Travelling to WDW for the '08 Marathon w/out your family - is it worth it?

[jasper]

Has anyone travelled to the WDW Marathon in past years and left the family behind - and still felt it was a rewarding experience? Here are some of the reasons I'm considering it:

1. I have DDs in Middle School and High School and they would miss at least two (or three) days of school.

2. The cost for 4 additional round trip airfares from Newark, NJ to Orlando for DDs, DW, and DS is roughly $800.

3. We're going to WDW for a family vacation in a few weeks, so everyone will have already been there recently, and will be asking to go somewhere else on our next trip. Also, between the expo and the race, there would only be a couple of days to see the parks, or do other activities.

4. DW is not entirely fond of my "new" marathon thing. Even though I only recently completed my first 26-miler, she makes sometimes subtle comments (sometimes not so subtle) that training for and running marathons is "excessive." I have to basically pretend I don't hear these things. Her heart is truly not in it, but she can fake it most of the time. She did seem happy when I finished my first in 3:28.

So, that said, do you feel it is possible to travel solo, and run a rewarding, satisfying Marathon, with no family there to greet you at the finish? Or would it be more of a hassle and a lonely experience?

I want that 15th Anniversary medal!!!!

 

[Kristi1357]

Well, I can't speak for doing the marathon alone. But I did the Minnie both years with my Mom (left DH & DS home). Actually, I planned on doing the Minnie alone this year. Then Mom heard I was going and decided to race with me.

But I would totally do the marathon alone. Chad wants to run the Goofy every year. Even though I have been there for all his races since 2002, I know there will come a time for whatever reason that he goes solo just to do the race.

You would certainly have enough WISHers to hang out with!

 

[WDWFAN9]

I say YES! it can be done. I did my very first half-marathon solo in Jan 2006. I had a great experience; it wasn't how I would want to travel to WDW all the time, but it was kind of nice to just do my own thing and not worry about anyone else. As it stands now I am coming to ToT in October solo, although of course I will have the entire WISH team around.

 

[nepatsfan73]

I sure hope it is. I am planning on going to the 2008 marathon weekend solo. I am registered for the half, which will be my first event of this kind. We are are taking a family trip to WDW in July. My 4 kids and I love Disney and my wife tolerates it. When I told her I was going to start training in an effort to get back in some semblence of shape (shooting for at least an oval to replace my current circle shape) and do the WDW half marathon in January, my wife's first response was: "We aren't all going to Disney AGAIN in January, are we?" (As an experienced, veteran husband, I knew that was not really a question that had more than one answer.) Thus, I plan on being solo and hopefully meeting a few of the people on this board who are helping to motivate me to succeed in my newest endeavor.

 

[westcliffemom]

I'm going down for the half this year. It will be my first. I plan on solo or with DH. We have plans for Feb 08 to go down for the Builder's Show (yearly trip for us) so the kids will be staying home.

If DH can't go, I would have no problem with going solo. I think it would be neat!

 

[princessmomma]

I have done both.

In 2005, I had DH and my 2 kids along. It was my first marathon so it was nice to experience it with them. It wasn't fun for them to have me go to bed at 9 p.m. Saturday night and up at 2:30 a.m. in the morning. To be honest, it was a little stressful for me having them there. I didn't want to disturb them when I was getting ready in the morning and I was a little stressed thinking they weren't having a good time "waiting" for me at different check points along the race route. They did have fun watching all the runners that were dressed up like the Statue of Liberty, Goofy, Minnie, etc.

I went solo in 2006 and actually had a better time. I ran Goofy and was a little nervous about it, but DH insisted I go alone as he put it, I was just going to be resting, running 2 races and sleeping. As it turned out, I was able to go the different WISH functions during the weekend , eat when and what I wanted, and met up with the WISH team before, after and during both the full and half marathons. It was great!

It didn't bother the kids because we had a family trip in March 2006, so they got their Disney fix then!

If I go this year, it will be solo! You are right, it does get expensive for the entire family to go.

Colleen

 

[jasper]

Thanks for sharing your experiences - I'm leaning toward a solo trip. Not sure what I would do Friday night or all day Saturday. I could see myself back at POR Sunday afternoon resting and watching football!

 

[Hockeychic]

I am sure there will be WISH group events on the Friday and you could cheer on the 1/2 people on Saturday???

When I told DH that we would be getting up early on the Sunday as well to cheer on the marathoners he thought I was nuts but I have since explained it to him and he is looking forward to it.

I would also have np going solo, I did the Minnie with DD and left DH and DS at home. I am looking at the ToT run and might just go solo as DH doesn't want to go twice.

Kim

 

[jam217]

I am also going solo for the half. I told my son and husband that I was only taking runners on the trip. They didn't bite so it's just me. I'm actually looking forward to going alone...being able to spend as much time at the Expo as I want and just allowing myself to concentrate on the race and attend any WISH activities. My husband, too, is only lukewarm about my running so I figured it's best to just go it alone!

 

[sunshine girl]

ABSOLUTELY! Do it for yourself! I did my first 2 marathons with no friends or family able to be there to greet me at the finish. And I had a great time. Plus there are lots of people on these boards who will be there! Hooray.

