Tips for first timers marathon weekend?

[Simba's Mom]

Our first year of Dopey we originally planned on flying in wednesday morning, that was the year of all the bad storms in the midwest that delayed a bunch of first year Dopeys. We changed about a month or two out to flying in tuesday evening, which I am glad we did. You get in, get a good nights sleep, (very important because the next four nights its not going to happen!), Wednesday you can take the expo nice and leisurely, and then leisurely get ready for the beginning of four days of ... well you probably can figure that part out.

I would NOT recommend flying back Monday, if you can I would recommend staying around until Wednesday, enjoy the super runner's high that comes with Dopey, wear the bling, take pics with the characters, etc.(we have had an ADR at Chef Mickey's the last two years, great idea to get pics with all the characters!). Right now we are planning on staying at WDW until Thursday and then flying out to California for the Rebel Challenge. Why? because I like to torture myself. Seriously though this last January we stayed around for the whole next week, WAY to long, and so depressing hearing about all the runners in California.

Jennifer

I really appreciate your recommendations. Unfortunately DH wants to stay at either OKW or BCV, none of the monorail resorts appeal to him. So far our reservations are Tuesday to Tuesday at OKW (one of our home resorts). I have a feeling it will come down to staying until Wednesday at OKW, or leaving Tuesday from BCV, since # of points are an issue.

 

[Ariel484]

I really appreciate your recommendations. Unfortunately DH wants to stay at either OKW or BCV, none of the monorail resorts appeal to him. So far our reservations are Tuesday to Tuesday at OKW (one of our home resorts). I have a feeling it will come down to staying until Wednesday at OKW, or leaving Tuesday from BCV, since # of points are an issue.

I've stayed at BCV and BWV for marathon weekend. Great for spectating the marathon (and 10K if you wake up for it) and the bus ride to/from the start is really quick.

 

[jlovesee]

That's a tough one, I would probably say go for length, and stay at OKW. The nice thing there is that there are so many separate village hot tubs (your friend trust me). We stayed on Peninsular Rd, building 27 I think, it was nice because we could walk to the Hospitality House. We found out that the internal bus does run during the early morning race pick ups, but its easier if you can just walk to the HH and pick up the main bus there. If you can get HH category by all means do that. Just make sure you allow for a little extra time for traffic especially for the half and full there is more traffic for those two longer races. We took the boat to DD and ate at Wolfgang Puck's Express after the 1/2 marathon, which has a lot of options for carb loading and is pretty inexpensive. We also took advantage of Flipper's Pizza delivery a few times, they delivered right to the room door which was nice!

Jennifer

 

[Baloo in MI]

Thanks-yes I've already gotten my "orders" about making reservations. DH wants to return on Tuesday rather than Monday now for exactly that reason-he plans to walk around the parks Monday wearing his "bling". I'm so glad to know that he won't be alone in doing that!

That is one of the most fun parts of the runDisney Experience, at least for me. Ran Goofy last year and on Monday after the races it was so fun to see all the runners wearing their medals; to congratualte thema nd ecieve congrats back. Felt like a big running family for the day. Our plans are similar to yours, we willstay until Tuesday so that we can walk the parks on Monday with Dopey medal on (hopefully). Have a great trip!

 

[dta87]

I really appreciate your recommendations. Unfortunately DH wants to stay at either OKW or BCV, none of the monorail resorts appeal to him. So far our reservations are Tuesday to Tuesday at OKW (one of our home resorts). I have a feeling it will come down to staying until Wednesday at OKW, or leaving Tuesday from BCV, since # of points are an issue.

We had a 2 bedroom villa at OKW next to the turtle pond bus stop, it was a great location and room! OKW is not one of our home resorts so we had to wait until the 7 month point and there were not any rooms available next to the hospitality house for our entire stay. After this stay I think I prefer being away from the hospitality house because it seems like the parking situation is less of a hassle away from that central complex.

