Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend

[Ariel484]

No props involved in WoC. They may have made some for a special showing, but the entire show is water/lights/projection based. No actual performers. At least not from the videos I have seen and when I saw it after the DLR 1/2.

Sorry, I typed that out wrong...I read it was part of the pre-show, not the actual show. Either way, neat but not worth the hype.

Ayup. Most certainly. Hopefully in the next few days. : )

Woohoo! Looks like your dog poses so nicely...my dog would definitely think I was giving him a shiny new chew toy...one of the many perils of owning a beagle.

 

[LindsayLoves]

Hi all! Glad to hear that everyone made it through and got their hands on that gorgeous medal.

I finished in 5:08 and took pictures at about half of the character stops along the route. I ran with my brother at a really nice and easy pace until reaching Animal Kingdom when he told me to go ahead and have a good race, he finished about 45 minutes after me. Its funny because we had totally different character experiences - he didn't see Launchpad McQuack, he had Darkwing Duck instead, I had Mr. and Mrs. Incredible he had Frozone, and Sully and Mike Wazowski weren't out for him. I also saw Jeff Galloway running in Epcot coaching one of his runners around France I said hi and he waved, didn't expect to see him on the course.

I loved the crowds at Animal Kingdom, it was a much needed boost at the halfway point, lots of people cheering me on by name.

We both hated WWoS, the concrete was super hard on my IT band and it just went on forever with little to no payout at mile 20. Also I was super peeved when entering that area and there was the announcers talking to the people who were exiting WWoS saying "Only 6 miles to go" and I knew I had around 10 more, not awesome at all.

After showering and taking ice baths we went to Epcot and celebrated with a glass of champagne in France. Not a ton of racers there after the race but saw tons of people on Monday in the parks. We went to Artists Point at the Wilderness Lodge as our celebration dinner and it was out of this world. Definitely worth the cost. Somehow we made it from 2:30am to about 9:30pm without a nap!

If I would change anything I would stay longer after the race as opposed to going so early. My legs were pretty fatigued by the time the race came around due to all the walking around the parks for the 4 days befor, rookie mistake I guess.

 

[LindsayLoves]

Also, loved meeting up with @LindsayLoves, @Texas84 and @Mad Stitch before the marathon, as well as @Texas84 cousin and @LindsayLoves brother before the marathon (and thanks for letting me hang out with you guys in the corrals). i have a picture i will post today or tomorrow. Ran into @Kristia on the half course in Fantasyland!

I second this Shannon! It definitely helped settle my pre-race nerves seeing and chatting with everyone.

 

[Mad Stitch]

Well I’m home from WDW, unfortunately. I’m happy to say I successfully completed my first full marathon. My pace was right where I wanted it to be through the half way split, then the sun and humidity really sucked the will out of me on Osceola Parkway. My time for the second half was double what is was for the first half. I just kept on pushing though and finished at 6:39. I would like to have done better, but my only goal was to be faster than the required pace and avoid being swept and I succeeded in that.

I agree with what others have been saying. I thought the speedway would be fun to run through, but except for the classic cars there wasn’t much to see in there. I thought the WWoS was never going to end with all twists and turns. Then I wasn't expecting much at the mile 20 spectacular, but even what they did have let me down a little.

The highlights. I was surprised to see the castle Christmas lights on, especially after being at MK on Friday when they did not have them on. As I ran through AK the cast was prepping Expedition Everest for the park opening, so I was able to hop on for a quick ride. At the turn onto World Drive there was a bus that was not the official sag wagon, but was still a way out for the people who wanted to throw in the towel on the last 6 miles. The bus driver was outside of it yelling “I don’t want to see any of you get on my bus. You can finish this race.” which was motivating. And of course it was nice to meet LindsayLoves, Texas84, and Ariel484 before the race. What happened to the rest of you? Sorry I don’t have pictures to post. I’m not the picture taking type of person.

 

[Texas84]

The highlights. I was surprised to see the castle Christmas lights on, especially after being at MK on Friday when they did not have them on. As I ran through AK the cast was prepping Expedition Everest for the park opening, so I was able to hop on for a quick ride. At the turn onto World Drive there was a bus that was not the official sag wagon, but was still a way out for the people who wanted to throw in the towel on the last 6 miles. The bus driver was outside of it yelling “I don’t want to see any of you get on my bus. You can finish this race.” which was motivating. And of course it was nice to meet LindsayLoves, Texas84, and Ariel484 before the race. What happened to the rest of you? Sorry I don’t have pictures to post. I’m not the picture taking type of person.

We saw a few runners going into EE. Crazy! And good thing we saw your shirt that morning or we wouldn't have found anyone. But we did not make a stop at UK for that beer.

 

[Ariel484]

Okay, I've loaded in my race photos (took a couple of hours!)

First, I was in line at a character stop in Fantasyland during the Half Marathon. I looked to my right, and who did I see?

It's fellow Goofy Challenger @Kristia! Also got to meet her husband Dan! So glad we spotted each other...what are the chances?! We actually saw each other again later that afternoon as they were leaving Kona and we were waiting to be seated.

And here's the picture from the 4AM meet-up before the marathon!

L-R: Brandi - @Texas84 cousin, me, Mark - @Texas84, Steve - @Mad Stitch, Lindsay - @LindsayLoves, and Michael - @LindsayLoves brother.

Again, I was incredibly (unexpectedly) nervous before the race and it helped SO much to have people to chat with! We met by the W tent at the start and I know some people walked by and missed us...we need signs in the future!

To anyone who didn't make it to the meet-up...we missed you! Glad to hear that we all finished strong!

