Inaugural 2010 Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon Race Report

[Ariel484]

Just wanted to jump in with a random question - did anyone's families use the text alert service, and if so, how well did it work? I'm assuming they got alerts at the start, 5K, 10K, 15K and finish...is that right?

 

[dreamfinder]

Just wanted to jump in with a random question - did anyone's families use the text alert service, and if so, how well did it work? I'm assuming they got alerts at the start, 5K, 10K, 15K and finish...is that right?

That is how it should have worked. And I do recall seeing timing mats at approx those points. However, both my parents registered and neither got messages. I don't know if they went for texts or emails. I know they have had issues in the past. Back in 2008 the full marathon sent out the first one on time, the second one a few hours later, and I don't think the others ever went out. My wife was wondering what happened to me when she never got an update after the halfway point. In 2010 both the half and the full in January went out as scheduled as far as I can remember.

 

[meeskamickey]

Great report! It's so inspirational to read this. I just started running six months ago and would love to build up to running a half at one of the Disney events. Again, great report!

 

[MKCP 1985]

Just wanted to jump in with a random question - did anyone's families use the text alert service, and if so, how well did it work? I'm assuming they got alerts at the start, 5K, 10K, 15K and finish...is that right?

We didn't use it for this race, but it worked well enough at the 2009 half marathon and the 2010 full marathon.

Great report! It's so inspirational to read this. I just started running six months ago and would love to build up to running a half at one of the Disney events. Again, great report!

Thanks! I did not run at all before I started in 2008. I went from zero distance to running a half marathon in less than a year, and I'll bet you will find you can do it! Good luck!

I sent an e-mail to Disney to alert them to the problems with the bag check and back pick up and they already responded, saying they would take those comments into consideration for next year. If anyone else wants to send their comments, the e-mail address is wdw.sports.marathon.endurance@disneysports.com

 

[bryPOD]

Mickey's Halloween 5K

I was down this past weekend as well and ran the Mickey's Halloween 5K, if anyone was interested you can watch a video of my dad and I running the race HERE.

It was a great run with a ton of great picture opportunities. Happy Halloween everyone!

 

[Ariel484]

That is how it should have worked. And I do recall seeing timing mats at approx those points. However, both my parents registered and neither got messages. I don't know if they went for texts or emails. I know they have had issues in the past. Back in 2008 the full marathon sent out the first one on time, the second one a few hours later, and I don't think the others ever went out. My wife was wondering what happened to me when she never got an update after the halfway point. In 2010 both the half and the full in January went out as scheduled as far as I can remember.

Hmm. Well that's not good. I think if my husband didn't get a text with a split he'd fear I was zonked out somewhere on the course :lol: :lookaroun

We didn't use it for this race, but it worked well enough at the 2009 half marathon and the 2010 full marathon.

From what you and dreamfinder are saying it sounds like the system is pretty spotty. At least it works some of the time though...:shrug:

I was down this past weekend as well and ran the Mickey's Halloween 5K...

Great pic! :ROFLOL:

 

[joel_maxwell]

I was down this past weekend as well and ran the Mickey's Halloween 5K, if anyone was interested you can watch a video of my dad and I running the race HERE.

It was a great run with a ton of great picture opportunities. Happy Halloween everyone!

Great pic.

 

[Figment82]

I signed my mom up for the text and email alerts the day of the race, and she received them for all of the splits. I'm not quite sure if she received them on time, but she did receive them. They're fun to look back on and see how your pace and estimated finish time change throughout the race.

 

[HollyBelle]

Great video, BryPOD. I'm most jealous of the Chip and Dale photo you got. LOVE IT. And Elvis Stitch is pretty great, too!

 

[DisneyRunner]

Bryan, great video. I love those character photo ops. Where did the race start and finish? You had an excellent vantage point, right up in front. I guess it pays to get up early.

 

[Erin_Akey]

Between Holly's trip reports from last year's race and these reports on the Wine and Dine, i am getting REALLY excited for January!!!! PRAYING for warmer than last year temps though.

