Registration for last week's races opened in July 2021.
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Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Registration for last week's races opened in July 2021.
OG Runner
Well-Known Member
Yes, it was just that I was busy. Ran the 5k with my girlfriend. Ran into @Disneygrl after the race. Ran and completed the Marathon on Sunday. Heading back North today. In Orlando airport now.
Surferboy567
Well-Known Member
The first person to win ALL 4 RACES in runDisney history. This was too cool not to share.
Source: Chip & Company
Surferboy567
Well-Known Member
Runners who were in person for marathon weekend. What is the effect of the races on the parks in terms of wait times? Are we talking major differences or a slight uptick?
I’m in the midst of planning my park time in between races for Springtime Surprise. I normally wouldn’t like to say this but being that we are in the parks for only three days…do I have to give in and purchase Genie +?
I’m in the midst of planning my park time in between races for Springtime Surprise. I normally wouldn’t like to say this but being that we are in the parks for only three days…do I have to give in and purchase Genie +?
surfsupdon
Well-Known Member
They were packed! I only went to DHS for Tower and Mama Melrose. There was nothing else I wanted to do but lay at the pools, recover, and drink and eat well! The sun was amazing.
Surferboy567
Well-Known Member
I gave in and (regrettably) got Genie +.
Demarke
Have I told you lately that I 👍 you?
Don't get me started on Genie+, if you're staying off-site it's basically worthless. I've been suckered into using it three times. Once at Epcot during Wine & Dine (you didn't really need it for any of the rides that qualified), then went to Magic Kingdom where there was pretty decent availability, but I think that was only because the crowds were so low due to it raining most of the day (you didn't really need it much there either that day; Jungle Cruise had a "posted" wait of 70 minutes and maybe 25 people in line I was able to bypass by using Genie). I made the mistake of trying it this past Wednesday for HS, and was able to use it for a 12:30 Tower of Terror slot and a 3:30 Star Tours. Star Tours didn't need it, so I was going to try to modify it, but that restarts the two hour clock all over to add an additional one (which keeps you from adding any other rides in the interim). Long story short, $15+tax got me Lightning Lane for Tower of Terror and Indiana Jones (which obviously doesn't need it either). I looked at it for Magic Kingdom again last Friday, but decided against it because everything decent only had availability in the late afternoon/early-evening when you really don't want to still be in the parks anyway when you have to get up at 2am for a race
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Surferboy567
Well-Known Member
I did it for a couple of reasons. Normally, I wouldn’t be there for only 3 days. I usually take reasonably long trips so am able to do whatever I want. This trip’s prime goal is the Springtime Surprise.
When you take 4 parks into account, every line can mess your time up. We plan on park hopping every day. Obviously, we are going to have to take it easier because of the races. I’m hoping though I can knock out a couple of rides though with it. Thankfully it wasn’t too expensive that if we don’t get much out of it I won’t feel too bad.
I have already made my thoughts on Genie clear. In this case though, it may be worth it. Not a fan of the system at all. Didn’t use it when I was down there in December.
surfsupdon
Well-Known Member
Did anyone else notice that, unlike in years past, we did not receive any literature at the expo for the many runDisney discounts at Disney Springs if you show your medal or bib (which did not exist), nor did we receive discounts at the water parks. I always enjoyed those little perks.
OG Runner
Well-Known Member
1. You need to run slower, like me.
OG Runner
Well-Known Member
The parks were very busy during the week. I stayed from the 2nd, leaving on the 11th. Just as examples, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had a 90 wait at one point. Peter Pan was about 60 to 75 minutes on several times and Flight of Passage actually had 165 minute wait one day. I paid the extra and bought the lightning lane.
OG Runner
Well-Known Member
I agree. We were on property and trying to get rides at 7:00am and still ended up with ride times between 11:00am & 2:00pm.
Given being off-site you are delayed in signing in, I am sure the times could be insane.
Greenlawler
Well-Known Member
As far as the races for me....This year I ran the 5,10, and half with my wife. She does not train at all and really just likes the enviroment and characters. I think we stopped for every character but one or two each day. Oddly enough I think running with her helped me on Sunday. Of my 15 WDW Marathons, this was not my fastest by far, and it's not even top ten, but I really decided to take it easy, and had to tell myself, it would be okay. I had to fight the urge to get frustrated by folks passing me. I mean crossing the finish line 20 minutes slower than 2020 didnt mean anything to anyone but me and I was a totally fine after the race. I had some slight thigh soreness but that was it. I only grunted occasionally going down stairs lol.
I got to spend a lot of time with Criegh Kelly by the pool at our resort, very interesting conversations.
