Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend

[dreamfinder]

For the 2017 WDW Marathon, I stayed at Bay Lake Tower and while the transportation was quite convenient to get to Epcot, I'm thinking about changing it up for the 2018 WDW Marathon. If I book at the Beach Club (and since it's close to the start/finish at Epcot), am I able to walk in through the back at Epcot to the front? Or, do I have to get on the bus to go to Epcot?

Epcot won't be open to any guest (runner or non) before the official park opening time. If you stay at BC you can most definitely walk back after the race assuming Epcot is open, but to get to the start you will still need to take the shuttle bus.

 

[wdwjmp239]

Epcot won't be open to any guest (runner or non) before the official park opening time. If you stay at BC you can most definitely walk back after the race assuming Epcot is open, but to get to the start you will still need to take the shuttle bus.

Thanks for the reply. The thought was there, but I think we're going to stay at Bay Lake Tower again. The monorail connection was pretty sweet, though, on the way back from the marathon to see me hobbling through the Contemporary Resort back to the room made a few kids in the concourse look at me as if to say, "Mommy! Why is he walking funny?!?!?" as I'm proudly wearing my medal and marathon shirt. LOL! I'm ready to relive that moment in 2018!

 

[lukacseven]

"Mommy! Why is he walking funny?!?!?" as I'm proudly wearing my medal and marathon shirt. LOL! I'm ready to relive that moment in 2018!

Were you registered for the half or full? I thought you said you didn't finish the full in a previous post. Did they give out medals if you completed 13.1?

 

[wdwjmp239]

Were you registered for the half or full? I thought you said you didn't finish the full in a previous post. Did they give out medals if you completed 13.1?

My left leg seized up on me at 15.1 miles. Yes, they passed out medals even if you didn't finish (which I didn't necessarily agree with), but since I "paid" for the medal - I'll use that as a souvenir to say, "Here's my first attempt....next year....I finish it!" So, what happens is that if you don't finish the marathon, for whatever reason, you're put on a bus. The bus brings you back to the bag check area/runner staging area. When you get off the bus and head back to the bag check in, there's people there to pass out your medal. They "congratulate" you (not sure why - they congratulate you for trying? Ok? It seems weird, but we'll go with it) and give you your medal. I had suggested that they pass out two different medals so you can tell who finished and who didn't. The ones who finished - they get the gold medals and the ones who didn't...maybe get a silver/bronze medal as a souvenir. It was a thought...but i was too exhausted to get into further explanation so I took the medal and limped my way out to the park.

 

[psherman42]

Anybody considering registering for 2018? I'm really tempted, my friend who ran it this year keeps telling me to. I've never done a full marathon before and if I'm going to do one, why not Disney? But ah, 26 miles is so much!

 

[Texas84]

Thinking about Goofy so I don't have to take so much time off. Just about made up my mind to run the Tokyo Marathon in Feb. 2018.

 

[surfsupdon]

I might do a Dopey. Need to find a flight that's nicely priced

 

[lukacseven]

It's a toss up for me between the full or Goofy. I'm out on Dopey - it was fun to do it once, but too many days off and too many days waking up way too early.

Anybody considering registering for 2018? I'm really tempted, my friend who ran it this year keeps telling me to. I've never done a full marathon before and if I'm going to do one, why not Disney? But ah, 26 miles is so much!

Definitely one of the most fun marathon courses and a complete experience, from the expo to the post-race. Flat course, not necessarily fast. Check out the Galloway run/walk training plans - I hear a lot of people talk about them and they are very successful.

 

[dreamfinder]

Already registered for Dopey for next year. Makes me wish I hadn't missed year 2, woulda been a perfect. Oh well. But it's the 25th full and the 5th Dopey, so I wonder how that will affect the sales rates.

 

[psherman42]

It's a toss up for me between the full or Goofy. I'm out on Dopey - it was fun to do it once, but too many days off and too many days waking up way too early.
Definitely one of the most fun marathon courses and a complete experience, from the expo to the post-race. Flat course, not necessarily fast. Check out the Galloway run/walk training plans - I hear a lot of people talk about them and they are very successful.

