Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend

FerretAfros

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
I'm hopeful for a return to the old course, which I liked so much better than the current one, especially with the huge portion of runners who also run the nearly-identical Half the day before. It seemed to position the parks well to reduce hitting the wall (which currently happens somewhere in the 10 mile stretch between DAK and the Studios), and I much preferred the short out-and-back to the interminable loop through WWOS

I'd be a little concerned that they won't be able to make the old course work with the larger field they have now (~20K vs ~14K runners), but the course didn't enter Epcot until around mile 2.5, and had 2+ lane roads to get there (unlike the Half/current Full course that uses a long 1-lane road to get onto World Dr, just after mile 1)
 
Mad Stitch

Mad Stitch

Well-Known Member
FerretAfros said:
I'd be a little concerned that they won't be able to make the old course work with the larger field they have now (~20K vs ~14K runners), but the course didn't enter Epcot until around mile 2.5, and had 2+ lane roads to get there (unlike the Half/current Full course that uses a long 1-lane road to get onto World Dr, just after mile 1)
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Didn't they have 2 start lines at one point? One ran through Future World and the other ran through World Showcase before merging outside of Epcot.

Don't forget that they we also need to make up distance somewhere for the back stage areas of the Studios that will be under construction.
 
C

CaptainShortty

Well-Known Member
Mad Stitch said:
Didn't they have 2 start lines at one point? One ran through Future World and the other ran through World Showcase before merging outside of Epcot.

Don't forget that they we also need to make up distance somewhere for the back stage areas of the Studios that will be under construction.
Click to expand...

That was true way back in the beginning when the half and the full were run on the same day. The routes were seperate at a certain point and then merged together.
 
FerretAfros

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
Mad Stitch said:
Didn't they have 2 start lines at one point? One ran through Future World and the other ran through World Showcase before merging outside of Epcot.

Don't forget that they we also need to make up distance somewhere for the back stage areas of the Studios that will be under construction.
Click to expand...
Yes, that was before my time, but there was a period where they had the "red" start and "blue" start, each of which took a different course to/through Epcot, and then merged around mile 3.5. Based on the USATF course certifications (September 2008), they began using that course in 2009

The red start became the "old" course with a unified start, prior to the new course for the 20th in 2013. 2012 was my first WDW marathon, so I'm not sure when they got rid of the dual starts
http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL08076EBM

Of course, the route has had a lot of changes through the years. The first few years of the race, DAK hadn't even been built yet, so they just had a long out-and-back on Bear Island Rd to the water treatment plant. The early years also had MGM toward the beginning of the course, and actually finished inside Epcot (similarly, the inaugural-and-only Disneyland Marathon finished on Main Street)
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Mad Stitch said:
Didn't they have 2 start lines at one point? One ran through Future World and the other ran through World Showcase before merging outside of Epcot.

Don't forget that they we also need to make up distance somewhere for the back stage areas of the Studios that will be under construction.
Click to expand...

Yeah. We were discussing this back when other potential course changes came up, I think specifically when ToT disappeared and we started thinking about how they would make up that distance. I remember the merge being chaos, but some other members don't remember it being so. Between that potential backstage construction (still have to find someway to enter the park to hit all 4), the loss of the speedway, and potential chaos in AK, it should be an interesting course. I imagine we will see some more in WWoS, maybe a few extensions on the out & backs. Probably enter DHS at ToT/RnRC, run down Sunset, maybe work something else in there (I'd say go backstage towards Indy, but completely cutting off traffic entering DHS would be nuts) and then out.
 
dancingtodisney

dancingtodisney

Well-Known Member
imagination30 said:
call me crazy , but we have started the process to book our room for the poly for 2016 marathon weekend.. , yes i know , but we booked this time last year for 2014 thanks to shannon and kristy... , so we are doing that process again for 2016!!
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I've already got my flights to Orlando and my accomodation for half the trip :eek:
 
imagination30

imagination30

Well-Known Member
i just looked at pics of the new hub . will this affect the half marathon route though the Mk at all? , since we run down mainstrret and turn toward tomorow land?
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Got in for Dopey for myself and 10k for my wife. As of 1PM yesterday, Dopey, 10k and 5k early reg sold out. As of 6 AM
  • Walt Disney World® Marathon presented by Cigna® - 50%
  • Walt Disney World® Half Marathon presented by Cigna® - 56%
  • Dopey Challenge presented by Cigna® - EARLY REGISTRATION SOLD OUT
  • Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge presented by Cigna® - 60%
  • Walt Disney World® 10K - EARLY REGISTRATION SOLD OUT
  • Walt Disney World® 5K - EARLY REGISTRATION SOLD OUT
  • runDisney Kids Races - 52%
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
As of 10:30 AM
  • Walt Disney World® Marathon presented by Cigna® - 58%
  • Walt Disney World® Half Marathon presented by Cigna® - 62%
  • Dopey Challenge presented by Cigna® - EARLY REGISTRATION SOLD OUT
  • Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge presented by Cigna® - 65%
  • Walt Disney World® 10K - EARLY REGISTRATION SOLD OUT
  • Walt Disney World® 5K - EARLY REGISTRATION SOLD OUT
  • runDisney Kids Races - 55%
 

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