JillC LI
Well-Known Member
.Nice effort @ntn_haqqer and so sorry about the passing of your father.
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Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
JillC LI
Well-Known Member
I noticed one of the options was to enter the Full. If you were signed up for Dopey, obviously this wasn't an option, but if you were just there for the Half - particularly your first Half - I was wondering if anyone signed up for the Full with the intention of stopping at 13.1 miles. Would you be at a point on the course at that spot where you could easily leave the course and call it a day? That way you'd get the experience of running a Disney race, getting liquids and cheers from the sidelines, and being able to run an interesting 13.1 mile course rather than running around a resort. Would this have been possible?
Swissmiss
Premium Member
@ntn_haqqer: So sorry to hear about your father.
wdwjmp239
Well-Known Member
Yes, there were half-marathoners who ran the full and just stopped at the 13.1 mile mark and called it done. The 13.1 mile mark was near Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom. One thing I would like to add about running inside the Animal Kingdom - with the pavement and terrain being what it is in some spots in AK - has Disney ever considered the possibility of injury for marathoners? It would seem like a rip if a first time marathoner, like myself, came running through and twisted an ankle because of how the course was in AK. I would almost take the hit in the time and just walk through AK and then pick it up when you got out into the parking lot.
Skippy
Well-Known Member
I was thinking the same thing turning out of the harambe market. Definitely more difficult road to work with than most of the course.
wdwjmp239
Well-Known Member
I wound up getting injured anyways - when I got out into the AK parking lot, my left calf cramped up on me to the point where I was hobbling to the medic tent. So, talk about getting injured on AK property? I manage to do it on a flat parking lot surface....
Welcome to my life......Ugh!
wdwjmp239
Well-Known Member
Oh yes! And they were hurting that's for sure! I was talking to one lady who was in that situation. She ran the whole thing thinking, "How bad could it be?" Poor lady was limping around Epcot - I think her family got her a wheelchair because she couldn't walk at all. The thing is - after running 26.2 miles - that's the last thing you want to do is sit down. I bet you they're still trying to peel her off that wheelchair today (Wednesday....3 days after the marathon).
wdwjmp239
Well-Known Member
Not sure if anyone has seen this yet, but..... I'm ready to take another swing at the marathon and completing the damn thing. Going to work on leg strength this year, a faster half marathon time to get me into the faster corrals, and try to keep a clear head so that nothing impedes performance.
Walt Disney World® Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna®
Event Dates: January 3-7, 2018
General Registration: February 14, 2017 @ 12:00 PM EST
Passholder Early Registration: February 9, 2017 @ 12:00 PM EST
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passholder-program/passholder-benefits-and-discounts/rundisney/
Walt Disney World® Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna®
Event Dates: January 3-7, 2018
General Registration: February 14, 2017 @ 12:00 PM EST
Passholder Early Registration: February 9, 2017 @ 12:00 PM EST
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passholder-program/passholder-benefits-and-discounts/rundisney/
Greenlawler
Well-Known Member
Well congrats to all of you.
I think I can undoubtedly say this was the most memorable Disney Marathon Weekend ever!
I've seen most dub it the 2017 Grumpy Challenge...I think it deserves it's own thread, if the mods disagree throw it back here.
I think I can undoubtedly say this was the most memorable Disney Marathon Weekend ever!
I've seen most dub it the 2017 Grumpy Challenge...I think it deserves it's own thread, if the mods disagree throw it back here.
wdwjmp239
Well-Known Member
Not sure why it was the Grumpy Challenge. Disney made good with the medals and giving the Dopey Challengers the option to participate in the full marathon, defer registration to next year, or get their money back on a gift card. Those who were complaining felt like it wasn't a real "Dopey Challenge" because they got robbed of the half marathon. So, for those who got robbed, there were those who took to the treadmills in their resort gyms to run 13.1 miles or they just ran around their resorts parking lot for 13.1 miles. A half marathon is a half marathon.....so....they ran in the rain on Saturday (after the storms blew through) and the full on Sunday...and BOOM!! They got their Dopey challenge badges. I think for the "complainers" - they were looking to get something for nothing. That's my thought. There's always next year. But, in all fairness, it was Disney's call to cancel the half marathon due to the storms in the area at start time and even on the Run Disney website for the Disney Marathon - under Runner Information - if you scroll all the way down to the bottom - it says that Disney reserves the right to cancel an event if lightning is near the course. So, would you rather get stuck in a thunderstorm where the lightning in Florida is pretty dangerous and can strike on a moment's notice or would you rather err on the side of caution and scrub the race and be safe? I like the latter. I'm not a fan of a million volts of electricity knocking me out on the course.