 

[MCC1]

Returned yesterday...here's my quick race report...overall great trip, decent race...

plus side: hanging out on field before was fun although I'd feel differently had it rained and turned it mud, short walk to the start corals compared to marathon weekend a big plus, great running a 1/2 through 3 parks @ night, was in coral A, pre start entertainment good as were start fireworks, Osborne lights being on a big surprise and major boost, loved running more through HS than you do in the Marathon...on course entertainment and volunteers great

down side: expo lame, was this the Princess 1/2 or Wine & Dine, there was like zero, zilch stuff for guys, wanted to check out some decent split running shorts and shoes but almost nothing there...race branded merchandise was mixed - we drove to Epcot and took bus to start, there was no one directing cars and people where to go for race buses, we finally found out busses were way over were Marathon stage area usually is, feel sorry for all the people in race gear we saw walking to Epcot bus station, however when we got to buses they were running smoothly, race temps deceptive, felt like it was perfect weather then 2 miles in was soaked so deceptively humid so my 1:43 target turned into a 1:52 and took way too much to get even that, post race party was a mess, they made us wear wrist bands but they weren't checking so all kinds of people were lined up on long lines at kiosks for food & drink, - clearly unticketed people that just stayed in park after Epcot was supposed to close were there...

...and worst of all, hit the finish with a straight shot and high-fived Mickey...and race photogs didn't get the shot! Was so looking forward to that one!

We stayed till close of party...although lines were too long so I never got my drink, but did get some food...

 

[MKCP 1985]

Returned yesterday...here's my quick race report...overall great trip, decent race...

...and worst of all, hit the finish with a straight shot and high-fived Mickey...and race photogs didn't get the shot! Was so looking forward to that one!

Aww, man! That would have been a great photo! I took the time to scroll through all the race photos and found double the amount of photos I was in as compared to what was posted to my race number at the asi website. I'm not recommending that anyone do that - there were over 25,000 photos! :lol: But if you scan only the finish line photos, you *might* find it.

 

[MCC1]

For a photo of me, solo high-fiving Mickey crossing the finish, I think I'll take your suggestion and take a look through the lost & found photos! Thanks!

 

[MKCP 1985]

For a photo of me, solo high-fiving Mickey crossing the finish, I think I'll take your suggestion and take a look through the lost & found photos! Thanks!

don't limit yourself to lost and found. If someone else was in the photo with a legible bib number, your photo may be posted to a stranger's account.

I hope you find your photo. I never did find a finish line photo for myself for this race.

 

[MCC1]

don't limit yourself to lost and found. If someone else was in the photo with a legible bib number, your photo may be posted to a stranger's account.

I hope you find your photo. I never did find a finish line photo for myself for this race.

I will, thanks.

As far as those asking about tracking, I always sign up so I have my splits, this time my wife's came through, all mine were MIA. Who knows.

 

[bryPOD]

Bryan, great video. I love those character photo ops. Where did the race start and finish? You had an excellent vantage point, right up in front. I guess it pays to get up early.

Thanks! The race started and finished right near the TTC. I'll definitely be returning next year for this 5K.

 

[Phonedave]

If you are talking about the guy who had on the blaster pack, and the DJ made a crack about him wearing highwater or something like that I think we all just missed each other. I was like 5 or 6 behind him in line for Mickey pics. I did hang out over where I thought the meeting area was, but didn't see anyone.

I was over in that section from roughly 8:30 until corral loading. I walked around a bit, but did not recognize anybody.

I saw two cooks on course. I didn't even think they were sampling. I thought they were going for the aromas. One of the two I saw had a fan he was using to blow the aroma into the course. Both seemed to be overwhelmingly spicy/flavored.

I only remember one, just when I was getting into DHS. I didn't think he was there to feed people either. I thought it was a strange thing to have on the course. It looked like he was cooking some kind of Asian noodle type dish.

My thoughts, they didn't have their act together for the pre race stuff at all.

Starting with the expo, at the Beach club took 4 or 5 CM's telling me that there was no bus to the Expo there, that I had to transfer to All Stars, Downtown Disney, or take a Taxi, it took me 25 mins to find the bus.

I drove to the expo, so that was not a problem. However, I was at EPCOT that day, and asked t two bus drivers where the shuttle bus from EPCOT to ESPN would be loading. They swore up and down that there was NO shuttle from EPCOT, and that I Would have to transfer through one of the host resorts. So I went to EPCOT guest relations, where two CM's there SWORE there was no shuttle from EPCOT to ESPN, and that I would have to transfer through guest relations. At least the CM at AKL-Kidani knew what was going on.

