Tink 10k runners... what happened this morning?

[Belle Ella]

All the reports I am seeing are people saying that were just barely below pace (15:50 or so), which since between each mile marker you are actually running more than a mile since you can't get perfectly straight lines, would actually put them below pace. According to the 5k splits for every person I have seen complaining, they were off pace. Some had 5k splits as much as over an hour and were still saying they were under pace, but also said they stopped for pictures. This makes me wonder if they had GPSes that pause when stopped and were unaware of it.

But, there seems to be an easily solution to all of this. Disneyland needs to adopt the very visible "balloon ladies" like Disney World has. How hard would it be to simply have their pacers carry easy to spot balloons?

I don't know what the pacers carry for the 10K, but for the half they do carry balloons. I'm thinking that next year they will either switch the course a bit and/or start a little earlier. Only time will tell, I suppose.

 

[Castle2Castle]

This makes me wonder if they had GPSes that pause when stopped and were unaware of it.

I'm only just hearing about the 10k issues, but that and people possibly pausing their own watches could provide some explanation. Speaking from my own experiences running at Disney in 2013, I was shocked each time at the number of people we encountered who had no idea that there was a pacing requirement. Both days of the Goofy Challenge ('13) my fiancee stopped at the TTC to use the restroom, and on both days most of the women in the bathroom with her were totally confused by the bikers yelling out the time until they were behind pace.

Knowing that there are those people who go in blind to the pacing requirements, it's not hard for me to imagine that a number of other people could improperly calculate their pacing by discounting their time stopped - as some people apparently do with training runs - or having hardware that automatically pauses when stopped, or who simply failed to take notice of how long they were spending in lines for pictures.

I do hope that the issue was with the runners rather than runDisney, so that those runners who couldn't finish were stopped appropriately within the policies as laid out by runDisney before the run.

 

[ludari]

I noticed this unfold while doing the race with my friend who mostly walks because of an injury. Anyway, we where turning left on Harbor heading towards mile six when I noticed the wagons picking up people just before you exit DCA at the start of mile 4. We watched the last person allowed to leave DCA. I didn't hear any chanting but if there was it was understanable. I've heard that the City of Anaheim is very strick about race times and getting their streets back.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I don't know what the pacers carry for the 10K, but for the half they do carry balloons. I'm thinking that next year they will either switch the course a bit and/or start a little earlier. Only time will tell, I suppose.

With the next Tink 10K in May (2015), I believe I read it will start at 5:30.

As noted, many runners finished with times in excess of the minimum pace time, but most of them didn't start at the back of Corral D. In the future, slower runners and walkers may be -- how can I say this -- overly optomistic about their expected finish time for the 10K to get a better corral placement.

I understand from reading this borad that this used to be common for the Half and Full as well, until RD began requiring participants to submit verified times from prior races. It would not surprise me to see this required for the 10Ks in the future as well. -- Suzanne

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Glancing though the results list it seems that most that didnt finish had 5K times at the 55-1 hour mark- so yeah no surprise there...

-em

 

[suzy021372]

Just an FYI-

The balloon lady caught me at about 4.5 miles. I stayed with her for the rest of the race. It was frustrating when she cut a corner and went up on the sidewalk...however...she did stop at each mile marker and wait for the pace to be correct.

I think it surprised newbies like myself, how much the crowd factor impacts your pace. I was over a minute per mile slower than my training pace.


Balloons would be better (more visible) than the flag.

Happy to have finished and not been swept!!!

 

[pigletliz]

With the next Tink 10K in May (2015), I believe I read it will start at 5:30.

As noted, many runners finished with times in excess of the minimum pace time, but most of them didn't start at the back of Corral D. In the future, slower runners and walkers may be -- how can I say this -- overly optomistic about their expected finish time for the 10K to get a better corral placement.

I understand from reading this borad that this used to be common for the Half and Full as well, until RD began requiring participants to submit verified times from prior races. It would not surprise me to see this required for the 10Ks in the future as well. -- Suzanne

Requiring a verified time for a race this large would be hugely beneficial for everyone. (Along with reducing the number of participants!) I think a number of people thought they wouldn't get swept because it is Disney and treated it like the 5k fun run, rather than a race with a hard time limit. My friends and I were extremely vigilant about checking our pace before considering any photo ops. There were tons of people behind us on long lines for pictures. No way those people were on pace.

It also sounds like RunDisney completely underestimated the impact that additional/first time/injured/under trained runners would have on the event. Just a really unfortunate experience for a lot of people. Hopefully for they will make some serious adjustments for the next Tink 10K.

 

[kirstie101]

With the next Tink 10K in May (2015), I believe I read it will start at 5:30.

As noted, many runners finished with times in excess of the minimum pace time, but most of them didn't start at the back of Corral D. In the future, slower runners and walkers may be -- how can I say this -- overly optomistic about their expected finish time for the 10K to get a better corral placement.

I understand from reading this borad that this used to be common for the Half and Full as well, until RD began requiring participants to submit verified times from prior races. It would not surprise me to see this required for the 10Ks in the future as well. -- Suzanne

Just adding my experience to the thread. I started in the middle of Corral D. We were taking the 10K easy and havign fun taking pictures. We fell behind the flag lady/pacer in DCA while we were waiting in line for a picture with Mater and McQueen. The people on bikes were not far behind her and they told us we needed to get in front of her right away or we would be swept! We then sprinted to pass her but couldn't cause there were lots of people trying to do the same thing. We managed to pass her not long after exiting DCA and getting out on Harbor. We finished the race without getting swept. I dont remember what my exact time was but I know my garmin said my average pace was over 16:00. Something like 16:20 or so. Obviously we were pretty close to the cut off.