Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon

kevlightyear

kevlightyear

Well-Known Member
It was unfortunate they had to shorten the course, obviously. However, it was in my opinion the only choice if the full course couldn't be run. Logistically, canceling the race would have been a nightmare. Where Disney failed me was in communication. People were just following other people all night because they assumed they were supposed to. Also, they didn't really explain *why* the course was shortened, which I would have liked to know. First timers understandably have reason to be disappointed because they didn't get to prove themselves. For all runners, though, remember that the race is only the last step in the process. The training is just as important. I learned that while preparing for my marathon. I was just as proud of the training as I was of the race. The medals represent more than just the last run. :)
 
Phonedave

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
I had no idea this happened. I was down there over the weekend, but did not run (while I love the RunDisney events and the night race is cool, it really eats up the entire weekend, and we can only get away Thurs-Sun, so I choose not to race - I did the first two F&W half marathons, that's enough for me).

We were in SSR and the line for the race busses was insane. It went from the loading area near the bus stop all the way back past the pool and past the entrance to Artist Pallet. We were in the hot tub when it began to rain (and stayed in the hot tub during the rain). I even mentioned that this was a good break for the runners because of the heat.

It stinks that the race was shortened, especially for people who were running their first half (and Disney has a lot of those). I have had races postponed on me before for safety reasons - I remember one Hangover 5K (New Years Day) was postponed 4 times - finally running it the end of Feb, because every time they wanted to run it, it was way too icy. It is a tough call for a race coordinator to make.

-dave
 
Texas84

Texas84

Well-Known Member
Just to clarify, the MCs did announce that the race was shortened due to the potential for weather in the area. There was lightning in the distance at restart but I didn't see any at the finish.
 
c0reyt

c0reyt

Member
Texas84 said:
Just to clarify, the MCs did announce that the race was shortened due to the potential for weather in the area. There was lightning in the distance at restart but I didn't see any at the finish.
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I distinctly remember the MCs saying they shortened the course so that everyone had an opportunity to make it to the after party. Which ed me and everyone in my corral (B) off. No more night races for me.
 
KIsAPrincess

KIsAPrincess

Active Member
I think that was part of the problem.....the people behind Corral I couldn't hear anything. I believe some have said their speakers went out, so they didn't know what was going on til they got closer to the start line. I understand that RunDisney was updating their social media accounts, however, I had horrible internet service as 13,000 people were trying to access the internet all at once.

As I mentioned before, it appeared (at least to me) that the MC's were trying to make light of a terrible situation. They were the ones that announced the course was shortened and were met by a chorus of boos. I feel that they were trying to light-heartedly change the focus so that people would be happy? (This is truly just my opinion on the matter). Whether this was appropriate or not, I guess we all can judge how we feel. Some people run Disney races because they are competitive runners and they go out there shooting for their best times every race. Some run Disney races because they enjoy the entertainment and things that Disney provides at a race (including after parties). I really think that the key issue (at least for me) was that the communication was horrible Saturday evening. As previous posters mentioned - we were just following others (whether announcements were made or not - I was at the back and couldn't hear anything when we were told to evacuate.) And when the race was cleared to start, there was no message to us. I just saw people walking and started following them. Yes - RunDisney was updating social media - however I couldn't access internet so I had no clue what was going on.

I was initially upset by the announcement (and the "hey - this means you have more time for the after party) as I came with family and told them to stay at the hotel. I kind of figured after the half I wouldn't be that in to going to the after party. Once they announced that it was shortened, I was a little bummed because they could have gone - and I could have met them there to enjoy the rest of the night. But hey, such is life.

But I agree with kevlightyear - the communication plan is where I think the major fail was Saturday night.
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
c0reyt said:
I distinctly remember the MCs saying they shortened the course so that everyone had an opportunity to make it to the after party. Which ****ed me and everyone in my corral (B) off. No more night races for me.
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Which I would imagine was the MCs attempt to ad lib, and provide a reason as to why the course was changing, with the hope/expectation that everyone was really looking forward to the after party, and that no one would mind a shorter course. (I'd wager they were wrong)
 
Texas84

Texas84

Well-Known Member
c0reyt said:
I distinctly remember the MCs saying they shortened the course so that everyone had an opportunity to make it to the after party. Which ****ed me and everyone in my corral (B) off. No more night races for me.
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You are correct but they said both. There is weather in the area and we'll get you to the party faster.
 
thumper

thumper

Active Member
Agree 100% to everything you said!

