runDisney races - out with the old, in with the new?

Ariel484

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So I like to lurk (and occasionally post) on the *other* Disney message board, and a couple of interesting things have popped up recently.** Anyone want to speculate with me?? :)

1.) The Expedition Everest Challenge was listed in the Tower of Terror 10-miler weekend program. It is NOT listed in the Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend program. So that one is possibly going away.

The next two things are from one of the posters and I can't find proof of them...but it's still fun to talk about!

2a.) There are rumors that runDisney is getting ready to announce 4 new race weekends - one would (seemingly) replace Everest. Two in Florida, one in California and one in Paris.

2b.) runDisney recently posted a job listing (can't find the link) that mentioned the job would deal with their races at WDW, DLR and DLP...so that essentially confirms the Paris race.


Thoughts? I took French all through middle/high school and part of college, so I've wanted to check out DLP for awhile now - having a race there would make it even more tempting for me. And you know there are people out there that may not have had DLP on their radar before but want to do every runDisney race, so this would possibly get a whole new set of people into that park that wouldn't have gone there otherwise. And it would be great for Disney fans in Europe to have a race closer to home. :) So I'm most excited about this possibility.

Having another race weekend in California seems like a no-brainer. The demand is clearly there.

And I think they'd be crazy NOT to do a Star Wars themed race weekend in WDW. People would FLIP.

**All of this information comes from user cewait on DISBoards.
 
ISTCrew20

ISTCrew20

Well-Known Member
I'm surprised the Paris race hasn't been announced yet. I took a survey last year about it - specifically asked how interested I would be for a Paris Half, running through the park and surrounding areas and pricing which included airfare/hotel/park tickets, etc.
 
Ariel484

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
ISTCrew20 said:
I'm surprised the Paris race hasn't been announced yet. I took a survey last year about it - specifically asked how interested I would be for a Paris Half, running through the park and surrounding areas and pricing which included airfare/hotel/park tickets, etc.
Click to expand...
I wonder how long it takes to actually get a race set up? What kinds of hoops they need to jump through as far as picking the date, getting the course set up (permission from the city to close roads, get cops to stand at intersections, etc.)?? Seems like a giant headache and TONS of planning. :facepalm:
 
Mad Stitch

Mad Stitch

Well-Known Member
I can see the EE Challenge going away. Every race weekend has a 5k after all. Since the Tough Mudder races are popular maybe they would replace it with something like that? Or maybe a Color Run?

Maybe they would do a full marathon in California? Or a west coast ToT run?

I've been wanting to go to the overseas parks, a Paris race would be very tempting.
 
Ariel484

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
@Mad Stitch - totally with you on the EE Challenge. It's the only weekend left that doesn't have multiple races (excluding the kids races) so it can't be anywhere near as profitable as the other race weekends are.
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Paris is a lock, pretty sure they alluded to it in the pre-race banter at the ToT.

I could see them expanding upon Everest, but I can't see them getting rid of it. The non traditional 5k's are huge right now. I think the Color Run organizers are saying they went from like 20k runners 2 years ago, to 100K+ runners this year. I still keep seeing new zombie runs, obstacles courses, and everything else popping up all over the place. I don't think it's a money loser, since it was was what, $100 per runner this year? That's crazy talk just for a 5k. Maybe making it part of an AK themed half weekend or something.

The biggest problem with them adding more weekends (other than burnout) is time. They are filling up most of the slower seasons in FL already. Especially seeing how hot and humid it was for the ToT race, I doubt they would want to do anything between what, April and October? So the weather kills half the year. Adding more at WDW would end up with a race a month? We have Oct, Nov, Jan, Feb. Just need a Dec & March, and it's once race per cooler month.
 
Texas84

Texas84

Well-Known Member
Mad Stitch said:
I don't think they would do a race at Tokyo Disneyland since Disney does not own that park.
Click to expand...

They could do a partnership, just like they do with the city of Anaheim. But I actually hope you're right because I would be dipping into the 401K. No way do I miss that inaugural. :D

Mad Stitch said:
Maybe they would do a full marathon in California? Or a west coast ToT run?

I've been wanting to go to the overseas parks, a Paris race would be very tempting.
Click to expand...

Full through Anaheim? BORING! ;)

Paris? Yeah, I'll dip into the 401K for that one too. :)
 
SyracuseOrange

SyracuseOrange

Well-Known Member
I'd love to see Disney get into the more "obstacle" and "challenge" type runs that are becoming so popular, but obviously with Disney themed challenges. Like Phil's training camp, or something like that.

And I'm surprised that Paris doesn't have its own race yet - guess it's about time.
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Mad Stitch said:
I don't think they would do a race at Tokyo Disneyland since Disney does not own that park.
Click to expand...

They don't fully own any of the non-US parks. I believe Paris is still like 30% owned by the Saudi Prince, Hong-Kong is like 53% owned by the government, and I believe the same applies in Shanghai as well. Admittedly, that is different than Tokyo where they don't own any of it (I don't think).
 
Mad Stitch

Mad Stitch

Well-Known Member
So I was talking with a friend about the possibility of a Paris race, and he said maybe there would be a continent to continent medal. It never crossed my mind that there could be a new bonus medal.
 
Texas84

Texas84

Well-Known Member
Mad Stitch said:
So I was talking with a friend about the possibility of a Paris race, and he said maybe there would be a continent to continent medal. It never crossed my mind that there could be a new bonus medal.
Click to expand...

Same here. I was talking to a guy in line for Star Tours who had his ToT shirt on and he brought that up. I'm in.
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Less talk of transatlantic races please. I'm a sucker for new bling, and might, just might be able to sell my DW on trip to Paris with a side jaunt for a race....
 
Mad Stitch

Mad Stitch

Well-Known Member
What may happen fall of 2014? A Paris race?

Edit: Never-mind

runDisney sent participants of the Princess Half a survey asking the following question:

"runDisney is considering hosting a Half Marathon event in Paris, France in the Fall of 2014 (between late September and early November). The Disneyland® Paris Half Marathon race course would wind through both Disneyland Paris theme parks and Disney® Village, with the last 8–9 miles running through the countryside surrounding the Disneyland Paris parks."
Click to expand...

I wanted to do the 5th anniversary W&D next fall. This would change those plans.
 
Last edited:

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom