Thinking about doing the Disney Half/Full Marathon?

[Katherine]

Hi!

So I have been a long time wdwmagic forum member but recently I haven't been posting a lot but mainly reading what's going on in the world. I sometimes find it depressing to come on to the site when everyone else is talking about their WDW travel plans when I am a college student of meager means and cannot go all that often. This being said...

I WANT TO DO THE DISNEY HALF/FULL MARATHON in 2011! The "half/full" is there because 1)I'm not sure which one I want to do and 2) I want to make this a support thread or running partner thread for those planning to run either.

Why am I starting this thread 11 months in advance? Because running either of these races takes a lot of training. I know I want to feel confident and comfortable (or as comfortable as one can feel when running 26.2 or 13.1 miles) on the day of the race.

Right now I'm shooting to do the marathon (really I like Mickey more than Donald and would rather get a Mickey medal... haha). The marathon weekend is Jan 6-9, 2011.

Let's do a roll call for all those interested! This will be a place for support and will be a place where we will all meet our goals and experience the magic (I know for me right now thinking about running either and surviving sounds like magic... haha).

For all interested please list intended race, physical fitness level, and goal for finishing as of right now.


Katherine
Marathon
Fit - Can run 5 miles continuously at about a 9 min mile pace, not a "natural runner" by any means
I would like to finish the marathon around 4 hr

Side note: if I put this thread in the wrong forum feel free to move it.

 

[Kristia]

My husband and I are training for the full marathon. We can run about 4 miles continuously. We are doing about 11 minute miles. Training has been tough due to the snowy weather in NJ right now. I don't have a treadmill. We started training in Oct. I could barely do a mile back then, so I think we are progressing nicely. We will really ramp up our training when the weather gets warmer. We are signing up for a 5 mile run at the end of May to see how we are coming. We also might try to do a half marathon in the fall. We don't have any time goals for the marathon. My goal is to finish within the time limit and hopefully not be last! Good luck! Great idea for a thread!

 

[Phonedave]

I run on and off, and this year I plan on following through and finaly doing the Marathon

There is a book out there called somthing like "the non-runners guide to marathoning" or somthing like that.

It's a 16 week program that starts week one with a three, four, three and five mile run. So if you are at that level, then you can start it.

It is 4 runs a week, for 16 weeks (two of which are your taper)

They make no bones about it. It is not designed to turn you into a competitive runner. It is designed to enable you to finish a marathon.

It was written in conjunction with a university course on marathoning. If you finished the marathon you got a A, if not, an F. They have put somthing like 300 people, most having never run more than 2 or 3 miles at once, through this course. They have had ONE person fail.

There is a lot of good mental preperation in the book as well. (I also happen to like Zen and the Art of Running for mental aspects). So much of it is mental, especialy if you are running alone. If I am on a treadmill I find myself talking myself into stopping, maily because I am bored. The bookes have helped to be able to dissect those thoughts, compartmentalize them, and then eliminate them.

When I get home, I'll post the title and author of the book if anyone wants it.


-dave

 

[jpm46]

My girlfriend and I are very interested in running in 2011. I've just begun running inside on my treadmill and we are going to try to get to a level where we can complete the Inaugural Wine & Dine Half Marathon this fall. In that race you and your partner relay and split up the distance. I believe one of you runs 5 miles and the other 8.1. Hopefully if we can complete that successfully we can do the entire half marathon in January 2011.

BTW these are cool for anyone training!

http://www.disneystore.com/new-arrivals-2011-walt-disney-world-resort-half-marathon-performance-tee-by-champion-for-men/p/1260601/303200/

 

[Phonedave]

For anyone who wants to know, the book I mentioned above is.

"The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer"

by

David Whitsett
Forrest Dalgener
Tanjala Mabon Kole

McGraw-Hill $16.95

-dave

 

[Kristia]

Thanks Phonedave! I will definitely look into that!

 

[Katherine]

Great to see everyone getting interested!

Phonedave I hear you about the on and off running. I planned on doing the marathon this january but life got in the way, but this year I'm really committing.

I also find these websites helpful...
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_4/index.shtml
http://www.marathontraining.com/marathon/m_mile.html

 

[lukacseven]

I've been a past participant several years, several different races. I usually have about 6-7 people who come down from the Philly/NY areas for the weekend and run. This year was by far the toughest year, not necessarily because of the weather conditions in Florida, but because of the weather in the Northeast. Since Thanksgiving, it snowed, rained every weekend and temperatures never reached 40 degrees. I am considering the half next year, because I feel I was not as adequately prepared for the marathon distance, as I have been in past years. In any case, I plan on registering in the next few weeks and we've already booked our resort.

