Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend

Mad Stitch

Mad Stitch

Well-Known Member
For the full marathon a great place I would have never thought of myself before I saw people do it this past January is at the McDonalds near AK. There is a large parking lot right next to it, then hike up the hill to Osceola. It's just after the half way split also so your friends/family will get the tracking text just before you come running by.
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
imagination30 said:
shannon or any others, that have had family come watch... , what is the best way for them to watch .. , at the finish line/ and at the magic kingdom?
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It really depends on your pace, and your family's comfort level with traveling around property. Each year runDisney will put out a spectator guide, which will provide estimated travel times and easiest ways to get from A to B. And based on your runners pace, they will tell you what places you should be able to get to. If they are using Disney transit your options are really only going to be the Start, TTC/MK area, and Finish. For the first few hours of the race, the only transit running will be the monorails from Epcot to TTC and then the MK resort loop. At the TTC/MK area depending on your runners speed you may be able to see them at the TTC, and then get over to the GF/Shade of Green area and see them pass there as well. If they watch from Main Street, you very well may not have enough time to get to any other area. (Possibly get to GF, but that may be tough) Keep in mind that at most of the popular places to cheer from, there may be 4-5 people deep at the fence, and it may take a bit to make their way to the point where they can see. Lots of people will also watch from the Boardwalk/Beach/Yacht club area, but if they cheer from there, they won't be able to make it to the finish in time. It all depends on what they want to see.
 
Ariel484

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
imagination30 said:
shannon or any others, that have had family come watch... , what is the best way for them to watch .. , at the finish line/ and at the magic kingdom?
Click to expand...
dreamfinder said:
It really depends on your pace, and your family's comfort level with traveling around property. Each year runDisney will put out a spectator guide, which will provide estimated travel times and easiest ways to get from A to B. And based on your runners pace, they will tell you what places you should be able to get to. If they are using Disney transit your options are really only going to be the Start, TTC/MK area, and Finish. For the first few hours of the race, the only transit running will be the monorails from Epcot to TTC and then the MK resort loop. At the TTC/MK area depending on your runners speed you may be able to see them at the TTC, and then get over to the GF/Shade of Green area and see them pass there as well. If they watch from Main Street, you very well may not have enough time to get to any other area. (Possibly get to GF, but that may be tough) Keep in mind that at most of the popular places to cheer from, there may be 4-5 people deep at the fence, and it may take a bit to make their way to the point where they can see. Lots of people will also watch from the Boardwalk/Beach/Yacht club area, but if they cheer from there, they won't be able to make it to the finish in time. It all depends on what they want to see.
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That's what I was going to say. In 2011 my husband and mom watched us run through Epcot, but that required them using a park ticket. This year I told them to not even both watching the half...but that's just me. :)
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Ariel484 said:
That's what I was going to say. In 2011 my husband and mom watched us run through Epcot, but that required them using a park ticket. This year I told them to not even both watching the half...but that's just me. :)
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Pretty much. You can watch from AK (may need to be in a later corral depending on if they keep the course as is), DHS, and Epcot. But watching from the park at any of those 3 does require a ticket. If you are daring you may be able to do the Start, TTC, GF, then take a WDW Resort bus from GF to AK, then watch from the AK entrance area/parking lot, then take a WDW Resort bus to Epcot to catch the finish as well.

Ditto on the half. Now my DW sleeps in, and is all nice and rested for when I get back from the half so we can go get breakfast together. Works out well. With regards to the half, unless they take the runners shuttle over in the AM, they really won't be able to get to see you, outside of maybe the finish area. Normal resort transportation doesn't run early enough for the half.
 
imagination30

imagination30

Well-Known Member
dream finder - all im looking for is half only.. stuff... , and since we are already looking at resorts .. we have it narrowed down to two .. either Poly or the grand f. , being on the monorail ... bc of suggestions.. and it looking like the gf is winning out .. :) hee!
 
Ariel484

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
imagination30 said:
dream finder - all im looking for is half only.. stuff... , and since we are already looking at resorts .. we have it narrowed down to two .. either Poly or the grand f. , being on the monorail ... bc of suggestions.. and it looking like the gf is winning out .. :) hee!
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Mile 7ish is right at the Grand...

