Well lets see, all I can say is holy tulle, glitter, and sparkles! Those three things were everywhere over the weekend. Never saw that many women in tutus before.
Expo: Can't comment on this. My flights didn't allow for me to get to the Expo, so I had family get my stuff.
Goody Bags: By all accounts they dropped a few notches. Last years supposedly had cameras and socks in them. This year was a draw string mesh bag, a BIG bag to check you stuff in (good call on those!), a sample sized Luna bar, and your assorted inserts for races, commemorative stuff, and that was about it. My wife really likes my tech shirt, cap sleeves just don't work with my arms....
Merch: Once again, didn't see it all at the Expo, but they had plenty of XL running skirts and long sleeve tissue t's left over at the finish merch tent. They did have a jacket that matched the skirt (black with pink/purply swirly flower designs on it) that most people liked, but seemed to have missed at the expo, maybe they sold out really fast?
5K: Solid 5k. I placed myself in the 7:00 and under group, only had 20 or so people in that group. Turning around, and saw the masses at the 7+ corral. Beauty + Beast and Gaston took turns switching off for pre race pictures in front of a village backdrop. DJ definitely had lots of energy, and tried really hard to keep the crowd involved. On course, a little light on the CM's & Volunteers cheering, but thats to be expected from the course, just a change from the usually massive crowds Disney gets out. Characters - maybe 1/2 of a mile in, some streetmosphere, 2 of the public works guys from DHS, and a 3rd I didn't recognize, but had on a vest full or merit badges and was wearing a pith melmet with binoculars. Maybe someone from Dinorama? Anyway, China had Mulan, Germany had Snow White, American Adventure had Pocahontas, France had Princess Aurora, and in from the Millenium Pavillion entrance had Alice + Mad Hatter. Belle & Beast were at the finish line when I crossed, but I heard the announcer talking about Donald/Daisy later on so maybe they swapped? I got pictures with Gaston after the race as well. 2 water stations on course, finish line had water, Powerade, and a snack bag with a bagel, trailmix, banana, and orange.
1/2: I really prefer the Wine & Dine course over the standard 1/2 course. Just seems a bit boring. Staggered starts, each with a cheer/spell from the Fairy Godmother and a blast of fireworks. First corral was Women only, men were in Corral B & back, not an issue, since it was all about the women. I did notice a fair amount of people in Corral A who perhaps shouldn't have been? Seemed like most were correctly assigned based on pace judging by people I talked to and what I observed, but there were plenty of people walking 1/3-1/2 mile in. I understand that the Run/Walk method works great for people, but pacing in a sub 8 minute mile using it? Seems off to me. But due to the staggered starts no congestion at all.
First few miles of the course are kinda blurry. I vaguely remember a marching band or two, or maybe a DJ and some of the Celebrate people on stilts. A few miles in on World Drive they had the Epcot hot air balloon, as well as the Pirate ship float, Captain Jack, Captain Barbosa, and a handful or pirates. Maybe 1/2 mile past that was the "prince pack" or "eye candy" whatever you want to call it. Tarzan, Prince Eric, etc. 5 or 6 of the male characters. Crossing through the parking lot gate they funneled everyone into a single lane, and then spread back out. A few drivers/pit crew over by the speedway with their racecar noises playing. At like mile 4 in the TTC parking lots, island area set up. Fans were wearing Hawaiian shirts, leis, etc, and they had a beach area where supposedly Lilo & Stitch posed for pictures. Band of Japanese drummers at the TTC itself, like 20-30 of them! DJ on the water bridge by the contemporary. Nothing else til Tommorowland where family said they saw Chip & Dale in their space costumes. Alice & the Queen of Hearts were over by the teacups. Heralders and group of courtesans? (people in shiney medeival type costumes) by the back of the castle. Tiana was by the entrance to the Liberty Square Christmas Shop, and two of the Haunted Mansion ghosts (ladies from MNSSHP) were out in front of a HM float by the Liberty Belle dock. They were a hoot. Jesse was out in Frontierland, may have had someone with her, I don't remember. Leaving the Frontierland parade gate, Peter Pan, Genie, and Gepetto were posing for pictures out back by the float storage. Over near the Grand Floridan was Gaston, golf Goofy was on the golf course, and the carriage was somewhere around there. Also saw the 3 Fairy Godmothers and Sleeping Beauty/Prince in that same neck of the woods. Hess gas station had a muscle car with some greasemonkeys (car garage type guys) cheering people on. Going back down World Drive the guys/pirates had changed sides of the road in case you didn't get them going in. Sarge was on the 10MI overpass loop encouraging people the whole way. Went past the stilt walkers again. Just as you come down off the overpass into Epcot there was another band setup, (no band when I went through though) along with 3 mini sets with characters, I can only remember seeing Megra out right now, but there were 2 other groups represented as well. Family saw a different Hercules character, can remember who. Going through Epcot Phineas & Ferb!!!! were out by the entrance to Inoventions West. Going backstage over by guest relations the gospel group was again out, always inspirational. Finish line had apprentice fairy godmothers covering you with pixie dust if you wanted. Finish line snacks were water, powerade, full sized Luna bars, packaged Blueberry muffins, banana and oranges. Medals had a green gem/with light green ribbon.
