10k and Dopey Challenge Added to Marathon Weekend

[TakeMeThere81]

I think the popularity of the Dumbo Double Dare sealed the deal for them with adding a 10k race to the weekend.

The distance isn't the thing that is scaring me away from it - the price tag is. $500 for three races, can not wrap my head around that.

Agreed...and AGREED!! I read the price and my jaw literally dropped! Of course I want to do this in 2015, but it is hard to fathom paying THAT MUCH for a race 4-day weekend! Wow.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Well, Dopey is all FOUR races:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...medals-to-walt-disney-world-marathon-weekend/

Now I am thinking I might do this in 2015...because the 10K medal will be a Minnie medal. And it sounds like a Dopey finisher gets the 5K medallion along with medals for 10K, half, full, Goofy and Dopey.

You got me again, runDisney.

I'll do it with you Shannon!

 

[Ariel484]

I'll do it with you Shannon!

I'm in!

 

[GoofyRacer11]

I gotta be perfectly dopey!

 

[Texas84]

I'm in for 2015.

 

[GoofyRacer11]

It just occurred to me that this challenge doesn't sound that much harder than the goofy. At least not to me. I understand that nobody should underestimate the 48.6 miles in only 4 days, but the mileage per day is lower than doing just the goofy challenge. Personally, I would just use the 5k and 10k as warmup runs to keep my legs loose, but save energy for the half and full. I'm not sure if anyone agrees with this thought, but it makes sense to me. Or maybe I'm just that Dopey!!!

 

[Mad Stitch]

Just wow! They upped the ante on us calling the 5k, half and full Dopey.

So that means the 5K and 10K can't be on the same day, right? Unless the 5K start time is moved up and the 10K starts late-ish...so the expo will open Wednesday and they'll need to set up all the race stuff for 4 days.

Yes, it says the 5K will be on Thursday and the 10K will be Friday. So that extra vacation day and night in a room we discussed earlier now becomes 2 days since you will need to arrive on Wednesday at the latest to pick up your packet.

It says there are 6 medals, does that include 6 shirts? My brother has seen this and he wants me to do it with him. He hasn’t even finished a full marathon!

Edit: I just noticed you linked to the Disney Parks blog. There is more information on the runDisney site.

http://www.rundisney.com/blog/artic...hallenge-and-inaugural-walt-disney-world-10k/

 

[Katherine]

I'm really tempted by this race. 6 medals is hard to walk away from and if you do the Dumbo Double Dare in the same calendar year it translates into 10 medals for 6 races. Now that's just cray talk.

I need to see if I can afford this for 2014, it would be fun to try and I was already planning to do the "old Dopey" again this year... hmmm...

 

[Ariel484]

I wonder if Disney donates some of the proceeds to charitable organizations like the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. Looking forward to running the St. Jude half in December, and I know the money will go to a great cause.

They do. There are quite a few charity entries for each race weekend and there's always one main beneficiary (I think it's normally the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) that gets part of the registration fees.

I don't think $160 for the full and half is too bad...it's comparable to other big races and lets face it, you do pay for the location. And their race shirts and medals are better quality than a lot of other races. But the 10K and 5K entry fees...not sure how great of a deal they are.

Either way, I am definitely not going Dopey next year. I'll give them a year to work out the kinks of everything (the new race/course, adding an extra day to the weekend as a whole, etc.) before I sign up. I feel like WDW has a history of not having a great first outing for newer races (W&D, ToT 10-miler)...so I am in no hurry to be a guinea pig in 2014.

 

[MKCP 1985]

Ya know...I'm not really sure how I feel about this. I think moving the 5K to Thursday is going to make it a lot less doable for most people with work schedules and whatnot. Mostly I think I'm annoyed because I did the 5K/Half/Full this year and didn't get a special medal for it. I wonder how many people will do all 4 races...

Great that they are adding the 10K distance though - that will appeal to a lot of people. I wonder what the course will be like? I hope that this will allow then to reduce the cap for the half. And lastly...$160 to run a 10K is INSANE.

My initial thoughts were very similar to yours. They have made it too long and too costly for most people. From your 2013 trip report, we see the 5k is already crowded and getting a photo on the course is very time consuming. When the wine and dine was a 10K, runners were aggravated at the congestion on the course - there will be many walkers. And they could have easily done the 5k and 10k on a single day.