 

[JillC LI]

As I ran through AK the cast was prepping Expedition Everest for the park opening, so I was able to hop on for a quick ride.

For real?!?! They let you do that? And it didn't throw you off? I'm impressed!

Okay, I've loaded in my race photos (took a couple of hours!)

And here's the picture from the 4AM meet-up before the marathon!

L-R: Brandi - @Texas84 cousin, me, Mark - @Texas84, Steve - @Mad Stitch, Lindsay - @LindsayLoves, and Michael - @LindsayLoves brother.

Love the group pic! Congrats to one and all.

 

[Ariel484]

For real?!?! They let you do that? And it didn't throw you off? I'm impressed!

When I ran by it was 7-8 minutes before park opening and people were lining up:

I've heard they send runners through the fastpass area of the queue.

I kind of wish I had waited (how often do you get to ride a roller coaster in the middle of a marathon?!) but I'm truly not sure how shaky it would have made me had I ridden it. Oh, and I also heard people rode Rock 'n' Rollercoaster in the Studios - no way could I have survived that one at mile 23/24.

 

[Mad Stitch]

Oh, and I also heard people rode Rock 'n' Rollercoaster in the Studios - no way could I have survived that one at mile 23/24.

What!? That one isn't even along the course route. You'd really be going out of your way to hit that one. By that point of the race I just wanted to be done with the last 2.5 miles.

 

[Katherine]

Glad everyone had a great time! I tried to find you guys but couldn't find anyone, I actually asked a couple groups hanging out if they were from WDWMagic. Oh well, next time...

I agree with WWoS, it literally went on forever. I was a bit underwhelmed with the 20 mile spectacular. They built it up so much and the puppets were cool but other than that... it was just another mile. Had a great time and took lots of pictures and had lots of fun along the way through my entire Dopey experience! Heading home tomorrow morning

The medals were awesome though! That marathon medal is going up on my wall pronto!

 

[Texas84]

When I ran by it was 7-8 minutes before park opening and people were lining up:

I've heard they send runners through the fastpass area of the queue.

I kind of wish I had waited (how often do you get to ride a roller coaster in the middle of a marathon?!) but I'm truly not sure how shaky it would have made me had I ridden it. Oh, and I also heard people rode Rock 'n' Rollercoaster in the Studios - no way could I have survived that one at mile 23/24.

Wow, I wouldn't have made it out of the car!

 

[Texas84]

Trip report! We got in Friday, and went to DisneyQuest to get the basic annual pass. Checked out Splitsville. That place is impressive! Checked in to the timeshare near Seaworld, then headed to Epcot for the pasta party. I was surprised at the people in there. Plenty of characters for pictures but we wanted to do Test Track and Soarin'. Bad iPhone picture but you get the idea. Maybe. Brandi decided she was going to count how many times we heard Gangnam Style. Turned out to be only four.

 

[Texas84]

Saturday we went to All-Star Sports for the traditional Mickey waffle. Then hit the expo. House of Blues for lunch. Went to sleep around 7pm.

 

[Texas84]

Sunday wake up at 3am to make the 4am meet up. Traffic was still light at that time. Fun putting some faces to names. They called A&B to the corrals first so this year was a more comfortable walk. Less crowding and no baby steps this time. Fireworks from corral G. I think we launched about 6:15.

 

[Texas84]

The first stop towards MK was Capt. Jack and Barbarossa. I won't post the bad picture. Looks like I was shaking. Maybe I was. Asked Brandi if she had money for parking. She was not amused. I could hear others making that joke as we approaching the parking booths. You can see the sun is already coming up.

 

[Texas84]

As we exited MK my Garmin went to low battery mode. I forgot to charge it. Idiot. I think it went about mile 10. On to the race track. The entrance tunnel was rough. Hope no one fell in there. We went to the Expo tips session and they said this was a 9 degree grade. We really enjoyed looking at the cars. Reminded me of the Disneyland half. Mater, McQueen and Finn McMissle were there!

 

[Texas84]

On to AK. Bear Island didn't seem as bad as last year but a lot of people were groaning. The vacationers invited us to stop for BBQ but we passed. Villians were back again as well. Got this nice shot of an AK train in the mantenance shed. They had another out for pictures.

 

[Texas84]

On to (groan) Osceola Blvd and, appropriately, ran into the gravediggers. There was a long line for pictures here. Kudos to these runners for being able to get back up.

 

[Texas84]

Next WWoS. I didn't think we would ever get out of there. Seemed to go on forever. We enjoyed the track but had to stop and get rocks out of my shoe. By this time everyone was walking and we had to go through gravel to get around. Feet starting to blister up bad after running through corral A-F's water stop sludge every few miles. And it was really starting to get hot. Through the stadium and on to the spectacular! Woo-hoo!

That's it?

 

[Texas84]

Back on Osceola headed to DHS. As we approached DHS we could see the sweepers headed towards WWoS and Brandi got nervous. A runner told her not to worry. The volunteers were holding large bottles and yelling 'showers!' We took every opportunity and it felt great! Turned into DHS and I had to stop running. I was feeling dizzy and I think the heat was getting to me. The wet socks were making the blisters worse. Stopped in DHS and got me an ice cold Coke. Yes I did. The official photographers got a pic with me and my Coke. It was awesome but hard to swallow. After DHS we stopped at a med tent for some tylenol. Helped me a lot and I could have gone back to running but at this point Brandi's feet were cramping and she couldn't run. In fact I wanted to run. But this was her marathon so I stayed with her. I could tell she was hurting bad and I was trying to be supportive. We got passed by the 7:00 pace group near Electric Umbrella and she decided she was going to run across the finish no matter what. We saw this wonderful sight and I said "Go!"