2016 Dopey Challenge Report

[Texas84]

Want to get this in before I fly out to Orange County tomorrow.

First, some quick take-aways:

Don’t try to PR these races. They are all fun runs and they are too crowded. Even the marathon. Go PR somewhere else.

Do the Dopey at least once. The sense of accomplishment is overwhelming.

The runners, volunteers, and cast members who come out for race mornings are some of the best people you will ever meet.

Wear your medals to the parks. You will be treated like a celebrity and it’s a great conversation starter. Even guests want to hear what you did.

Get a printout of your registered proof of time and the source of the proof of time and take it with you to the expo.

I highly recommend Animal Kingdom Lodge. Wish I could have tried the buffet. Take some time to explore and hit all the animal viewing areas.

 

[Texas84]

Wednesday - Packet Pickup at ESPN WWoS

Drive down to the expo after lunch. Got in and out quickly. Long walk to get pins. Saw long lines at runner relations and wondered what was going on. I’ve now heard from this forum that they were granting corral changes even though they said they would not. I got stuck in E for the 5K and 10K and O for the half and full after they lost my proof of time. Good thing about Dopey and Goofy is you don’t have to deal with the Expo if you don’t want to. It’s all in the HP center. But I'm always impressed with the organization around packet pick-up.

Went to DHS to see the lights for the last time, saw the new Star Tours scene (awesome) and checked out the Launch Bay (enjoyed it). Checked in to AKL Kidani Village after dark so I didn’t see much. Thought the place was a bit dark inside but maybe that was for the animals.

 

[Texas84]

Thursday - 5K

Wakeup at 0330. 5K from corral E. Start intervals were 8 minutes I think. Temps were in the 50s but seemed colder, maybe due to the dampness. There was a misting that looked like snow in the lights. It was nice during the run though. Finishers were already lined up for buses when I started. The course from corral E was downright dangerous. It was too crowded and some faster runners were elbowing slower runners out of the way. Finished with a disappointing 32 minutes. Don’t remember if there was Mylar but if there was I didn’t get one. No Dopey check, same as last year.

There seemed to be less waiting for busses this year. Made it back to the room and finally got to see the AKL savannahs. Wow, beautiful resort and animals everywhere. Zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, ostrich, and others. I saw animals out there all weekend. Got cleaned up and explored the resort. Walked over to Jambo House and had the standard quick service WDW breakfast. I was surprised how small the QS restaurant was. I’m used to the All-Stars. Boma was slammed. Did a little MK later and it wasn’t too crowded.

 

[Texas84]

Friday - 10K

Wakeup at 0300. 10K from corral E with 8-minute start intervals. Temps in the 50s again with rain. There was a lot more running room today and I don’t remember any bad choke points except through water stops. For this one I used the 10K long sleeve under my short sleeve and I got a bit overheated while running. Due to the rain runners were warned to be careful on the boardwalk. I didn’t have any footing issues at all but I was being careful. Finished with a 1:02. Not horrible but not great. Maybe I did slow down on the boardwalk or it was just the rain in general. No Dopey check, same as last year. This time grabbed a Mylar. Overheard some runners talking about characters and one said, “some white cat and some purple bear.” Big Disney fans there huh?

Went over to AK in the rain and renewed my AP. After the rain let up went to my Safari FP+ and saw the most animals ever. They were all out enjoying the sun. BTW, I’ve read complaints here about the AKL bus service but it was fine all weekend. Maybe I was lucky?

 

[Texas84]

Saturday - Half

Wakeup at 0300. Half from corral O. Yay. Temps in the 50s again with fog. Took the Mylar from the 10K so I could run with a short sleeve. Was very comfortable with the Mylar. Walking from the bus to the security check and some genius thought it would be smart to block the pathway with some cars. Took forever to get to security check. I was carrying a water belt so I had to get checked. Once we got past the cars blocking the way the check went quickly. Filled up my water bottles and went right to my corral and got there about 0445. My back started to bother me standing there but I knew it would be fine when I started running. The corrals went very quickly, seemed like 3 to 4 minutes. Had a good view of the big screen and there were people in the first few corrals who had no business being there. Must have friends in runDisney.

The course was packed with walkers and I spent way too much time weaving around people and having to slam on the brakes when someone stopped in front of me without warning. Did a lot of running in the grass. The run-walkers who did signal a stop were actually being thanked by runners. By the time we got to the castle you couldn’t move. Someone joked, we’re now doing a 34 minute per mile pace. The Frozen crew was on the balcony. Seemed like I passed up about 20,000 people and eventually caught up to the 3:00 pacer. Felt great but finished with a 2:30. I was not happy. Oh, and there was NO Dopey or Goofy check. That would only be done on Sunday. And no Mylar at finish.

Got cleaned up and headed to Epcot for lunch at The Land. My favorite pork chop is now served with some lumpy BBQ sauce on the side. But it was tasty. Watched the short films at Magic Eye and enjoyed them. Get a Horse was hilarious and the 3D effects were a lot of fun. I read this was shown with Frozen but I didn’t see it in a theater. Did some shopping and got a nasty cheeseburger from the Umbrella (I love the nasty WDW burger, yes I do) then headed back to AKL.

 

[Texas84]

Sunday - Full

Wakeup at 0300. Full from corral O. Yay. Temps this AM were in the 60s and I didn’t feel a chill this time. There were no cars blocking the security check this morning and it went quickly. Started to fill my water bottles from the cups and a volunteer ran over with a Dasani bottle. Can’t say enough about how amazing the volunteers are and they seemed to be even better this year. Spoke to more runners about corral placement and there was a lot of confusion. Some didn’t understand why they were back in O and some thought, maybe I did forget to put in a time. Told them you probably did put in a time, like I did. But everyone was still positive and ready to go. Made me feel better. Spoke to two Army guys who tried to sneak into corral J and got caught and sent back to O. We all had a good laugh about that.

