On January 6th, 2018, my mother and I participated in Walt Disney World’s 25th Marathon Weekend to do the half-marathon. It was so much fun, and I plan to do many more. I want to give you guys an overview of the experience, my favorite moments, and my not so favorite moments.
We arrived there days prior to the race. The first day all we did was check into our hotel, we stayed on property which is what I highly recommend when doing race weekends because of the free bus transportation.
Reasons to Stay on Property
Other than all the typical benefits to staying on property (click this link for more information), it is extremely beneficial to stay on property during race weekend because of the transportation. During race weekend, you are required to visit the runDisney Race Expo to pick up your bib. If you’re staying on-property, they have buses that come by every 20-30 minutes during race weekend taking you to and from the expo. Also, the buses will pick you up the morning of the race from 3-4am.
The runDisney Expo
At the Expo, you are only required to pick up your race bib and t-shirt that came with your race registration. In my opinion, the other stuff you can purchase at the expo is overpriced. There is some cool stuff there, but I found myself picking up something I wanted to buy, looking at the price and immediately putting it back. For example, there were some cool gloves with an LED light strip on them. The pair of gloves cost $49.95! Outrageous pricing if you ask me. I recommend purchasing glow necklaces from dollar tree before running since it is pretty dark for the first half of the race. There was an awesome photo opportunity on the way over to the buses where you could pose with a banner representing the race(s) you were running that weekend. Make sure you bring your I.D. to collect your bib and keep that bag they give you when you get your t-shirt/bib! I’ll go more in depth with why below.
What to Wear and Bring to the Race
Most people dress up in costumes before the race. I slightly dressed up because I mainly wanted to wear clothes I was comfortable running in. My costume was subtle which I didn’t necessarily regret, but next time I think I will dress up more. When you’re wearing a costume, it starts good conservations with those around you when waiting in those corrals (the worst part of race day!). I did a DIY look where I made my own Eeyore tail and ironed-on “Oh Bother” to the front of my shirt. My mom just wore a tank with a cute bow in the back. The only things I would bring to the race would be a hydration belt with at least 10 ounces of water, your phone, a protein bar just in case, and a plastic grocery bag. The plastic grocery bag is mainly for after the race which I will explain in the section “Running the Race”.
Before the Race
It is crucial to make the bus to your race. The buses run continuously back and forth from your resort to the race from 3am-4am, so this means you have only 2-3 chances to make the bus depending on how close your resort is to that starting line. Once we arrived at the race there was a bag check. This is a free service where you can put items you might want or need after the race in ONLY those bags from the expo. Which is why I told you to make sure you keep that bag! The worst part of the entire event wasn’t how bad my feet hurt after, it was waiting in the freezing cold and wind for the race to begin in our corrals. I made sure to wear cheap throw away clothes that I can throw off during the run. All the jackets, gloves, hats, etc. thrown along the race get donated to charity—so don’t feel bad about throwing those things off during the race!
Taking Care of Yourself Along the Race
Before arriving at the race make sure you eat breakfast! They do not provide breakfast before the race. I fueled up how I normally would for a morning run (some fruit and a cliff bar) and turned out feeling fine. Along the race, they have adequate amounts of water and PowerAde, but I would still recommend bringing at least 10 ounces of your own water just in case. They also had a station near the middle of the race for Jelly Nelly Sports Beans. These were so tasty and given out at the perfect time along our route. Before you get to the corral, and right when you get off the bus there are porta potties. There are real restrooms when you run through Magic Kingdom, but mainly porta potties along the rest of the way. We stopped at a real bathroom right before the entrance to Magic Kingdom and the line was so long. It took about 20 minutes just to get to a stall. The porta potties along the way also had these really long waits. After about mile 8 (note: I did the half marathon) the lines were almost non-existent.
Running the Race
At the starting line, fireworks are set off as each corral was released. Once you start running you will notice encouragement all around. I personally did not train much, but I am slightly in-shape so this encouragement was needed (I was scared!). Good news is, I didn’t really feel like I needed training. Sure, it would’ve made my legs and feet not hurt as much after the race, but I ran/walked the entire race and there was still THOUSANDS of people behind us (we finished at 3 hr 15mins). The worst part about navigating the race was the congestion built up in some areas. I remember feeling like I couldn’t run even if I tried after the Magic Kingdom because there were so many people blocking the way. The buildup usually occurred near the resort areas (especially Grand Floridian in my experience). That was probably the most frustrating part of the race, but on to the fun stuff. At each mile marker, they play a Disney song and have the time posted on a sign with a character on it. A lot of people used this as a photo op but there was a line at every single marker I saw. I thought the characters along the way were pretty unique compared to characters that are at Walt Disney World every day. Some I remember seeing were Mike & Sulley, Jack Sparrow, Tink with all the other fairies, Mary Poppins’ penguins, mice from Cinderella, Aurora and her prince, Jack & Sally, and Sebastian). The lines to meet these characters were always too long for me to want to wait in them though. Along the race, they also had live choirs, bands, and DJs playing encouraging and upbeat music. Near the end of the race you end up in Epcot and the guests waiting for the park to open are cheering everyone on. When you finish the race, you get your medal right away and then this is where the grocery bag comes In. They give you a mylar blanket, box of yummy food (chips, oreos, chocolates, etc.), bananas, water bottle, and a bottle of PowerAde. So, it was a lot to try and carry with one hand. The grocery bag would have been nice to have. I recommend a grocery bag because they can fold up really small and fit in your hydration belt.
That’s all I have for runDisney Marathon Weekend. If you need help finding the race that’s right for you please contact me for a free, non-obligatory quote. Using me as a travel agent can get you more tips and tricks to make your race weekend more fun filled and magical! Thanks for reading as always 🙂
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