Medical Deferral

[Gucci65]

Just wondering if anyone has ever had any luck getting a medical deferral. I have a torn tendon in the left foot which will prevent me from participating in the Wine & Dine 10k in November. Should I call runDisney OR wait until the expo and speak to officials there? Surgery is scheduled AFTER the race. Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Demarke]

Just wondering if anyone has ever had any luck getting a medical deferral. I have a torn tendon in the left food which will prevent me from participating in the Wine & Dine 10k in November. Should I call runDisney OR wait until the expo and speak to officials there? Surgery is scheduled AFTER the race. Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I haven’t done it personally, but I’d recommend going ahead and contacting runDisney now. I believe it is a no refunds policy, but I’ve read where they’ve made exceptions for medical issues or emergencies on a case by case basis. I don’t think they’ll do a deferral, what I’ve seen people report before is that they offer a refund in Disney Gift Cards that can later be used to register for a different race or use at the parks or other eligible Disney expenses/purchases. I’d recommend sending a polite request explaining the situation and attaching either a copy of the surgical order or a letter from your doctor explaining that you will not be medically cleared in advance of the race.

Hopefully, this far in advance, runDisney support handles it quickly and satisfactorily through email. If they don’t respond within a week or so (or you get a refusal), I’d recommend calling and talking to somebody (and if necessary, their supervisor) to explain the situation and ask for the refund credit (or, if local, maybe try face to face with guest services? although I’m not 100% sure they could assist from a park, perhaps maybe WWoS staff could since runDisney is within that division?)

Good luck! That stinks that you won’t be able to race, but I hope you get a good and quick resolution!

 

[Gucci65]

I haven’t done it personally, but I’d recommend going ahead and contacting runDisney now. I believe it is a no refunds policy, but I’ve read where they’ve made exceptions for medical issues or emergencies on a case by case basis. I don’t think they’ll do a deferral, what I’ve seen people report before is that they offer a refund in Disney Gift Cards that can later be used to register for a different race or use at the parks or other eligible Disney expenses/purchases. I’d recommend sending a polite request explaining the situation and attaching either a copy of the surgical order or a letter from your doctor explaining that you will not be medically cleared in advance of the race.

Hopefully, this far in advance, runDisney support handles it quickly and satisfactorily through email. If they don’t respond within a week or so (or you get a refusal), I’d recommend calling and talking to somebody (and if necessary, their supervisor) to explain the situation and ask for the refund credit (or, if local, maybe try face to face with guest services? although I’m not 100% sure they could assist from a park, perhaps maybe WWoS staff could since runDisney is within that division?)

Good luck! That stinks that you won’t be able to race, but I hope you get a good and quick resolution!

I fired off an email today with the drs notes. Hopefully that will suffice. Thanks for the advice!

 

[surfsupdon]

I’m angry because I paid for my W&D reg in 2012.

Sandy destroyed our home, our island, on Oct 30th, and I could not go to Fla and compete that very next weekend.

They did not refund my money, or give a credit, or count me as a ‘Perfect Runner,’ which I was. Even though I paid, I was not perfect bc I did not run. And I couldn’t be refunded. Bc of a natural disaster.

I was glad to see runDisney got nice with Covid, surgeries, etc. I’ve seen lots of refunds given recently. Lots of them.

Hope you get one.

 

[Demarke]

I’m angry because I paid for my W&D reg in 2012.

Sandy destroyed our home, our island, on Oct 30th, and I could not go to Fla and compete that very next weekend.

They did not refund my money, or give a credit, or count me as a ‘Perfect Runner,’ which I was. Even though I paid, I was not perfect bc I did not run. And I couldn’t be refunded. Bc of a natural disaster.

I was glad to see runDisney got nice with Covid, surgeries, etc. I’ve seen lots of refunds given recently. Lots of them.

Hope you get one.

Good grief, that’s crazy that they didn’t make any exceptions for folks in the path of Sandy! Probably a long shot, but I wonder if they’d retroactively give you perfect if you reached back out to runD now (if you’ve still done the rest of the live race weekends since then, who knows, post-Covid they might take a softer view of the impact of a massive natural disaster and it wouldn’t really cost them anything to reclassify someone in their system)?

Glad an experience like that didn’t keep you from still coming back and enjoying the races in the years since!

 

[surfsupdon]

Good grief, that’s crazy that they didn’t make any exceptions for folks in the path of Sandy! Probably a long shot, but I wonder if they’d retroactively give you perfect if you reached back out to runD now (if you’ve still done the rest of the live race weekends since then, who knows, post-Covid they might take a softer view of the impact of a massive natural disaster and it wouldn’t really cost them anything to reclassify someone in their system)?

Glad an experience like that didn’t keep you from still coming back and enjoying the races in the years since!

I let my perfect status slip throughout the years so that idea won’t work. It was an unfortunate circumstance, but I am glad to see that currently no refunds translates into maybe a refund perhaps. That’s fair for emergencies.

I still love the brand overall. Of course I continued competing

 

[PatrickJohn]

I fired off an email today with the drs notes. Hopefully that will suffice. Thanks for the advice!

Hi, I am in a very similar situation -- just injured -- broken bone in my case! What is a good email for rundisney? The webform at the rundisney website does not seem to allow uploading attachments (e.g., doctor's notes). Best of luck with your request!

 

[Demarke]

Hi, I am in a very similar situation -- just injured -- broken bone in my case! What is a good email for rundisney? The webform at the rundisney website does not seem to allow uploading attachments (e.g., doctor's notes). Best of luck with your request!

Here’s the email I’ve always interacted with when I’ve contacted them in the past: runDisney@disneysports.com

I think I’ve always started from the web form, but I doubt that’s required.

Sorry to hear of your injury, good luck!

 

[PatrickJohn]

Here’s the email I’ve always interacted with when I’ve contacted them in the past: runDisney@disneysports.com

I think I’ve always started from the web form, but I doubt that’s required.

Sorry to hear of your injury, good luck!

Quick follow-up: runDisney did offer a 50% refund of my Wine and Dine registrations. All-in-all, I thought this was kind and charitable since, by a strict reading of the rules, the race registrations are completely non-refundable. And I certainly wasn't in a position to negotiate for a better deal since I will not be out of a walking boot until late November.

I followed the advice offered above, i.e. "a polite request explaining the situation and attaching either a copy of the surgical order or a letter from your doctor explaining that you will not be medically cleared in advance of the race". It worked! I'm very glad I came across this post!

 

[Demarke]

Quick follow-up: runDisney did offer a 50% refund of my Wine and Dine registrations. All-in-all, I thought this was kind and charitable since, by a strict reading of the rules, the race registrations are completely non-refundable. And I certainly wasn't in a position to negotiate for a better deal since I will not be out of a walking boot until late November.

I followed the advice offered above, i.e. "a polite request explaining the situation and attaching either a copy of the surgical order or a letter from your doctor explaining that you will not be medically cleared in advance of the race". It worked! I'm very glad I came across this post!

Thanks for letting us know the outcome! Sounds like maybe they’re starting to tighten back up as Covid concerns are loosening, glad they at least gave you back the 50% and hope we’ll see you at another race weekend sometime in the future!!