This was my 1st half, and I ran with 167 other members of a charity called Sparrow's Nest from NY (some of you may have seen our green shirts)! While the most difficult challenges of fundraising and training were behind us, it was slightly disappointing to have come this far only to run 6.72 miles.

I completely understand about weather uncertainties and Disney taking the appropriate safety precautions, but the communication at ESPN was practically non existent. A few of us were on line at "port-a-potty central" around 8:50 pm, when we turned around and saw droves of people walking from the pre-race party up towards the Josten center and those buildings. At that particular time, there were some folks with megaphones telling us to just walk with the masses, but the insides of those buildings were NOT open.Instead, you had people gathering on baseball fields or any other protected awning or covering, such as the ESPN Grill patio. During this time, I recall seeing definite lightning in the distance. About 15 minutes later, they opened the doors to Josten and HP Field House to allow us to sit on the concrete floor and wait. We received no further updates at that time other than that they opened the bleachers for additional seating. The next time we received an announcement was to head back outside and proceed immediately to your corral. Looking at the pavement, I could see that it never actually rained at that location, but there was a strong cell showing up on my weather app radar. I was in Corral K, and I can tell you that the speakers were not working clearly back there (and yes, it was repeatedly mentioned that "we want to get you to the finish line party").

I had a great time, had a fabulous run (including feeling like "Frogger" as I tried to tell walkers I was on their left :D) and I would certainly do it again as I was running for a great cause.
 
RiceCrispyMickey

RiceCrispyMickey

Well-Known Member
We came from the UK to race and it would have been our first half. We were understandably devastated when they said it would be shortened, but at the same time it would have been even worse if they had cancelled. I saw a lot of lightening in the sky whilst waiting at ESPN before we should have been going into the corrals. I kept saying 'I think that's lightening' but you couldn't hear any thunder etc because it was so loud with all the pre-race entertainment on the stage. I think rundisney made the best of a bad situation, and i'm glad we got to run at least something. Yes - it's gutting that we trained so hard for a half and didn't get to run the whole thing, but at the same time the race is only 1 part of the journey. I couldn't run a mile before I started training for this - and in the next few weeks I will head out and run the 13.1 I should have done last weekend. I still found the race really tough because of the crazy heat and humidity (we are not used to that coming from the UK) and was proud I managed the 6.7ish miles in that weather. We still had a great time despite the circumstances, and though I was upset at the time, I think in hindsight they probably made the right decision. Safety should always come first, and I do think the race announcers were just trying to make things a bit lighthearted by saying 'more time at the party' rather than anything else.

The communication was really the only thing that sucked - rundisney could have communicated better about the evacuation and the course shortening. Our speaker was out on Corral G so we didnt even hear it announced, we just learned from others around us who were able to get onto social media. That is my one complaint really - apart from that we had a great time and i'd do another rundisney event (if I can ever afford it lol)
 
JasonDeyoung

JasonDeyoung

Well-Known Member
This was my first 1/2 marathon, so yes it did suck that it was shortend. But really, things could be worse. I'm not gonna cry about it, things happen. We all signed the waivers. I still had a great time as I do every runDisney race I've done. I'd do it again in a heart beat. Also I was in corral H and I heard the race announcement of it being cut short and I also seen the post on Twitter and Facebook while we were in Champions stadium. I just felt bad for the ones who let it ruin the race for them. I heard sooooooo many ppl b*tching along the run I could only shake my head and keep going. Hope y'all had a good time!
 
surfsupdon

surfsupdon

Well-Known Member
It did make me wonder what the evacuation plan is for the much larger races, that begin in the Epcot parking lot....where would they evac to for weather or to take shelter and hide? The Epcot parking lot doesn't have 3 large covered sporting arenas a short walk away.
 