Corral starts went quickly again and it seemed as if the marathon runners were more serious than the half runners. I had decided I needed to try and stay moving in a straight line as much as possible even if it meant slowing down. But even from O it wasn’t much of an issue because everyone was running this time. There were still choke points of course and the occasional six abreast walking groups, but they were less frequent today. Didn’t spend a lot of time in the grass today. Both ramps at the castle were used and that moved quickly this time. We were actually able to jog through the castle.

Overall, I felt strong with some minor issues. My bad foot was doing great all weekend until about mile 3 and thought this is going to be a problem. But in a while the pain stopped and it was good until the end. My time was disappointing again. I had been working on a 4:30 during training and ended up with 5:10. I think the humidity got to me and slowed me down. But as my family was saying, you just finished the Dopey, be proud of that. And of course they are right. I did hear a few ambulances in the distance and saw one headed up Osceola towards ESPN as I was headed to DHS. The med tents were full and there were plenty of runners on the side of the road stretching.

So I finish strong with a bit of a sore back, get the Mickey medal, go through Dopey check, get my Goofy and Dopey medals, get pictures, then it hits you and you try to fight back the tears. Same as last year. Even with all the whining and complaining I’ve done I’m darn proud of this. Like Jeff Galloway says about the marathon, “When you cross that finish line, you've entered an elite group. About one-tenth of one percent of the population has done it.”

Got back to Kidani and a bunch of kids were high fiving the runners getting off the bus. Everyone was having problems going down the bus steps and that put a smile on our faces. This is my second Dopey and fourth marathon and this year I did not have to go right to sleep. Went to the Kidani store and got a Coke and a hot pocket and the CM wanted to hear all about the race. I showered and went over to Disney Springs for the rest of the day. Heard a kid behind me say, “Mommy, did he have a Dopey medal?” Mom said, “Why don’t you go ask him?”

 

[Texas84]

Characters

I honestly wasn't paying much attention. Too busy trying to pass up runners without incident. The picture lines were very long.

The Wreck-It Ralph Sugar Rush truck was on the way to MK with Ralph and Vanellope. And there was a hot air balloon.

I was looking for Japanese Chip and Dale but they were in baseball uniforms.

The grave diggers were out for the marathon.

The leader of the Huns from Mulan was out for the marathon. Shan Yu? Hades was also out there.

The high school bands are always great.

Green Army men yelling at anyone who was walking up that hill before DHS. Some runners actually stopped to do push-ups. Not this guy. I wouldn't get back up.

Golfer Goofy at the course by GF. Also some guys with the crocodile. Or was that a gator?

Frozen crew at the 10K and at the castle for the half and full, complete with snow.

Track suit Mickey and Goofy and the finish line.

The locomotive was out at MK again.

Incredibles in DHS (I think).

As I mentioned earlier, "some white cat" (Marie) and "some purple bear" (Lotso) were at the 10K but I did not see them myself.

 

[tmitch]

Good for you brother. Thought I was a bad dude finishing the marathon, but to do the 4 in a row puts you in a whole other category

 

[JillC LI]

Congratulations @Texas84. Great job and great race reports. Hope your next race goes well too.

 

[surfsupdon]

Really nice report. I love that sense of accomplishment you describe. Being at Disney World, running a race that is HARD, surrounded by so many others achieving that same dream, is pure overwhelming joy and I always have a "choking up" point where I realize just how lucky I am! Love the races.

My next is Princess, and then I am trying to do something I have never done before--get to DL for my Coast to Coast!!!

 

[dreamfinder]

Congrats! FYI, I did see mylar and cool towels at the finish for both half and full.

 

[Texas84]

Congrats! FYI, I did see mylar and cool towels at the finish for both half and full.

Didn't really need the Mylar on Sunday but I didn't see any. I was looking because I wanted to take it home. Maybe they ran out. But then my mental state was not 100%. That cool towel sure was nice though.

 

[imagination30]

Didn't really need the Mylar on Sunday but I didn't see any. I was looking because I wanted to take it home. Maybe they ran out. But then my mental state was not 100%. That cool towel sure was nice though.

yeah the cooling towel was great but would have loved to get a mylar!

 

[LAKid53]

So the half is now viewed as a fun run by some participants? I can understand a 5k and possibly a 10k, but a half? Grrrrrrr

 

[Texas84]

So the half is now viewed as a fun run by some participants? I can understand a 5k and possibly a 10k, but a half? Grrrrrrr

They are all considered fun runs by some, even the full. Even the full has entertainment and character stops. The half just seemed to be more crowded then the full. More space to spread out I guess.

 

[LAKid53]

They are all considered fun runs by some, even the full. Even the full has entertainment and character stops. The half just seemed to be more crowded then the full. More space to spread out I guess.

By fun run, I meant people don't take the races very seriously and will consider them more of a miles long very brisk walk...and walk 5 abreast, getting in the way of those who are actually running the race.

I was so annoyed by some participants in my race who would walk 5 or 6 abreast in the middle of the road no less and not understand what "on your left/right/behind you" meant as I tried to pass them. Several people I talked to after the race found they had to touch people who were walking and in their way on the shoulder in order for them to move. I guess not everyone read their race guide and understood that if you are going to walk to move over to the right and don't walk more than two abreast.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Do the Dopey at least once. The sense of accomplishment is overwhelming.

Thanks for a great report. I totally agree with this statement! DH had such a sense of accomplishment, especially at his age (now he's on Medicare). Has anyone done the Dopey, then gone back to do just one race? I remember meeting someone who'd done the Dopey last year, but was "just" doing the half this year. I saw him as a god! Hope you "embraced the clang!"