Finish area had 4 setups for princess pictures. Jasmine, Ariel w/legs, Rapunzel, and Snow White. They also had a backdrop where you could do your own picture. One giant logo thing, not the repeating one like at the finish.
General Comments: Both for the 5k and the 1/2, the finish line photos were now taken with your back to the crowd, so no one could sneak a picture of you. Kinda sucks as the photographers wouldn't touch your own camera. One of them nicely said "Why, we email you the picture." To which I replied "Yeah, if we pay $15 for it." She just kinda smirked and said "So?" I see paying for course pictures, but really now? Meh.
If you are going to meet someone after the race, have a predetermined meeting place. Poor DJ made an announcement like every minute for someone else who was trying to find their friends.
Crowd at the finish line didn't really seem to have their heart in it at all. After I finished I went over and waited after the trees/split in the road, at the last curve before the bleachers as I had family finishing later. And no one was cheering. Occasionally someone would cheer when they saw their family and then leave the crowd, but that was it. A few runners tried to hype up the crowd as they ran through. Seeing this, I started cheering. And damn it felt good. Saw lots of runners perk up when they got singled out, and saw lots of people kick it into overdrive to bring it home strong. A few women/ladies/girls (no idea how old they are) joined in with me at times, but that was about it. I know from a runners aspect, hearing that cheering can mean all the difference, especially when you are almost drained. So I guess if you have a few minutes at a race, stop and cheer for some of the people still on course. If you were in the area and got sick of my yelling, I apologize profusely. If you ran through and my cheering helped to get you across the finish line, congratulations on the awesome job finishing!
To the random guy who started encouraging me at 10Mi when I started to hit the wall, I can't thank you enough. That pacing kept me on course and within spitting distance of the pace I set for myself.
Huge kudos to all the volunteers who showed up and cheered, passed out water, whatever you did. You guys help make the race and keep us runners going!
Expo: Can't comment on this. My flights didn't allow for me to get to the Expo, so I had family get my stuff.
Goody Bags: By all accounts they dropped a few notches. Last years supposedly had cameras and socks in them. This year was a draw string mesh bag, a BIG bag to check you stuff in (good call on those!), a sample sized Luna bar, and your assorted inserts for races, commemorative stuff, and that was about it. My wife really likes my tech shirt, cap sleeves just don't work with my arms....
Merch: Once again, didn't see it all at the Expo, but they had plenty of XL running skirts and long sleeve tissue t's left over at the finish merch tent. They did have a jacket that matched the skirt (black with pink/purply swirly flower designs on it) that most people liked, but seemed to have missed at the expo, maybe they sold out really fast?
5K: Solid 5k. I placed myself in the 7:00 and under group, only had 20 or so people in that group. Turning around, and saw the masses at the 7+ corral. Beauty + Beast and Gaston took turns switching off for pre race pictures in front of a village backdrop. DJ definitely had lots of energy, and tried really hard to keep the crowd involved. On course, a little light on the CM's & Volunteers cheering, but thats to be expected from the course, just a change from the usually massive crowds Disney gets out. Characters - maybe 1/2 of a mile in, some streetmosphere, 2 of the public works guys from DHS, and a 3rd I didn't recognize, but had on a vest full or merit badges and was wearing a pith melmet with binoculars. Maybe someone from Dinorama? Anyway, China had Mulan, Germany had Snow White, American Adventure had Pocahontas, France had Princess Aurora, and in from the Millenium Pavillion entrance had Alice + Mad Hatter. Belle & Beast were at the finish line when I crossed, but I heard the announcer talking about Donald/Daisy later on so maybe they swapped? I got pictures with Gaston after the race as well. 2 water stations on course, finish line had water, Powerade, and a snack bag with a bagel, trailmix, banana, and orange.
1/2: I really prefer the Wine & Dine course over the standard 1/2 course. Just seems a bit boring. Staggered starts, each with a cheer/spell from the Fairy Godmother and a blast of fireworks. First corral was Women only, men were in Corral B & back, not an issue, since it was all about the women. I did notice a fair amount of people in Corral A who perhaps shouldn't have been? Seemed like most were correctly assigned based on pace judging by people I talked to and what I observed, but there were plenty of people walking 1/3-1/2 mile in. I understand that the Run/Walk method works great for people, but pacing in a sub 8 minute mile using it? Seems off to me. But due to the staggered starts no congestion at all.