 

[bumbershoot]

Not sure if it was already mentioned but they had a party at Downtown Disney on Sunday this year and it was the place to show off your medals!!

FWIW, they might call it a party, but that doesn't make it one. We went, all psyched for something, and it was nothing. Wear your medal and get a string bag from the running store (and have to beg for one for the 5K runners in the group), and realize that our DVC discount on Raglan Road is the same discount given with the medal. A big ol' few hours of nothing. Very disappointing.

Though there was a truck (like a food truck) with merchandise from the runs. Nothing much interesting to me, but then they had no interesting merchandise IMO this year.

Since DS and I were dreadfully sick after last year's marathon weekend (I was sick FOR it, so so sick), so we were staying away from people as much as possible and too tired for the cool down party, it really got built up in our heads.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

So DH was one of the fortunate ones who registered for the Dopey Challenge marathon weekend. Any tips for us? Where to stay/not to stay? And if the Dopey challenge ends Sunday, is it OK to go home Monday, or might muscles be too sore? When's a good time to arrive? Any recommendations on what/where to eat? The only WDW race he's run is the F&W half, and since bananas cost over $1 each at our hotel, his #1 tip would be-bring your own bananas!

I did the Goofy a few years back. I didn't quite know how to train, so I just trained for the full. My only goal was a legit on time finish and not a PR.

So my tip--it worked for me as I didn't care--my half, I timed to go easy. As long as I was done by 3:30 for it to count, it was fine. I think I got to a point where a 20 minute mile pace would allow an on time finish, so the last couple of miles I did as an easy stroll. This strategy does require monitoring your time and managing it well. But I felt great and Sunday was no issue.

This won't work if one is a more serious runner and desires a more respectable time. But when then--the half (and 5K and 10K in his case) are NOT the times to aim for first place, if that makes sense.

As it was my second marathon, recovery wasn't too bad. I would think traveling on Monday would be okay.

How sore he will be will depend on his body and his training. Increasing his lactic acid threshold will be an important part of training. Many established training programs will have that built in.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

One more tip--
I did two marathon weekends with team in training. Our specific coach always suggested planning to catch busses at 3am to avoid any traffic headaches. Worked like a charm!
No crowds, no congestion. Easy bus ride and we stayed at POFQ one year and Coronado the next. As I was always up for long run days between 4 and 5am anyways, this wasn't too much different. Had everything laid out the night before, woke up at 2:30. Dressed and headed to the bus stop. Easy peasy.

Goofy year, I stayed near Lake Nona (by the airport) and used the same tip. Though I think I left the house still at 3am. A few minutes behind other years due to distance. But no biggy.

If the forecast is frigid, taking my car allows me a free heated place to hang in the parking lot.

 

[Nole95]

DW and I ran the marathon in 2014, and I did Goofy this year. Both years we stayed a Port Orleans Riverside, and we loved it there for marathon weekend. We could take the boat to Downtown Disney for the food options there, and Port Orleans has a very good food court with lots of options.

Buses in the morning for both races were easy to catch, and it was a fairly short ride to Epcot. I believe I was on the bus about 3:30am each morning.

Post race, the bus ride back was pretty easy as all the bus had to do was exit the staging area, cross over the highway and make a couple of turns to get into the resort. I think after both races this year, I was back in my run within 20 minutes of getting on a bus.

As for eats, we have loved eating dinner at Via Napoli after the marathon the past two years. The best thing you can do after running those long races is to get out and walk, and EPCOT surely allows you to do that as well as have some celebratory adult beverages. Your muscles will thank you Monday morning for the extra walking Sunday afternoon.

When I did Goody this year I went in with the attitude of going all out for both races. I figured if I did all that training, I might as well see what I could do. I ended up getting a PR in both races, but a lot of that will have do with the weather conditions. The half this year was perfect weather for me, while the full had a little bit of everything. That being said, if I had taken it easy in the half, I would have no doubt finished much better in the full. It comes down to personal preference.