 

[Main Street USA]

You can add me to the list if you plan on continuing it. I'll be down with my family, but I'll be the only one running. It's my first marathon, but I've been doing the other Disney races for a few years.

I'm just hoping to finish at this point. I know I will, I just don't know how long it will take me to get through it. My bet time for the 13k was about a 10:22 pace. I'm slowly improving on that with almost daily three mile runs these days, but it's a SLOW process. I'm hoping by January I'll be about 15-20 pounds lighter, which will really take some of the stress off of my body in general.

 

[WishIwasThere]

Already registered for the 1/2. Wife is registered for the Goofy. She's done a marathon already and is doing one in Cape May, NJ next weekend and a couple more prior to the WDW marathon, so she's in really great shape.

I just started running at the beginning of November, 40 yr old, 5'10" 200lbs (considered obese by standards), but I'm up to running 8 miles at a time at about a 10 minute pace. I run a long (6-8 mile) run once a week and couple 3-4 mile runs in between and a day or two of spin class for cross training. My goal for the 1/2, other than to finish w/o walking, is to do it in under 2.5 hours.

Wife is going to run the 1/2 with me and I'll be on the sidelines cheering her on for the full.

http://www.disneystore.com/new-arri...nce-tee-by-champion-for-men/p/1260601/303200/
Got to get me one of these...thanks for the find.

 

[BigThunderFan]

I am really torn about which one I want to do in January. I have already done a half marathon (KC 2009) and plan to do the whole one this fall, but am concerned about hobbling around WDW for the remainder of the time we are there!

I have always been told if you can run the KC marathon (or 1/2) that you should have no problem doing any other marathon, due to the hills around here. Since the WDW route is pretty much flat, how would those of you that have run it before rate it to other road races you have done?

My other question is what is the best time to come in for this? Do we check in on Friday and stay a week, or is it better to spend the week before at WDW? We were there the last week of January this year and had the best time ever! The crowds were perfect then, but what are they like right around the marathon? (I know the actual weekend will be a little busier because of the races, but besides that)

 

[lukacseven]

The Disney World courses are about as flat as they come. There are a few highway over passes you run on, but they are short and only a slight incline.

If you have already completed a full marathon, then consider the Disney full. The half course only goes through MK and the Future World portion of Epcot at the end. You get to see much more of all 4 parks during the marathon.

You will obviously need to arrive in Orlando at least the day before the race for packet pick-up - The Expo is in 2 buildings and is fairly extensive. I've found that the majority of the people arrive on Thrusday, because the 5K is Friday. If you are running the half or full, the airport and Magical Express are noticably less crowded on Friday. As far as park attendance, last year temperatures were in the 30's and 40's, but crowds (based on ride wait times) were probably the largest they've been in the past 3-4 years for the marathon. Other than Space Mt., Expedition Everest, Soarin', Pooh, Peter Pan, I think the longest wait for any attraction was about 10 minutes. I did not visit Hollywood Studios during regualr park hours, because the post race party was there on Sunday night. There were no waits to get on Tower of Terror or Rockin' Rollercoaster and about 20 min. wait for Toy Story Mania.

 

[Fievel]

I'm going to do the half marathon...

I'm thinking about starting a weekly thread where everyone can post their goals for the week, and then can check in at the end of the week.

If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

 

[Main Street USA]

I'd be into that thread, for sure.

The more I think about it lately, the more I want to do something nuts and sign up for the goofy. My longest race to date is a 13k, and I couldn't run the whole thing. I really think I want to challenge myself to the extent of just being able to tackle that many miles on consecutive days. I'll be walking plenty, for sure, but man I'll feel fantastic after getting it done. (Except my legs, of course, which will probably mean I'll need a wheelchair!)

Glad to hear so many people from the boards are going to be headed down for the races. Should be a blast!

 

[mraphael]

I'm planning on running the Full this year. I ran the Half last year (my first!) and it was so much fun, despite the COLD. I start doing my mileage next month with a running group through my local running store. As I did with the half, I'll be using the Galloway method and hope to finish in 5 hours.

 

[mom2boys]

I am running the full. Ran the Pittsburgh Marathon in May in HORRIBLE conditions (downpours for the first few hours). Pittsburgh is a tough course, and soaking wet clothes and shoes did not help! Looking forward to a flat course in Disney in January, and looking forward to spending the rest of the week after enjoying the parks!
Hoping with the crowds I can finish in 4:30 or better...After a few months off from long runs, I am starting to rebuild mileage again now Good luck everyone!