That's what I've done for the half marathons I've participated in but still, the idea of doing 26 miles seems daunting. I feel like I'll probably sign up though anyway lol.

I have an annual pass, early registration starts tomorrow, right? I can't find t on the site but I feel like I saw that earlier.

 

[dreamfinder]

That's what I've done for the half marathons I've participated in but still, the idea of doing 26 miles seems daunting. I feel like I'll probably sign up though anyway lol.

I have an annual pass, early registration starts tomorrow, right? I can't find t on the site but I feel like I saw that earlier.

Under the normal pattern, yes it should. Normal registration started 2/14, so reg for AP and DVC should start today. But the DVC page still references the Super Hero half. However, a charity I have run for in the past indicated their reg would be opening today, so I'd suspect that Disney just hasn't updated their pages yet.

 

[atrus79]

Under the normal pattern, yes it should. Normal registration started 2/14, so reg for AP and DVC should start today. But the DVC page still references the Super Hero half. However, a charity I have run for in the past indicated their reg would be opening today, so I'd suspect that Disney just hasn't updated their pages yet.

This is what I found for DVC early registration for 2018 ... not sure if the AP dates are the same or not.

 

[Figment82]

DVC/AP early registration seems to have switched to the Thursday prior to general registration, instead of the Tuesday prior. Not sure of the reason, as it makes it a little more difficult to keep track rather than just knowing it was always a week ahead.

 

[dreamfinder]

This is what I found for DVC early registration for 2018 ... not sure if the AP dates are the same or not.
View attachment 188320

Yeah, should be. Just noticed that yes, they are starting on Thursday this year instead of Tuesday. *shrug*

 

[wdwjmp239]

Anybody considering registering for 2018? I'm really tempted, my friend who ran it this year keeps telling me to. I've never done a full marathon before and if I'm going to do one, why not Disney? But ah, 26 miles is so much!

I live and die by Jeff Galloway's Run/Walk/Run training method. The purpose of his program is to get you to finish (and not necessarily break any running world records) your marathon by not injuring or killing yourself to get to the finish line. Here's what I did to get myself ready for the Disney Marathon in 2017 (although I did not finish it due to injury and other things that was going on at the time, too.)

1) Start out by participating in your local 5K races - just get out there - don't worry about speed. Just get out and have fun.

2) While you're playing around with your 5K races - start looking up Galloway's Run/Walk/Run method - he'll start you off with 30 second runs/30 second walks. Then, eventually you'll work your way up to 4 minute runs / 30 second walks, but do it easily and when your body is ready for that.

3) Once the run/walk/runs are getting longer and you feel more confident in your running abilities, then take a swing for some 10Ks (6.2 miles). Get out there and have fun - don't kill yourself getting to the finish line.

4) Continue using the run/walk training method - start pushing for longer distances (10 miles)

5) Then, if you get really brave - do a half marathon or two. The first one will hurt. My first half marathon, I ran it in the heat and humidity in Florida and was miserable for a couple of days afterwards. But, it was all good! I rehydrated, rested, recovered, and was ready to run again!

6) Continue with the run/walk training method - start getting into that 15-20 mile range. Then, once you hit the 20 mile range...you can start to back off on your training for the marathon. The marathon (26.2 miles) is doable. Just pace yourself. Hydrate often. You'll be fine!

This should help you, too. Look at the training programs for the different RunDisney events and follow them. If you have never ran before - I strongly suggest starting now (pre-training) just to get your body used to the idea of running. Then, you can start your actual training according to the training schedules.

https://www.rundisney.com/training/running/

Happy Running!! See you all on the course in 2018!

 

[psherman42]

Under the normal pattern, yes it should. Normal registration started 2/14, so reg for AP and DVC should start today. But the DVC page still references the Super Hero half. However, a charity I have run for in the past indicated their reg would be opening today, so I'd suspect that Disney just hasn't updated their pages yet.

Yeah, I'm a DVC member too and just logged in and didn't see anything about the marathon. The WDW annual pass site seems to have vanished. Whenever I go to the annual pass page it has a picture of Stitch and says somebody ate the page.