2013-WDW-Half.jpg


Might be easiest for your mom to walk out front (leave the front entrance and walk straight ahead to the entrance to the parking lot on Floridian Way), watch you run by at Mile 7, then hop on the monorail to head to the finish area.
 
Ariel484

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
imagination30 said:
dream finder - all im looking for is half only.. stuff... , and since we are already looking at resorts .. we have it narrowed down to two .. either Poly or the grand f. , being on the monorail ... bc of suggestions.. and it looking like the gf is winning out .. :) hee!
Click to expand...
Ariel484 said:
Mile 7ish is right at the Grand...

2013-WDW-Half.jpg


Might be easiest for your mom to walk out front (leave the front entrance and walk straight ahead to the entrance to the parking lot on Floridian Way), watch you run by at Mile 7, then hop on the monorail to head to the finish area.
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This older map shows what I'm trying to say better:

resort.jpg


She wouldn't have much time to make it to the finish after seeing you at Mile 7, but it's something to think about. :)
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
imagination30 said:
dream finder - all im looking for is half only.. stuff... , and since we are already looking at resorts .. we have it narrowed down to two .. either Poly or the grand f. , being on the monorail ... bc of suggestions.. and it looking like the gf is winning out .. :) hee!
Click to expand...

If its just for the half, your only "official" options will be the start, ttc, main street, and the finish. People will watch from the Contemporary, GF/Shades of Green/Wedding Pavillion area as well. The GF may be tough, it really depends on what the pace would be. An 8 minute mile would mean they would need to get from GF to TTC and then from TTC to Epcot and walk to the finish area in under 40 mins. Not impossible, but depends on catching trains at the right time, and not having to wait. If you are closer to a 12 minutes mile, then there is an extra 20 mins and its getting closer to doable. Remember that unless you are staying at one of the Monorail resorts, (and it sounds like you may be staying at the GF) that your family would need to get on the runners shuttles to get to the start as the WDW buses won't be running then.
 
Fievel

Fievel

RunDisney Addict
imagination30 said:
shannon or any others, that have had family come watch... , what is the best way for them to watch .. , at the finish line/ and at the magic kingdom?
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In order to see you go through the Magic Kingdom, your family should probably come to the family reuinion area with you before the race. When they make the call to corrals, then they should hop the monorail to the MK. It will take awhile for them to get there due to the large amount of people headed that direction. My family learned this the hard way on my first race, when they came after the race started and couldn't get to the MK. Then, they can take the monorail back to epcot for the finish.
 
imagination30

imagination30

Well-Known Member
Fievel said:
In order to see you go through the Magic Kingdom, your family should probably come to the family reuinion area with you before the race. When they make the call to corrals, then they should hop the monorail to the MK. It will take awhile for them to get there due to the large amount of people headed that direction. My family learned this the hard way on my first race, when they came after the race started and couldn't get to the MK. Then, they can take the monorail back to epcot for the finish.
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Thanks brad!:)
 
Kristia

Kristia

Well-Known Member
For the half (if they don't have to see you in the MK) they could watch you run by at the TTC. Assuming that you are doing 8 ish min/mile that would give them 40 min after the start. From the TTC, they could head over to Epcot and see the finish. One good thing about staying at the Poly vs the GF is the TTC is within walking distance. In 2011, we were able to see my friend run by the Poly, walk to the TTC and made it to Epcot to see her finish. Well, we didn't see her finish because somehow we didn't see her run by. We were there in time, just didn't see her! Best case scenario if you stay at Poly: walk to TTC, see you run by. Walk back to Poly, see you run by and then hop the monorail to Epcot and see the finish! If they really want to see you at the MK, then they could sleep in (just a little) and hop the monorail to the MK and head straight to the finish after seeing you. Saves them from having to make two monorail trips in the morning to get to MK unless they want to hang with you until you have to go to your corral.

I wouldn't recommend them trying to see the start. There are 2 lanes of traffic separated by a large grass median. They make you run on the opposite side of where the spectators are standing. The crowd of runners is usually packed tight at this time too. It makes it nearly impossible to see anyone standing on the other side of the road. That and it is still dark out which makes it even harder to see anyone.
 