But I think I might have come home with Co-Vid. I don't feel that bad, just tired. I tested negative last night but something is up for sure. I know another Perfect Dopey who went home with Co-Vid, and a couple of Perfect Dopeys lost their Perfect status because they tested positive during the week.
I thought the races were really well done this year, and I loved the course changes excpet mile 18-22 at the marathon. Lots of characters out for the marathon especially. While I missed the days where they would throw out a really "wow they are never out" character, I feel like they came close by putting out characters like Wilbur Robinson, Bolt, Little John, etc....
Parks were indeed crowded. We waited 80 minutes for Jungle Cruise on Thursday. And 150 minutes for Pandora on Monday (the estimated time was 60 minutes when we got in line). We would have left the line if we had known earlier.
I got to spend a lot of time with Criegh Kelly by the pool at our resort, very interesting conversations.
But I think I might have come home with Co-Vid. I don't feel that bad, just tired. I tested negative last night but something is up for sure. I know another Perfect Dopey who went home with Co-Vid, and a couple of Perfect Dopeys lost their Perfect status because they tested positive during the week.
I thought the races were really well done this year, and I loved the course changes excpet mile 18-22 at the marathon. Lots of characters out for the marathon especially. While I missed the days where they would throw out a really "wow they are never out" character, I feel like they came close by putting out characters like Wilbur Robinson, Bolt, Little John, etc....
Parks were indeed crowded. We waited 80 minutes for Jungle Cruise on Thursday. And 150 minutes for Pandora on Monday (the estimated time was 60 minutes when we got in line). We would have left the line if we had known earlier.
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lukacseven
Well-Known Member
Ahhhh. Those were the days when running had it's perks - even free park admission.
lukacseven
Well-Known Member
Were there any spectators out along Yacht & Beach Club? There used to be a considerable amount in past years pretty much from when you got to the backside of the Boardwalk pool all the way to the finish. I was usually pretty tired by that point and the crowd/CMs were a big help carrying me through the last 2 miles.
Surferboy567
Well-Known Member
Those FOP wait times really amaze me sometimes. It is my second favorite ride ever but man…that is long.
surfsupdon
Well-Known Member
Yes, the BoardWalk canal and Boardwalk proper were loaded with spectators. Easily a favorite part.
Surferboy567
Well-Known Member
To all my fellow virtual marathon weekend runners out there. Got the email from runDisney where they stated that “Your medals and shirts will arrive soon”. Instead of an actual timeframe, they used that wording with Wine & Dine. This makes me think it may take a while for our medals and shirts to arrive.
Maybe even longer if you ran a virtual challenge.
Maybe even longer if you ran a virtual challenge.
Swissmiss
Premium Member
I hope it’s just “age and Dopey” catching up on you and making tired, but sending good thoughts all the same.
pdude81
Well-Known Member
What a weekend. It was really nice to get kind of close to back to normal, huh? Sorry I didn't say hi to you @DznyGrlSD when giving instructions. I definitely heard you that day but was rushing to the start after having to spend time buying G+ at the front desk each race morning. At least the lines were short there! I ended up scurrying to bag check from the monorail and not even looking up.
For this weekend I started out with little sleep and felt like trash because of it, not that it stopped me from hitting the expo and then extra hours at MK that night. G+ wouldn't work on my phone so I went through all the motions with tech support, blue umbrella, and Guest Services before giving up. I just kind of winged it at DHS and MK anyway that day. But the expo sure was combed over! Got there at 12 or so and as you know the pickings were slim for challenge merch.
Some things I still could have bought but I don't feel right getting "I did it" stuff when I didn't do it yet. The things I really wanted were the medal pins, and they only had like 2 or 3 of them available from the shorter races. I did snag a marathon weekend long sleeve one size smaller than I like, so that was almost good? I wish they would just get pictures of the merch ahead of time and let us order whatever we can through the portal before the rest hits the expo. Then again, I was already getting 6 shirts with the races that I didn't need, so why buy one more.
Oddly I felt better each day even though I got almost no sleep, and my 5k took 80 something minutes just waitin for the first 2 characters. I didn't even run slow to get to them! By the time I got to France they'd already shut down that line so I was out of luck. Very disappointed in that, given that they know the lines get long and that after running past backstage trash compactors, a couple rare characters are a sight for sore eyes.
10k time wasn't much longer than the 5k time, and felt pretty good on the half even til close to the end. I would skip the first character or two as long as they weren't super exciting to me, and then the rest seemed to have much shorter lines. Nothing like that cluster**** at Epcot on Thursday. I was barely sleeping, left vitamins home, and not real careful with food other than during the race, and still was feeling more relaxed as time went on. Not sure how that could be other than lightly jogging everything at base (10-10:30) pace with lower HR, then mixing in walking as needed.