Greenlawler
Well-Known Member
I liked the name Grumpy Challenge and I thought it was clever. I liked the idea of printing 33 miles shirts. I did not mean to insinuate anything other than that. I did not complain at all and loved the weekend,
Almost had my own Grumpy Challenge. Since it was so cold on Marathon race morning, I figured I'd take a Disney bus and stay a little warmer rather than take the monorail from the Polynesian I was staying at and get to the race start too early and have to wait around in the cold. The bus left my hotel around 4:10 and with the traffic didn't get to the drop off point until 5:21. You all know how far the corrals are from the bus drop off. Since I was in corral D, I had to run my fastest mile of the day to get to my corral by start time with no time for a bathroom stop or warmup. Luckily I made it to the start but the stress in possibly missing my start time, the lack of a a warmup stretch and 2 bathroom breaks along the way definitely affected my time. Oh well, lesson learned for next time. Still had a great time and look forward to the next one where I will definitely get there early and avoid the buses if I can!
Greenlawler
Well-Known Member
My wife and I almost missed a start for a race a couple of years ago, then last year one of our busses broke down......very stressful! It does effect your time.
Greenlawler
Well-Known Member
I've actually mentioned this before, on a defunct WDW Running fan site, but was told I was imagining things. AK is rough.
Texas84
Well-Known Member
Squats. Lots of them.
Seriously, for my Dopey training I do a light program called Power 90 by the guy who did P90X. Worked great for me. I skipped Dopey this year and just did the weight program for my Sunday cross training. Good luck!
OG Runner
Well-Known Member
I guess I pick the wrong year to run the half on Sunday. LOL I actually was signed up for the marathon
last year and had some problems, dropped out at 13.5 miles. I didn't get a medal.
I do have to mention, if race weekend begins on the 3rd next January, that is not good. It is just to
close to the holidays. What happened to having it the second weekend in January?
last year and had some problems, dropped out at 13.5 miles. I didn't get a medal.
I do have to mention, if race weekend begins on the 3rd next January, that is not good. It is just to
close to the holidays. What happened to having it the second weekend in January?
Squats. Lots of them.
Seriously, for my Dopey training I do a light program called Power 90 by the guy who did P90X. Worked great for me. I skipped Dopey this year and just did the weight program for my Sunday cross training. Good luck!
Thanks for the tip. Love squats (call me crazy). Planks, not so much....
The 2nd weekend next year is MLK weekend... and the SW Light Side at DLR is usually run then, so there'd be a conflict.
There's already a 9 page "discussion" over in the Resorts forum started by a guest who didn't know it was Marathon weekend and complained about traffic delays, causing him to miss the last rope drop. A few of us runDisney participants have been explaining why Disney closes roads... and has signs all over property warning of road closures and delays. Stressing that the No. #1 priority is runner safety, not someone getting to rope drop....
We've been told we're lazy - made the comment that we'd love to not get up at 2am to catch our bus at 3:30am to get to our starting corral and stand around in the dark (and cold) waiting to start. That we're not the normal guests - even though runDisney participants and their families/friends make up a good % of the visitors on race weekends. I responded that Disney has early start times so most races are completed before parks open. That runDisney uses charters... and different routes to get to race drop off. That the races are only 4 weekends a year.
Also got the "but I've paid $100 for a ticket to MK!" rant. To which I responded, "runners have paid hundreds of dollars in entry fees, along with plane tickets, hotel rooms, park tickets, merchandise, meals, etc.". And many run several Disney races a year....
One of the more "adult" posters now refers to us as Runny Mcrunpants...
Imagine if the 25th anniversary Marathon was the same weekend as MLK...a busy weekend on its own.