I live and die by Jeff Galloway's Run/Walk/Run training method. The purpose of his program is to get you to finish (and not necessarily break any running world records) your marathon by not injuring or killing yourself to get to the finish line. Here's what I did to get myself ready for the Disney Marathon in 2017 (although I did not finish it due to injury and other things that was going on at the time, too.)

1) Start out by participating in your local 5K races - just get out there - don't worry about speed. Just get out and have fun.

2) While you're playing around with your 5K races - start looking up Galloway's Run/Walk/Run method - he'll start you off with 30 second runs/30 second walks. Then, eventually you'll work your way up to 4 minute runs / 30 second walks, but do it easily and when your body is ready for that.

3) Once the run/walk/runs are getting longer and you feel more confident in your running abilities, then take a swing for some 10Ks (6.2 miles). Get out there and have fun - don't kill yourself getting to the finish line.

4) Continue using the run/walk training method - start pushing for longer distances (10 miles)

5) Then, if you get really brave - do a half marathon or two. The first one will hurt. My first half marathon, I ran it in the heat and humidity in Florida and was miserable for a couple of days afterwards. But, it was all good! I rehydrated, rested, recovered, and was ready to run again!

6) Continue with the run/walk training method - start getting into that 15-20 mile range. Then, once you hit the 20 mile range...you can start to back off on your training for the marathon. The marathon (26.2 miles) is doable. Just pace yourself. Hydrate often. You'll be fine!

This should help you, too. Look at the training programs for the different RunDisney events and follow them. If you have never ran before - I strongly suggest starting now (pre-training) just to get your body used to the idea of running. Then, you can start your actual training according to the training schedules.

https://www.rundisney.com/training/running/

Happy Running!! See you all on the course in 2018!

That's too bad you weren't able to finish the marathon this year! I'd be so disappointed. I hope you're doing ok.

I've already done a couple of half marathons, so I'm ok with that distance, it's just trying to imagine doing that twice that is just so daunting lol. But I still really want to do it. I definitely wouldn't go in trying to get some outstanding time, I'd just want to finish. Each of the races I've done, I've used the run/walk method and it works pretty well. I haven't gone running since the Wine and Dine Half because it's been so cold where I live, but I really need to get back into it soon since I'm doing the Star Wars Dark Side Challenge in April.

 

[Texas84]

I'm a big Galloway fan but I'm in the camp that believes training runs over 20 miles are counter-productive. Check out Hal Higdon's plans. Of course, that is my opinion.

 

[psherman42]

I follow the run/walk method, but the longest run I did before Wine and Dine was 8 miles and I was fine. My friend who ran the marathon last month's longest run before was 8 miles as well and it was her first marathon.

 

[wdwjmp239]

I'm a big Galloway fan but I'm in the camp that believes training runs over 20 miles are counter-productive. Check out Hal Higdon's plans. Of course, that is my opinion.

That's where I modify Galloway. I don't see any benefit running 26 miles in the training runs. If you look at the Galloway training plan for the WDW Marathon, he has you running 26 miles a few weeks before the Disney Marathon. If you were to do that, then I would actually start the Galloway program a month before the actual start date in the RunDisney training program (see WDW Marathon Training Program in link below) that way you'll have some time to do a proper taper. But, I agree. I'm in the camp where 20 miles should be the limit. That way you're only left to "dope out" the last 10K (6.2 miles) in your marathon. After all - you ran 20 miles....what's another 6? Hell...that would be a nice cool down walk after running 20 miles, don't you agree? LOL!

https://www.rundisney.com/training/running/

 

[wdwjmp239]

I follow the run/walk method, but the longest run I did before Wine and Dine was 8 miles and I was fine. My friend who ran the marathon last month's longest run before was 8 miles as well and it was her first marathon.

I also got sick a month before the Disney Marathon and wasn't quite over the bronchitis/sinus infection I had so the longest run I got in was pretty much at the Disney Marathon (15.1 miles). I never thought I would see the day where I would pay out so much money for a long training run! Next year...for sure....even if one of my fellow WDW Marathon junky friends (and you guys in this discussion forum) have to drag me across the finish line. LOL!