Night before half I ate the full runners pasta from Capt Cooks and was stuffed. Prob not a great idea as I felt odd the next morning. Never became a major issue but I was spooked early. After the half I though gorged myself at Space 220 and didn't even have dinner. I think I had a banana for a late snack and went into the marathon on an empty stomach. That was an even dumber idea, as I was afraid to eat and mess up my stomach during the race. I basically just stopped and drank 2 cups of (watered down) powerade most aid stations to give some sort of sugar boost. I strongly considered stopping in DHS for a coke but just kept on. Felt great up through the half and was stopping for tons of characters, but by 15 I started tanking. Mixed in walking increasingly from there and just tried not to get in a sour mood. I'd say by the boardwalk path over to Epcot I was feeling mentally tired/foggy so I tried not to push too much. Still manage to finish the full under 6 hours which is the best I can expect my training falling apart over the past 2 months.
I'll say that I am way less sore from this weekend than either of the 2 other Disney marathons I've done, and I'd attribute it a lot to just keeping active in the day(s) afterward. Lots of park time/walking. That and keeping my heart rate lower so it could burn more fat and give me a chance to finish. In a way I lucked out failing at my training, because otherwise I would have pushed too hard in these races and probably tapped out early on Sunday.
Congrats to everybody who ran this weekend. It was fun and I really enjoyed the different shirts, costumes, teams, spectators, etc. that came out.
For this weekend I started out with little sleep and felt like trash because of it, not that it stopped me from hitting the expo and then extra hours at MK that night. G+ wouldn't work on my phone so I went through all the motions with tech support, blue umbrella, and Guest Services before giving up. I just kind of winged it at DHS and MK anyway that day. But the expo sure was combed over! Got there at 12 or so and as you know the pickings were slim for challenge merch.
Some things I still could have bought but I don't feel right getting "I did it" stuff when I didn't do it yet. The things I really wanted were the medal pins, and they only had like 2 or 3 of them available from the shorter races. I did snag a marathon weekend long sleeve one size smaller than I like, so that was almost good? I wish they would just get pictures of the merch ahead of time and let us order whatever we can through the portal before the rest hits the expo. Then again, I was already getting 6 shirts with the races that I didn't need, so why buy one more.
Oddly I felt better each day even though I got almost no sleep, and my 5k took 80 something minutes just waitin for the first 2 characters. I didn't even run slow to get to them! By the time I got to France they'd already shut down that line so I was out of luck. Very disappointed in that, given that they know the lines get long and that after running past backstage trash compactors, a couple rare characters are a sight for sore eyes.
10k time wasn't much longer than the 5k time, and felt pretty good on the half even til close to the end. I would skip the first character or two as long as they weren't super exciting to me, and then the rest seemed to have much shorter lines. Nothing like that cluster**** at Epcot on Thursday. I was barely sleeping, left vitamins home, and not real careful with food other than during the race, and still was feeling more relaxed as time went on. Not sure how that could be other than lightly jogging everything at base (10-10:30) pace with lower HR, then mixing in walking as needed.
Night before half I ate the full runners pasta from Capt Cooks and was stuffed. Prob not a great idea as I felt odd the next morning. Never became a major issue but I was spooked early. After the half I though gorged myself at Space 220 and didn't even have dinner. I think I had a banana for a late snack and went into the marathon on an empty stomach. That was an even dumber idea, as I was afraid to eat and mess up my stomach during the race. I basically just stopped and drank 2 cups of (watered down) powerade most aid stations to give some sort of sugar boost. I strongly considered stopping in DHS for a coke but just kept on. Felt great up through the half and was stopping for tons of characters, but by 15 I started tanking. Mixed in walking increasingly from there and just tried not to get in a sour mood. I'd say by the boardwalk path over to Epcot I was feeling mentally tired/foggy so I tried not to push too much. Still manage to finish the full under 6 hours which is the best I can expect my training falling apart over the past 2 months.
I'll say that I am way less sore from this weekend than either of the 2 other Disney marathons I've done, and I'd attribute it a lot to just keeping active in the day(s) afterward. Lots of park time/walking. That and keeping my heart rate lower so it could burn more fat and give me a chance to finish. In a way I lucked out failing at my training, because otherwise I would have pushed too hard in these races and probably tapped out early on Sunday.
Congrats to everybody who ran this weekend. It was fun and I really enjoyed the different shirts, costumes, teams, spectators, etc. that came out.