Ariel484

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
BIG changes to runDisney's proof of time policies:

New 2014 runDisney proof of time guidelines:
If you believe you will finish the Half Marathon in less than 3:15 hours or the Marathon in less than 6:30 hours, proof of time is required for start corral placement. Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge and Dopey Challenge participants should adhere to Full Marathon proof of time requirements. Please reference the Race Pacing Chart below for finish times and associated pacing per mile.
A Proof of time must be provided from a certified race reflecting results after January 1, 2012.
  • Half Marathon - 10K or longer
  • Full Marathon - 10 Miles or longer
A valid proof of time provided at the time of registration must include the following*:
  • Name of Race
  • Distance
  • City
  • State
  • Date
  • Finish time
*For example, Walt Disney World Marathon, 26.2, Orlando, FL, 1/13/13, - 3:35

If you do not have a proof of time to submit, list "N/A" at the point of registration. If proof of time is not provided by November 1, 2013 you will be placed in the last start corral. If your proof of time data is incomplete or cannot be verified, you will be placed in the last start corral. To provide or update your proof of time, you must email all proof of time data requested above to disneysports@trackshack.com. No corral changes will be made after November 1, 2013.

As a reminder, you will no longer be able to bring proof of your estimated finish time to the Runner Relations booth during the Expo and have your start corral placement changed.

Dates, times and prices subject to change. All races are subject to capacity limits and may close at any time.
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I tried to paste the pacing chart but the formatting came out terribly. This is listed in the Marathon Weekend section under the Registration tab at runDisney.com

The pace change is, I think, great - it used to be that you only had to submit a time if you thought you'd finish in 5 hours or less. Changing it to 6:30 should help with corral placement issues.

I'm very surprised that they won't change corrals at the expo and that times need to be emailed by November 1.

Overall, I think these are GREAT changes. It makes me feel like they are really buckling down on their corral placements and are taking runner complaints seriously. I'm sure it won't go smoothly the first time around, but they really needed to take better control of this.

Now they just need to get rid of the ability to automatically buy a spot in Corral B through the Runner's World Challenge...but that's another topic entirely. ;)

ETA: And holy crap....I just re-read the above post and the requirement for the marathon is a 10-miler. Not a 10K...a 10-miler. This is probably going to upset a lot of people...but seriously, GREAT change. I really think a lot of people sign up for the marathon that just are not prepared, so hopefully this will help deter that. I bet this is due to the Dopey Challenge...I feel like a lot of people will sign up for that not really knowing what they are getting into, so hopefully "requiring" at least a 10-miler will help.
 
Katherine

Katherine

Well-Known Member
Thanks for all the great info @GSpiff and @Ariel484

Yay for women's shirts and I'm glad they are trying to take a proactive step to a safer race environment. It'll be interesting to see how this helps race day.

Should we start guessing how quickly the races will sell out?
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
FYI, registration link is now working. I believe supposed to be just for DVC/Disney Visa holders, but if you know how to find it, its loading. I did just register using the DVC owners discount, which means that a better discount will come out within the hour......

Interestingly enough, they asked for pace for Dopey, with proof of time. No pace requested for the 10k, but the 5k now asked for you to pick your estimated per mile pace. Wonder if they left off the data field for the 10k, or if they are going to have a much smaller field of runners for this one, and didn't care?
 
GSpiff

GSpiff

Member
dreamfinder said:
Interestingly enough, they asked for pace for Dopey, with roof of time. No pace requested for the 10k, but the 5k now asked for you to pick your estimated per mile pace. Wonder if they left off the data field for the 10k, or if they are going to have a much smaller field of runners for this one, and didn't care?
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When I registered my wife for the 10K, they didn't ask for a pacing requirement, but that changed. If you registered for the 10K and didn't get asked for a pacing requirement, you probably will need to send an email to TrackShack to make sure you don't end up on the last corral.

Also, the corrals for this year's races will VERY different from previous years. There are going to be more corrals, each with less people.
 

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