surfsupdon

surfsupdon

Well-Known Member
Osborne Lights!!! You will be missed!
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psherman42

Well-Known Member
I'm torn about what happened last weekend. On one hand, I'm disappointed, because this was supposed to be part 2 of my coast to coast, and now I feel as though I didn't entirely earn it. On the other hand, after the delay, because I was all the way back in corral K, I didn't start until round 11:45. Going in, I expected to start round 11:00 so i was prepared for that, but those extra 45 minutes just kind of took the wind out of my sails and by the time I got out on the course, I just had no desire to do it anymore. I know I would have finished if it had been full half, but my motivation was just sort of gone by that point.

That said, I don't blame Disney at all. I really do think they were worried about more weather that evening and it is better to do a 10k over cancelling it all together. Once it started getting really windy, my friend and I were checking the radar and there wasn't a whole lot of rain around, but our other friend was still at Epcot and she said it had started raining. Then when we got evacuated, all of the sudden there was a lot more rain on the radar that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. I also believe that there was no way Disney could have won in that situation. Like somebody else said, if it had been a full half and people at the back had less than an hour at the after party, people would have complained. If it was cancelled, people would have complained. It was just a bad situation all around.

While the race was fun, running through the Osborne Lights was amazing, and I'm glad to have done it, I'm not sure I'll be signing up for Wine and Dine again. I didn't like being at the parks all day and having to constantly check the time so I could plan when to eat for the last time, or deciding when to leave so I could get back to the resort to change and rest for a bit. And then having to get to WWOS so early because of the road closures. It was just a long day with a lot of waiting around. I much preferred the Disneyland Half where we got there probably around 5 or so in the morning and then had the rest of the day to do whatever. So from now on, I think I'll stick to morning races. I can't wait to do another Disney race though because this definitely won't be my last. I know weather can happen anywhere and anytime, especially in Florida. Next up for me will probably be Star Wars coast to coast in 2017.
 
Texas84

Texas84

Well-Known Member
surfsupdon said:
It did make me wonder what the evacuation plan is for the much larger races, that begin in the Epcot parking lot....where would they evac to for weather or to take shelter and hide? The Epcot parking lot doesn't have 3 large covered sporting arenas a short walk away.
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Was wondering that myself. These are USATF events so I'm sure they have an evac plan. My guess is they could fit everyone in the various Epcot pavilions. They could fill up Ellen, Wonders of Life, Innoventions, etc. World Showcase is huge. Might be uncomfortable but I think they could do it. Volunteers were loaded onto buses.
 
Runnin'Gator

Runnin'Gator

Active Member
Texas84 said:
Was wondering that myself. These are USATF events so I'm sure they have an evac plan. My guess is they could fit everyone in the various Epcot pavilions. They could fill up Ellen, Wonders of Life, Innoventions, etc. World Showcase is huge. Might be uncomfortable but I think they could do it. Volunteers were loaded onto buses.
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Agreed, there's quite a bit of capacity in Innoventions, the Land, the Living Seas, Wonders of Life, and a couple of other Future World pavilions. I'm sure they wouldn't want to move people in there, but if there's no choice... Fortunately, we don't tend to get severe weather in Florida in January so it's probably not all that much of a concern.

Any idea how many people ended up in Champion Stadium? I didn't figure they'd be able to cram too many people into those corridors.
 
surfsupdon

surfsupdon

Well-Known Member
Runnin'Gator said:
Agreed, there's quite a bit of capacity in Innoventions, the Land, the Living Seas, Wonders of Life, and a couple of other Future World pavilions. I'm sure they wouldn't want to move people in there, but if there's no choice... Fortunately, we don't tend to get severe weather in Florida in January so it's probably not all that much of a concern.

Any idea how many people ended up in Champion Stadium? I didn't figure they'd be able to cram too many people into those corridors.
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We were in 3 separate holding tanks...the building that houses pack pick up, the building that houses the expo, and the baseball field. Also, a lot of people were staying outside between the 3 buildings, just milling around or sitting on the concrete.
 

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