First few miles of the course are kinda blurry. I vaguely remember a marching band or two, or maybe a DJ and some of the Celebrate people on stilts. A few miles in on World Drive they had the Epcot hot air balloon, as well as the Pirate ship float, Captain Jack, Captain Barbosa, and a handful or pirates. Maybe 1/2 mile past that was the "prince pack" or "eye candy" whatever you want to call it. Tarzan, Prince Eric, etc. 5 or 6 of the male characters. Crossing through the parking lot gate they funneled everyone into a single lane, and then spread back out. A few drivers/pit crew over by the speedway with their racecar noises playing. At like mile 4 in the TTC parking lots, island area set up. Fans were wearing Hawaiian shirts, leis, etc, and they had a beach area where supposedly Lilo & Stitch posed for pictures. Band of Japanese drummers at the TTC itself, like 20-30 of them! DJ on the water bridge by the contemporary. Nothing else til Tommorowland where family said they saw Chip & Dale in their space costumes. Alice & the Queen of Hearts were over by the teacups. Heralders and group of courtesans? (people in shiney medeival type costumes) by the back of the castle. Tiana was by the entrance to the Liberty Square Christmas Shop, and two of the Haunted Mansion ghosts (ladies from MNSSHP) were out in front of a HM float by the Liberty Belle dock. They were a hoot. Jesse was out in Frontierland, may have had someone with her, I don't remember. Leaving the Frontierland parade gate, Peter Pan, Genie, and Gepetto were posing for pictures out back by the float storage. Over near the Grand Floridan was Gaston, golf Goofy was on the golf course, and the carriage was somewhere around there. Also saw the 3 Fairy Godmothers and Sleeping Beauty/Prince in that same neck of the woods. Hess gas station had a muscle car with some greasemonkeys (car garage type guys) cheering people on. Going back down World Drive the guys/pirates had changed sides of the road in case you didn't get them going in. Sarge was on the 10MI overpass loop encouraging people the whole way. Went past the stilt walkers again. Just as you come down off the overpass into Epcot there was another band setup, (no band when I went through though) along with 3 mini sets with characters, I can only remember seeing Megra out right now, but there were 2 other groups represented as well. Family saw a different Hercules character, can remember who. Going through Epcot Phineas & Ferb!!!! were out by the entrance to Inoventions West. Going backstage over by guest relations the gospel group was again out, always inspirational. Finish line had apprentice fairy godmothers covering you with pixie dust if you wanted. Finish line snacks were water, powerade, full sized Luna bars, packaged Blueberry muffins, banana and oranges. Medals had a green gem/with light green ribbon.
Finish area had 4 setups for princess pictures. Jasmine, Ariel w/legs, Rapunzel, and Snow White. They also had a backdrop where you could do your own picture. One giant logo thing, not the repeating one like at the finish.
General Comments: Both for the 5k and the 1/2, the finish line photos were now taken with your back to the crowd, so no one could sneak a picture of you. Kinda sucks as the photographers wouldn't touch your own camera. One of them nicely said "Why, we email you the picture." To which I replied "Yeah, if we pay $15 for it." She just kinda smirked and said "So?" I see paying for course pictures, but really now? Meh.
If you are going to meet someone after the race, have a predetermined meeting place. Poor DJ made an announcement like every minute for someone else who was trying to find their friends.
Crowd at the finish line didn't really seem to have their heart in it at all. After I finished I went over and waited after the trees/split in the road, at the last curve before the bleachers as I had family finishing later. And no one was cheering. Occasionally someone would cheer when they saw their family and then leave the crowd, but that was it. A few runners tried to hype up the crowd as they ran through. Seeing this, I started cheering. And damn it felt good. Saw lots of runners perk up when they got singled out, and saw lots of people kick it into overdrive to bring it home strong. A few women/ladies/girls (no idea how old they are) joined in with me at times, but that was about it. I know from a runners aspect, hearing that cheering can mean all the difference, especially when you are almost drained. So I guess if you have a few minutes at a race, stop and cheer for some of the people still on course. If you were in the area and got sick of my yelling, I apologize profusely. If you ran through and my cheering helped to get you across the finish line, congratulations on the awesome job finishing!
To the random guy who started encouraging me at 10Mi when I started to hit the wall, I can't thank you enough. That pacing kept me on course and within spitting distance of the pace I set for myself.
Huge kudos to all the volunteers who showed up and cheered, passed out water, whatever you did. You guys help make the race and keep us runners going!
