Wine and Dine 2015

[DOOM1001]

The walking zombie like horde heading to the WWoS complex and then the uncertainty of sitting around not knowing anything since my phone was barely getting any signal was not fun but understandable.I am however grateful for certain things,we didn't get drenched,someone posted that Davenport a few miles away was getting serious rain.My friends were sick and undertrained and gladly accepted the 7 mile distance.I felt great,I love night races and easily would have completed the full half but I also came to quick terms with the shortened course and that this was the best part of the course not having to run the somewhat dull Osceola parkway back and forth from AK.I would have loved to run inside of AK since ToT always teased us with the run through the entrance without going in,but what are you going to do.Most importantly we got to run!!!I was so pumped for this and feeling great that if they would have cancelled it I would have gone batty.Also by having the shortened course we at least had time to spend at Epcot afterwards,we rode Soarin,Test Track and the Mexico ride,the food booth lines were silly long,we were hungry but every line looked like a 45 minute wait and we weren't going to do that,we ended up getting some fish and chips and beer.I think the race director made the correct decision by shortening the course.Not ideal but overall I was very happy with the event.

 

[SunDial]

I just went and rechecked my watch. My total was 6.92; so not far from you. I must've run some horrible tangents. But mostly I was surrounded by fellow g's and h's (and a speedier I here and there) up through international gateway at least. I know on the backside of Boardwalk- leading to the first bridge before yacht club- was where I got curious and started peeking at other bibs as I ran.

And I will partially retract my complaint- my watch time is only about 20 seconds faster per mile than Disney. It was mapmyrun and runkeeper that had me so far off. Their distance is also higher- so prob why my per mile was so much better.

My 10k time per Garmin, however is 1:18, still a full 10 minutes faster than the total Disney is reporting as my finish time.

Oh well, guess I didn't do as well as I thought- but the heart and effort was definitely there either way. Though, now knowing I wasn't as fast as I thought I was, I would have spent more time at the Lights. Only spent an extra minute through there according to my Garmin data.

Anyway, I'm sorry guys to keep bringing it up. My Virgo side is shining through- I'm just disappointed in myself more than anything. Forgive me.

As for the corral jumpers- I really don't understand that. It honestly never occurred to me to get in a corral other than mine. But I would like to give that constructive criticism back to RD; I think they were so focused on getting us out there that some stuff kind of fell by the wayside. If anyone finds an email address it would be handy to share it here.

Like others of you said; I'd also like to make them aware of the communication issues esp with the network back there. 15k people that close together did a number on most people's connectivity and so while they may have thought Twitter and FB was great, many of us couldn't see updates. My concern is what if it had been serious info? Many of us would have missed it.

I will see how Princess goes in Feb before deciding the fate of the odds of me running wine and dine in the future.

Are you back at your resort?

 

[sperkins921]

France moved quickly so we ate some stuff from there. I think we stopped at New Zealand and Hawaii. I wanted Japan but that line was of TSM FP at rope drop proportions. We were crazy hungry and couldn't do it. Overall, we got our fill and everything we had was tasty. I could go for some of the beef tips from France right now lol

Now laying in bed watching holiday wishes. Then it's off to the airport in the AM.

 

[SunDial]

France moved quickly so we ate some stuff from there. I think we stopped at New Zealand and Hawaii. I wanted Japan but that line was of TSM FP at rope drop proportions. We were crazy hungry and couldn't do it. Overall, we got our fill and everything we had was tasty. I could go for some of the beef tips from France right now lol

Now laying in bed watching holiday wishes. Then it's off to the airport in the AM.

Sending a pm

 

[Pleglech]

A few thoughts...
-Most importantly, remember that it's just running.
-Wear the shirts, medals, whatever. Nobody who matters is going to judge you for that.
-If you trained, you still have the fitness to sign up for another race in the coming weeks. Do that.
-I saw zero corral jumpers in A, which is an improvement from the usual situation (W&D is harder to jump than the races starting at Epcot, FWIW).
-We waited for a bus at the Poly for an hour. Then it took another 45 minutes to get to the start. We arrived just as the horde was heading toward the stadium. Very confusing.
-The crowding at the after party was due in part to the shortened course, because it creates less separation in the field.
-Of all the communication issues, the one that caused the most grumbling among the runners around me was the lack of a specified distance. A few seconds per mile can make a big difference (I didn't care all that much, because I already had decided to treat W&D as a training run).
-Even if it isn't competitive, the 5K needs seeded corrals.

 

[DisneyHoover]

Here are my thoughts on the race after a night of sleep and an early afternoon nap today:

I have mixed feelings on the shortening on the course. I was very disappointed initially because this was my first half marathon and really wanted to run the full thing. However, sitting/standing around for an extra hour really made my lower back and leg muscles tighten up which made for an achier than usual race for me. Between my tight muscles and the brutal humidity (even for someone who's from north Florida), it actually worked out well probably for me in the long run that the course was shortened. I really wish they would've communicated better though during the evacuation; I ended up killing my iphone battery trying to check for updates and figure out what was going on. Overall, by the time we ended up in our corrals I had a really deflated feeling.

