Race start congestion

[Fievel]

Ok...I know I can do the 13.1....and I know I can keep the pace...my real concern is that I have heard repeatedly that you should expect to walk the first part of the 1/2 marathon because of crowd congestion.

I plan on doing a 10-11 minute pace, which is all well and good, but if I get bottled up by traffic in the dark, that will slow down considerably. I know I'll be in one of the last corrals, as this is my first half, so can anybody help calm my fears (i.e. freakout) that the congestion at the start of the half marathon will doom me to a sweep bus?

Thanks..

 

[garyhoov]

Ok...I know I can do the 13.1....and I know I can keep the pace...my real concern is that I have heard repeatedly that you should expect to walk the first part of the 1/2 marathon because of crowd congestion.

I plan on doing a 10-11 minute pace, which is all well and good, but if I get bottled up by traffic in the dark, that will slow down considerably. I know I'll be in one of the last corrals, as this is my first half, so can anybody help calm my fears (i.e. freakout) that the congestion at the start of the half marathon will doom me to a sweep bus?

Thanks..

My biggest problem wasn't the beginning, but around mile 4. At the start, you have a nice, wide road, so people have some room to spread out. In the area around the ticket and transportation center, I was running into a lot of people who had started ahead of me but were walking byt that point . . . and there were narrow sections to squeeze through.

By the time I got past MK, things cleared out . . . and I started running too fast which gave me problems later.

At a 10-11 pace, you shouldn't have any fear of the sweep bus (besides I actually talked with one of the sweep bus people during the marathon and she didn't have fangs or anything:lookaroun). Just take your time. If you get bogged down, it will clear out soon enough

 

[Fievel]

Great...thanks...I know if i can start the pace well, I can get ahead of the back of the pack, and not worry about getting too bogged down later. I've been training at a 9:30 pace or so, but want to slow it down just a bit to make sure I have the energy to finish strong. I'm running alone, so won't have to worry about trying to wait for anybody to cut through a crowd with me.

I guess ever since the waiver form arrived, this whole thing got real for me, and I'm a bit nervous. My training is done, and I've maintained well, even running a 5 mile race on Thanksgiving at my anticipated pace in 30 degree weather as a warmup...

I just don't want to have something weird happen because I've never run a 1/2 before, and have it wrecked because of something out of my control.

 

[lukacseven]

Since they started using the wave start, the congestion at the start line has improved. If you're planning on an 11 min/mile pace, you shouldn't have a issue. I don't think it's any worse than any other race. At least the road for the first 3+ miles is wide enough to accommodate the crowd. Although the course does narrow at some parts, especially after the T&T Center, by that point you should be clear of alot of the slower walkers if you are starting near the back.

 

[srhrunner]

As stated by others, running a 10 to 11 minute pace should be no problem. The most congested portion of the half will be Main St in the MK. But since that is only a short distance, it won't really slow you down much. As for the sweeper, running a 11 minute pace at Disney, you will be absolutely safe from being swept, I guarantee it. :xmas:

 

[Disney Dawg88]

Since they started using the wave start, the congestion at the start line has improved. If you're planning on an 11 min/mile pace, you shouldn't have a issue. I don't think it's any worse than any other race. At least the road for the first 3+ miles is wide enough to accommodate the crowd. Although the course does narrow at some parts, especially after the T&T Center, by that point you should be clear of alot of the slower walkers if you are starting near the back.

I haven't run the race since 2008, so lukacseven might have to verify this, but I didn't have much of an issue with congestion at the start either. But what I will say is that you really need to avoid the right hand side of the start line. There are people that are lined up for a while to take pics with all of the characters that are there at the start. I know I got caught in it the first time I ran the half in 2006 and I made sure to avoid it ever since. If you're planning on taking pics then by all means go for it, but if you're not get as far left as possible.

But to echo the comments of the others, it is very wide at the start for the first 1/2 mile so you shouldn't have any problems. I've never had any problems at the TTC or on Main Street, but I would agree that those are the two areas of the race that the course does narrow or bottle-neck a little. For the most part I would say the course is pretty wide open. Best of luck to you.

 

[lukacseven]

The past 2 years, the start line has been really good. I think the only portion of the course where I've had trouble with the pace slowing me down has been just before and after Magic Kingdom, where Bob's Barricades block one side of the road for traffic. Once you pass the Hess station, things really thin out and the road opens back up.

 

[dreamfinder]

The past 2 years, the start line has been really good. I think the only portion of the course where I've had trouble with the pace slowing me down has been just before and after Magic Kingdom, where Bob's Barricades block one side of the road for traffic. Once you pass the Hess station, things really thin out and the road opens back up.

Sounds about right from my recollection as well. The staggered starts have removed alot of the congestion. Gotta love how it seems like Bob's has every cone in the state of FL on the roads during the races. Literally one after the other, touching the one before it. Crazy.

 

[wdwmagic]

Sounds about right from my recollection as well. The staggered starts have removed alot of the congestion. Gotta love how it seems like Bob's has every cone in the state of FL on the roads during the races. Literally one after the other, touching the one before it. Crazy.

LOL yeah I've seen that before. It always amazes me how they have them touching - it's like Disney must specify to them "we want those touching, absolutely no gaps". Only at Disney LOL

 

[Disney Dawg88]

LOL yeah I've seen that before. It always amazes me how they have them touching - it's like Disney must specify to them "we want those touching, absolutely no gaps". Only at Disney LOL

lukacseven - I completely forgot about that area, great call. Often times I would run on the grass to the right to go around people.

In regards to the Bob's cones, the two posts before this had me laughing pretty good. I swear everytime I've run in this race and in this stretch by Bob's cones someone always says something along the lines of "man Bob must have as much money as Walt Disney" or "what did Bob do to get this deal". It's always a good laugh and sort of helps with the start of the run back down World Drive, which isn't the most exciting in my opinion.