The expo itself was ok. Merch selection was a little meh. I was hoping to find a polo, but nothing doing. It looked to me like their merch designer couldn't make up their mind on the logo. Some stuff had the soles/glass logo, others had a Chef Mickey logo, and there were 2 or 3 others. Registration was nice and smooth at the 5k, but the guy at the half didn't tell me anything about a wrist band or the food vouchers. Kinda crucial part in my opinion.

They mentioned the wrist band / coupons to me. I thought there was a lot of merchandise geared toward women at the expo. Just my impression.

Bus transportation issues continued with the half marathon. Got in line at 7:30 for a bus, didn't get on a bus until 8:15. And there were still several bus loads worth of people waiting behind me. No idea when they got loaded.

I drove to EPCOT. I got to the entrance plaza at 7:00. They had 2 lanes open (as they would for a normal night) Traffic was backed up for a mile. Then they started opening new booths. Once in the parking lot, they had exiting traffic crossing the path of the incoming race traffic. So both lines had to stop and go (A CM was directing traffic at that point). I will say, once we got in and parked, there were LOADS of transfer buses waiting.

Then getting to the expo, had no idea where anything was. Saw the sign for the bag check, and started tracing the line back. After 20 mins of barely moving, it suddenly starting surging forward. At that point they were just taking bags from people and piling them on the ground.

I think I cut the bag check line. I had my bag all set to go and could not tell where the line was. I walked up to a lady and asked where the bag check line was. She said "just give it to me" and she took it and threw in on a pile of bags. Then I noticed the line of people. Oops

Finish area was ok. I finished early enough that there was no post finish congestion. Bags were a bit out of order which I could see being an issue later on, especially since they only really had the single line that then split up at the tables. Call me crazy with the heat, but a space blanket would have been a welcome touch. While walking around Epcot I chilled down way to fast, and did not feel good at all.

Bag pick-up was a mess. The queue was very bad. The poor CM trying to tell people which way to go could have really used a bull horn.

Then they lost my bag. So I ended up walking around drenched in sweat for an hour. I was freezing. I could have used a space blanket as well. I got VERY chilled very fast. I was feeling pretty crappy, and then they found my bag. I was able to dry off and change, and felt so much better after that.

Post party was both great, and ehh at the same time. The area between United States and Canada was awesome. Plenty of people, servers walking around selling drinks, etc. But once you made it past the US, it just died off. They had a decent array of entertainment, every country had a musical act, and most had characters. That said, I only saw the Jaminators setting up in Norway, and saw Mulan in China and Donald in Mexico. I never knew that the boat rides were open.

I felt it was too crowded with not enough to draw people off the food lines. Bands were OK. My friends and I went in figuring that we would be paying for F&W food, but the lines would be short, so that was the bonus for going. We were lucky to be able to use our coupons. Then they called last call at quarter too, and just shut down alcohol sales. Last call means last call to get a drink, not we are shutting down serving at this moment.

I think that if they had done a better job of describing the post race party beforehand it would have gone over much better here on the boards. Saying that Norway/Mexico would be open, and that they had 10 musical acts scheduled, plus characters is hugely different than the flyer that had the kiosks, and a musical guest at American Adventure.

I think it was just insanely crowded. But my whole perception of it may be because I walked around World Showcase literally wringing sweat out of my pants because they misplaced my bag.

Overall a pretty solid inaugural event. Some definite growing pains, but not bad.

I agree, just a few kinks to get out.


-dave

 

[Phonedave]

Just wanted to jump in with a random question - did anyone's families use the text alert service, and if so, how well did it work? I'm assuming they got alerts at the start, 5K, 10K, 15K and finish...is that right?

My friend signed up for both email and text.

He got some splits on text, and all of them on email (a tad late, but at least they came in). They were able to get over to the line to see me finish.



-dave

 

[Ariel484]

My friend signed up for both email and text.

He got some splits on text, and all of them on email (a tad late, but at least they came in). They were able to get over to the line to see me finish.



-dave

Thanks Dave, very interesting that the email worked fine but the texts did not. That's great that he got to see you finish!