seek with the pace balloons'. The first time was because I spent too much time in the character lines. And thus why I am looking away from the camera in this photo. I am looking for the pacers. The second time was health related. Hopefully next year I won't have to play this game, it's getting rather tiring:

This was towards the end of the race and well within the safety zone. Thus the reason why I wasn't as distracted.

Huh I forgot we ran through the castle in Fantasyland that year for some reason:

Okay so remember how I mentioned I nearly got swept for spending nearly 40 minutes in line for a photo? Yeah this is that photo. It's been over a year and a half and I still don't regret it. It's literally one of my best race photos I've ever had taken.

I have some more photos from Princess and Tink but I am trying to locate them before I post them. I might post them tomorrow.

 

[sully&mike]

I would LOVE to stop for a character pic.
BUT, I cannot FATHOM myself stopping for 6-8 minutes.
I get antsy at a traffic light in training.

I have a HUGE goal in my mind for finishing this race under a certain time. My training makes that goal seem attainable, but several people in my running world have told me that "you can't do that time on your first 1/2". I hope to prove them wrong. Soooo, anyway....I'm not stopping. I find that I have a tough time anytime that I stop/walk/break/etc. I lose my momentum. I think that I would be mad at myself for stopping to see characters.

But I totally want to.

 

[capeseal]

I would LOVE to stop for a character pic.
BUT, I cannot FATHOM myself stopping for 6-8 minutes.
I get antsy at a traffic light in training.

I have a HUGE goal in my mind for finishing this race under a certain time. My training makes that goal seem attainable, but several people in my running world have told me that "you can't do that time on your first 1/2". I hope to prove them wrong. Soooo, anyway....I'm not stopping. I find that I have a tough time anytime that I stop/walk/break/etc. I lose my momentum. I think that I would be mad at myself for stopping to see characters.

But I totally want to.

Please share your goal! Are you going for something sub-1:45? Even more ambitious? I'm sure that, starting in corral A or B, an awesome time is totally attainable.

I just want to go sub-2:30 right now because I know that is almost a given with my training at a 10-10:45 pace up to 10 miles.

 

[CamColt]

I am surprised at how many runners get pictures taken and actually wait for them. I wouldn't have expected stops to be so popular.

While I do like to do a little walking mixed in with my run (I usually do 1/2 mile around 7.5 and again around 10), I don't think I would be able to totally stop and stand around. Mentally too that would kill me. And I know DH wont. He doesn't even want to walk with me so we are already debating about running together or not.

 

[CamColt]

And BTW, does anyone else feel like the weeks are flying now? I swear I was just saying 11 weeks and now in 2 days I can say 7 weeks (until we leave). I think I must be losing days somewhere.

 

[Figment1990]

Personally the idea of having my picture taken while I've been running sounds like a rather scary idea

Ditto!!! Although I was pleasantly surprised enough with the one and only character stop I made during my W&D last year so I ended up buying it and even though I'm a sweaty mess, it's hanging on my fridge. It was an emotional moment for me. I think I've mentioned it on the boards before but I had a goal time in mind for the race but since it was my first half it was just a guess. I was actually on track to make it and probably would have had I not stopped for the pic. However, my son was really into wreck-it Ralph at the time so at 10 miles into my first half, I stopped (for about 3-4 min) and waited in a very short line for it. When I decided to stop I realized that not only was I accomplishing this huge physical accomplishment of completing an endurance event that no one who knows me would have ever though I'd do, but I gave up on my goal time in favor of making my 4year old smile. And that was something that carried me through the next 3 miles.

Of course, this year he wants me to stop for Darth Vader and since when I passed him the line was a good 20 people deep, I'm not sure I can accomplish that goal. I don't know if I have that much buffer time or if my muscles will revolt on me for stopping that long. He was in the star tours area, so that's at about mile 10.5 for those who are interested in planning character pics.

I do not remember any other characters along the way, sorry I'm not being helpful! I just wanted to make it to the finish and the after party and my waiting DH!

All that said, by the time the princess weekend or tinkerbell half rolls around, I may change my tune on stopping for characters. Probably by princess ill be in crawling mode anyway, so it won't much matter! Heehee!

 

[bigtony777]

I would LOVE to stop for a character pic.
BUT, I cannot FATHOM myself stopping for 6-8 minutes.
I get antsy at a traffic light in training.

I have a HUGE goal in my mind for finishing this race under a certain time. My training makes that goal seem attainable, but several people in my running world have told me that "you can't do that time on your first 1/2". I hope to prove them wrong. Soooo, anyway....I'm not stopping. I find that I have a tough time anytime that I stop/walk/break/etc. I lose my momentum. I think that I would be mad at myself for stopping to see characters.

But I totally want to.

If you feel you can attain your goal, then don't let others tell you that you can't. My first half, 10 years ago, is still my fastest to date at 1:40. I am really trying to get break that this coming spring. No matter what coral you are in, try to get in early and towards the front if time is really important to you. I will say that being up to the front of A makes a world of difference in a race with possible bottle necking issues like a Disney race.

If you are not looking to make your goal, you can always get several pictures towards the end in Hollywood Studios. They will usually have Woody/Buzz, a current movie character so maybe Monsters Inc this year, and darth vader.

Either way, have fun and enjoy the night!

 

[PlutoBaby]

I just want to go sub-2:30 right now because I know that is almost a given with my training at a 10-10:45 pace up to 10 miles.

Right there with ya!

And BTW, does anyone else feel like the weeks are flying now? I swear I was just saying 11 weeks and now in 2 days I can say 7 weeks (until we leave). I think I must be losing days somewhere.

Right?!? Can you believe we're at 53 days and counting??? AAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

 

[longhorns2]

I stop for pictures- it's why I run Disney and not other races! Lol. I am disappointed when I go to races without picture worthy stuff!

But I'm in it for fun with friends not for time so that's the big difference. Stopping provides a little rest buffer for me physically and mentally. Just running 13.1 miles straight sucks to me but if I run 2 miles, see some pirates, run another, see dearth vader, it flies by even though I spend twice the time on the course.

Head games.

 

[DoctorK]

The whole reason I'm running runDisney races is for the character interaction and entertainment on the course. I can run half marathons and marathons for 1/3 the cost elsewhere... with better amenities/swag bags!