I don't know if it was because of the shortened course or what since this was my first Run Disney race but the congestion was awful for most of the race. I didn't feel like I could get in my stride running since there were too many people packed in such a narrow area. Even during my walk interval I felt like I had to do a lot of weaving since my walk interval was a faster pace than most of the walking pace of the crowds around me. My husband started getting frustrated since shortening his stride was starting to hurt his legs. It was fun to run through the Osbourne lights and I can't wait to go back in a month to see them again.

Overall, the atmosphere felt kind of weird to me; it wasn't quite the magical experience I had anticipated. I think for at least a little while I'll just stick to local races. I signed up for a local half for this Sunday so I can ACTUALLY run my first half and prove to myself I can go the distance on race day.

 

[DWorldOrBust]

This was my first race at DW and first night race. I'll tell ya', I will not do this race again. Being moved inside and sitting in limbo for do long definitely did not help preparing mentally. But RD can't control the weather, understood. Shortening of the race, fighting thru crowds of people and runners with no etiquette, for the entire course, was extremely frustrating. I was never able to get into a rhythm and my intervals went out the window. Then to get to the finish line party and see the utter lack of organization was it for me. I grabbed a snack from Canada, met up with my family and got beck to the resort asap. I don't feel right having a C2C and Half Marathon medal when I only ran an extended 10K.

Hopefully the Star Wars Dark Side in April is organized and ran better than this one was. Either way, i'm building a bridge and getting over it because I have 8 days left at Disney to enjoy.

 

[flatlandcycle]

Thank's for the race reports. I don't have much to add. I think the shortened course protected me from myself. That little ole 6.7 miles really hurt. If I had gone 13.1, I would have gone down in flames. The new older self can't dissipate heat. The weather delay and shortening is what it is. I just couldn't go out and run a simple 10k+ to my potential. That's the real head scratcher.

 

[Miranda]

I just checked my time. It didn't seem to far off from that I thought it was. Considering the time I spent inside of Osbourne family lights I was very happy.

Yeah, I think my times were about the same as my watch. I think it was about 1:37. I spent a bunch of time in the Osborne lights and taking some selfies, so not too disappointed with that. My 10K PR is 1:16, although I am in better shape than that now, it should probably be closer to 1:10-1:12. Between the selfies and the lights stop and the bottlenecks (especially the Studios-Epcot pathway bottleneck... I caught up with and got stuck in the middle of the Clif Bar 3:00 pace group right at the beginning of the pathway from Studios... what they were doing in a corral in front of me, I don't know) and then I just got pooped in the backstage area at Epcot, I can't complain with that time.

The Clif Bar people were kind of annoying at the start. The 2:45 and 3:00 ones were standing near me in the crowd waiting to get back into the corrals and they were doing this annoying banter about how to consume their Clif Shots like it was a commercial or something, and the 2:45 lady was trying to get people to sing. No one was having it.

 

[Keels]

Yeah, I think my times were about the same as my watch. I think it was about 1:37. I spent a bunch of time in the Osborne lights and taking some selfies, so not too disappointed with that. My 10K PR is 1:16, although I am in better shape than that now, it should probably be closer to 1:10-1:12. Between the selfies and the lights stop and the bottlenecks (especially the Studios-Epcot pathway bottleneck... I caught up with and got stuck in the middle of the Clif Bar 3:00 pace group right at the beginning of the pathway from Studios... what they were doing in a corral in front of me, I don't know) and then I just got pooped in the backstage area at Epcot, I can't complain with that time.

The Clif Bar people were kind of annoying at the start. The 2:45 and 3:00 ones were standing near me in the crowd waiting to get back into the corrals and they were doing this annoying banter about how to consume their Clif Shots like it was a commercial or something, and the 2:45 lady was trying to get people to sing. No one was having it.

The 3:00 group started literally right next to me at the front of H. Originally,
I had planned to pace with them for a while and then try to make a break for it between AK and DHS, which wouldn't happen (obviously).

I will say that they were pacing ahead of the 3:00 equivalent for the distance and while they walked water stops because of congestion, they really didn't take breaks anywhere else. I dropped back from them around the disco tunnel (mostly because I was hot, but really because I was kind of over it) and then lost them completely when I stopped to take pictures in the lights. I caught back up with them backstage in EPCOT before we hit the crosswalk area, so honestly, I'm not really sure what they were doing the whole time.

Thank's for the race reports. I don't have much to add. I think the shortened course protected me from myself. That little ole 6.7 miles really hurt. If I had gone 13.1, I would have gone down in flames. The new older self can't dissipate heat. The weather delay and shortening is what it is. I just couldn't go out and run a simple 10k+ to my potential. That's the real head scratcher.

110-percent this!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Question - Were there still opportunities for character pictures along the course?