On another note... I hesitate to comment at all but I thought I'd say that maybe your DW is not loving the "new" marathon thing because of the amount of time it takes away from the family? I might be TOTALLY wrong, so many apologies and ignore me if so. (I don't want to offend!)

But marathon training and racing eats up a LOT of free time, and I can see how that might put a really big extra burden on DW, especially since you have children. In my experience, devoting time to repeated marathons has to be something in which everyones schedule and personal needs must be accomodated... it is really easy to get carried away with the "joy of running" per se, and not realize the many little ways the new hobby is affecting those around you!

Anyhow, you probably already know all this! I figured it doesn't hurt to reiterate it. Happy running!

 

[jasper]

On another note... I hesitate to comment at all but I thought I'd say that maybe your DW is not loving the "new" marathon thing because of the amount of time it takes away from the family? I might be TOTALLY wrong, so many apologies and ignore me if so. (I don't want to offend!)

But marathon training and racing eats up a LOT of free time, and I can see how that might put a really big extra burden on DW, especially since you have children. In my experience, devoting time to repeated marathons has to be something in which everyones schedule and personal needs must be accomodated... it is really easy to get carried away with the "joy of running" per se, and not realize the many little ways the new hobby is affecting those around you!

Anyhow, you probably already know all this! I figured it doesn't hurt to reiterate it. Happy running!

I appreciate your comments. I do most training runs either very early in the morning (5 a.m.) or at night well after dinner and everyone's settling down for the evening, so that I'm hardly cutting into quality family time. I am very conscious of all that. She just doesn't understand why "all of a sudden" at age 43, I would start running marathons. To her it must be mid-life crisis. To me, though I've never been overweight, I am now, by far, in the best shape I've ever been in. Finishing my first marathon last month was so rewarding (I know you all know that already). I also gave up golf when I started running, which probably took more time away from the family, even though I only played about once every two weeks.

OK, enough on that bandbox, I really hope to run into some of you in January and good luck with all your training!

 

[sunshine girl]

Good luck with your training too! And sorry to add my other 2cents there, but I'm so glad you're doing the running. I think it's a totally positive thing!!

 

[monte]

I'm going solo too for the full and plan to spend 10 days at WDW! I'm looking forward to it. See you there!

 

[SilverE]

Wow! I thought I would be one of the only solo travelers. When planning for the trip I began to feel guilty that my DW would have to entertain our 3 children mostly by herself; they would have to stand around and wait for me to run by; I'd be going to bed early, etc. After sensing my mounting stress, my wife actually encouraged me to go alone so I could enjoy the whole experience at my own pace and on my own schedule.

The family isn't getting shortchanged, however; all 5 of us will be visiting WDW the second week in December (Christmas comes early!). I'll be scheduled for an 18 mile LR that weekend, but I'm guessing 18 mi in Orlando in Dec. will be more pleasant than 18 mi in Maine!

I'm looking forward to meeting many of the WISH team members in person!

 

[NCRedding]

For the 2005 1/2 marathon, I travelled alone for the first part. I had an AP so I went to the parks. Then met up with the wonderful group of WISHWALKERS for dinner at Trail's End, and then did the 1/2.

It was wonderful because it was all about me--I went to bed when I needed to and got up when I needed to without having to worry about tiptoeing around being quite. I also did what I wanted to at the parks--went to all 4 in one day; took the tours I wanted to, etc.

My family came down on Wednesday after the marathon, when the school took a semester break, so I got to go around Disney with them after that.

I can't wait to do more solo trips.

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

If you are part of the WISH Team, you will NOT be there alone. As you post on the weekly walking/running thread and get to know everyone you will find a fabulous group of friends. There will be opportunities to meet with people and such.

This experience will be well worth taking.

 

[getnthinr]

Having read the thread, there may not be much I can add here, but I will say that I have made the trip alone and with family and -- although I miss the kids terribly (I find myself saying, "The girls would love this!" and "My little boy would think that was so cool!" an awful lot) -- I think the marathon weekend is not the best chance for us to enjoy Disney together as a family.

Packet pickup and race preparation eats into their park/ride time -- or they end up going without me and I feel I miss out. Our sleep schedules and meal schedules are "off" -- and I have a hard time charging into the parks immediately after the marathon -- while they feel they've been "waiting all day" for me already and are dying to get going when all I'm dying for is a shower and a meal. (I'm quite slow, so a marathon takes me 6+ hours.)

We've found we have a much better time going for a long weekend during an off-season school break when crowds are lighter, lines are shorter, and I can spend all my time doing things with them. Often when I go to the races alone, I skip the parks entirely and relax, attend WISH or Disney Dead get togethers and talk about races, running, and walking with like-minded folks.

And, as my husband says, it's a lot cheaper to feed one person than 5 (which is what we're dealing with). The races are so expensive already. Keep in mind I'm not implying it doesn't work for some families (because I know it does!) but my family would rather I race alone and take them to Disney some other time.

So, there's my very long 2 cents.