This will make some people very happy but it isn't for me. Too spread out and too expensive.

 

[DisneyRunner]

Originally I was thinking of doing the 10k and half, but after some input I might pass. I want the Minnie medal, but I'm not ready to jump on registration April 9. I just got a job in hopes to pay for the DDD in 2014. I would like to achieve the 2014 C2C medal, also. After talking it over with my family, the option of registering for the 2014 Princess or W&D may give me more time to finacially prepare. I agree these races are getting expensive. At some point, I believe runners will be priced out.

 

[Kristia]

I am wondering if now that the expo will have to open on Wed, does that mean that merchandise is going to sell out even faster now? If I just want to do the Goofy Challenge will I have to get the expo on Wed just to get a shirt? Grrrr....Much as I would like to do the Dopey, I just don't think I want to shell out that much for a race series. Also, getting up at 2:30 am two days in a row was killer. I really don't want to get up that early (or almost that early) 4 days! I think I would be cranky and miserable.

 

[Mad Stitch]

I am wondering if now that the expo will have to open on Wed

Wonder no more. From the runDisney website.

Weekend Schedule

Disney's Health & Fitness Expo
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
Wednesday, January 8– Saturday, January 11, 2014

Disney Family Fun Run 5K
Epcot®
6:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 9, 2014

runDisney Kids' Races
ESPN Wide World of Sports Track & Field Complex
11:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 9, 2014
11:00 a.m. on Friday, January 10, 2014
11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 11, 2014

Mickey Mile
ESPN Wide World of Sports Track & Field Complex
12:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 9, 2014
12:30 p.m. on Friday, January 10, 2014
12:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 11, 2014

Pasta in the Park Party
Epcot®
6:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 9, 2014
6:30 p.m. on Friday, January 10, 2014
6:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 11, 2014

Walt Disney World® 10K
Epcot®
5:30 a.m. on Friday, January 10, 2014

Walt Disney World® Half Marathon presented by Cigna®
Start/Finish: Epcot®
5:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 11, 2014

Walt Disney World® Marathon presented by Cigna®
Start/Finish: Epcot®
5:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 12, 2014

The Cool Down Party at Downtown Disney®
Downtown Disney
4:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 13, 2014

All event information is subject to change.

 

[Fievel]

I really don't think the miles are the hard part....at least not for the seasoned runner....the 5k and 10k will be a real breeze.

The real test comes on day 4 in a row of getting up at 2 am and getting on a bus, with your legs getting progressively more worn out.

 

[Ariel484]

I really don't think the miles are the hard part....at least not for the seasoned runner....the 5k and 10k will be a real breeze.

The real test comes on day 4 in a row of getting up at 2 am and getting on a bus, with your legs getting progressively more worn out.

I agree with this...that was the hard part for me. I followed a regular marathon training plan and felt pretty well-prepared for the 5K, half and full. I had crazy foot cramping just after the halfway point of the marathon, which was disappointing because I felt great otherwise. A few people suggested using sodium caps so I am definitely going to look into that.


In other news, very curious to see the 10K course. It has to go through Future World as well as World Showcase, right? None of the course maps are posted right now. I can't see them changing the half or 5K course, but I do hope they don't use 2013's full marathon course again. We'll see!

 

[Kristia]

Another thing I have thought about...I still like to "vacation" when we go to WDW since we don't get to go that often. I don't see myself being able to not wear myself out for 5 days (day before races plus race days) and only get to relax for 2 or 3 days. Doesn't really sound like much of a vacation. I don't think I will feel like doing anything in the days after. Yep, don't think Dopey is for me.

 

[Katherine]

Another thing I have thought about...I still like to "vacation" when we go to WDW since we don't get to go that often. I don't see myself being able to not wear myself out for 5 days (day before races plus race days) and only get to relax for 2 or 3 days. Doesn't really sound like much of a vacation. I don't think I will feel like doing anything in the days after. Yep, don't think Dopey is for me.