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Question - Were there still opportunities for character pictures along the course?

Yes

 

[Chaitali]

Thank's for the race reports. I don't have much to add. I think the shortened course protected me from myself. That little ole 6.7 miles really hurt. If I had gone 13.1, I would have gone down in flames. The new older self can't dissipate heat.

I agree! I'm not sure if it was the 5k and all the earlier walking, the humidity, going less conservatively than I planned since I knew the course was shorter, or a combination of all of those things but I really felt those 6+ miles.

The 3:00 group started literally right next to me at the front of H.

Thanks, I was trying to figure out where they started. My half marathon PR is currently 2:57 and I wanted to finish ahead of the 3 hour pace group. But then I later realized that didn't mean anything since I didn't know where they started. I started in the middle of the H corral and I finished just a little in front of them but that was with 1 character stop and stopping for a photo at the Osborne lights. It's nowhere close to my 10k PR but I'm fine with that given the humidity and the stops. I was dripping sweat by the end of mile 1. It was cool running into you on the course

Question - Were there still opportunities for character pictures along the course?

I felt like there were a good amount of character stops and entertainment along the course, especially for just the 6+ miles. Overall, I'm disappointed but I think Run Disney did the right thing with the delays and shortening the course. As Flatlandcycle said, I think that protected me from myself. I had told myself from the beginning this wasn't a race to try for a PR due to the humidity but I kept pushing myself every time I saw the 3 hour pace group. There was no reason for that at all but stupid runner brain wasn't thinking too clearly by that point. I ran the race that was in front of me and enjoyed myself.

 

[Miranda]

Traveling without my husband is terrible. I am trying to fit all my expo crap into an already full carry on and checked bag before I go spend my last day at AK and it is proving to be a real challenge. He usually gets to carry all my overflow like expo stuff.

 

[Miranda]

The 3:00 group started literally right next to me at the front of H. Originally,
I had planned to pace with them for a while and then try to make a break for it between AK and DHS, which wouldn't happen (obviously).

I will say that they were pacing ahead of the 3:00 equivalent for the distance and while they walked water stops because of congestion, they really didn't take breaks anywhere else. I dropped back from them around the disco tunnel (mostly because I was hot, but really because I was kind of over it) and then lost them completely when I stopped to take pictures in the lights. I caught back up with them backstage in EPCOT before we hit the crosswalk area, so honestly, I'm not really sure what they were doing the whole time.

Ahhhh ok. I was in H too but I originally got into the wrong corral because of all the confusion. I and a lot of other people got into I thinking it was H, then we had to move, so we weren't near the front. I'm glad to hear that they were going faster than 3:00 because I had been planning to go faster than that!

 

[GreatLakes]

Sorry to hear about all the trouble with the race this year. I wasn't there but from reading everyone's reports it sounds like the right decision was made but the communication was terrible. I can't really blame RunDisney for the course change but they should have had a system in place to keep everyone informed and updated without the need to check the Internet. My phone is with my checked bags for a race, I can't just hop on Twitter for an update once the bags are checked.

For those of you who are all trained for a half try to find another one to run. It is late in the season but there are some out there. No need to waste the fitness you've built up if you can help it.

 

[MaMa3Princess]

Ahhhh ok. I was in H too but I originally got into the wrong corral because of all the confusion. I and a lot of other people got into I thinking it was H, then we had to move, so we weren't near the front. I'm glad to hear that they were going faster than 3:00 because I had been planning to go faster than that!

I was in H but me and several other H people were corralled to the back of G. The volunteer kept telling us this was H but we realized later it was the back of G.
I think G on down got the brunt of confusion after the delay

 

[sperkins921]

You guys all brought up good points that I hadn't considered before- about the walking back and forth from the field and the standing plus the humidity. I'm really feeling those 6-7 miles this AM. I had a spa day as a treat to myself yesterday and had an amazing sports massage so I'm wondering what I'd feel like if I hadn't had that

I don't think there's any halves left up in New England so for me it's back to training runs for Princess in February.

I looked for a lot of you guys on the course but didn't find anyone

Never saw the cliff bar group, but did encounter a group of walkers who stayed abreast during the (I think) last water stop. I feared they'd get knocked over because I think people expect for the person ahead of them to either merge or keep moving. It was super narrow through there but thankfully no injuries.

Based on the way the old body feels this morning, I'm going to second @flatlandcycle , had I tried to do the full 13 with all other things being the same? I'd have either melted into a puddle, spontaneously combusted, or not be able to walk today. Lol.

 

[flvy]

I'm not really sure what to do with my life once this thread quiets down...

Yeah I have Tink next, but with all the issues I feel like we went through something together. Haha

 

[Miranda]

I'm not really sure what to do with my life once this thread quiets down...

Yeah I have Tink next, but with all the issues I feel like we went through something together. Haha

Yeah I like the excitement of the threads. Once it's over I have no one to talk run stuff except the SO who just smiles and nods.