I've been grappling with this fact too. This year for the Goofy I was out for a week from work and was able to spend a decent amount of time in the parks. I think the only day park touring wise that would change for me would be Saturday (and maybe Sunday depending on the wear and tear on my legs). This past year I spend Saturday afternoon at DHS with the fam but I think this day would turn into a complete pool/resort day if I did the Dopey.

The jury is still out. I think this would be a bucketlist check off if I did this race. Then I would be back to "just" the Goofy. I'm really excited for the Minnie Medal though!

 

[Ariel484]

Another thing I have thought about...I still like to "vacation" when we go to WDW since we don't get to go that often. I don't see myself being able to not wear myself out for 5 days (day before races plus race days) and only get to relax for 2 or 3 days. Doesn't really sound like much of a vacation. I don't think I will feel like doing anything in the days after. Yep, don't think Dopey is for me.

For me, doing the 5K+Goofy was not a vacation. It was exhausting and I didn't realize how little park time I really would have, so I'll be better prepared for that in the future.

Obviously I still enjoyed it though since I'm planning on doing it again...

I've been grappling with this fact too. This year for the Goofy I was out for a week from work and was able to spend a decent amount of time in the parks. I think the only day park touring wise that would change for me would be Saturday (and maybe Sunday depending on the wear and tear on my legs). This past year I spend Saturday afternoon at DHS with the fam but I think this day would turn into a complete pool/resort day if I did the Dopey.

The jury is still out. I think this would be a bucketlist check off if I did this race. Then I would be back to "just" the Goofy. I'm really excited for the Minnie Medal though!

I think it'll be a one-time thing for me too. The money + not being a real vacation aspect is not something I want to do every year.

I can really go to WDW once per year (twice occasionally if I'm lucky) and I used to be content in thinking that my once yearly trip would be a short weekend for a race, but I'm starting to not feel that way anymore. I still want to do W&D, ToT, Tink the Disneyland Half and Dopey in 2015 but right now I'm thinking they'll be one-and-done events. I'm glad I got to do the Princess Half in 2011 before they upped the race capacity to 20,000+.

These races are just getting too expensive and too crowded, which I hate because they can really be a blast.

 

[Ariel484]

You're absolutely right, and that's a problem I'm starting to have with runDisney right now. They are really all about the cash (super high registration prices, crowded races, buying corral placement through the Runner's World Challenge, etc.), and I'm afraid that the experience for the runners is going to start to suffer.

And now I'm going to be a jerk and quote myself (and also go off topic from the Dopey stuff...maybe this needs its own thread).

To add to my above list of things runDisney is doing that annoy me, this one gets me the most: I've followed a few running/"healthy living" blogs off and on over the past couple of years (I use the term "healthy living" very, very loosely...but I digress. That's another topic entirely), and the writers of these blogs will sometimes get the following from runDisney:

- free entry into an event
- comped hotel, meals, etc.
- entry into other runDisney events (Galloway meet-ups, the pasta party, race retreat, etc.)

I HATE that runDisney does this. I understand it, because in return the bloggers will do re-caps of their weekends, so runDisney gets advertising out of it. But when I read about someone getting free entry into the Dumbo Double Dare this week after it sold out in 6 hours or whatever, or when I see the same 5-6 bloggers writing about the Galloway meet-ups at every runDisney race weekend after non-bloggers try and fail to get in time after time...it just seems so incredibly unfair to me that true Disney fans that love these races get shut out, and yet just because these people have blogs they are paid to go.

I mean...OF COURSE I would take advantage of any of these opportunities if they were offered to me (let's be honest, any of us would). But it's still crappy. It would be cool if they picked 5-10 runners for each race weekend to blog on the runDisney site about training, trip prep etc. - and I mean just regular folks, not people that already have blogs. Have an application process, pick a diverse group of people (beginners, experienced runners, people training for Dopey, people training for the 5K, people coming solo, people coming with family, people only coming for a short weekend, etc.). That would be really neat to read about everyone getting ready on the runDisney page and they could link to it on the Disney Parks Blog to get the word out more.

I'm starting to feel torn about everything. I want to do these races, and am planning on a few coming up...but seeing how motivated runDisney is by money is just not starting to sit right with me.

 

[Mad Stitch]

I’m kind of surprised they didn’t throw in the Dumbo challenge with all this. They probably want to keep that unique to DL though in order to draw people out there.