Marathon Weekend 2018

There's a link to merchandise including Finisher jackets and the baseball caps mentioned earlier in this thread.
(I'm still out the 5K medal pin, the Magic Band, and the Alex & Ani bracelet for my wife though) :(
Sending you a PM about the A&A bracelet with the running Mickey.
 
Sending an e-mail to photopass worked for me. They just responded. and I now have Mike and Sully from the Half and Oswald added to my pics.

I’ll try again. Their system must have been down when I tried because no matter how many times I filled out the online form, the submission wouldn’t go through...
 


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Well, that was fun!! :cool1:I flew in late last night (and am already feeling the post-marathon/ post-Disney vacation blues :(), but it was so fun to catch up on here and read everyone's highs and lows of their marathon weekend! I'm sorry for those that had a hard race or those that were injured or sick. And I'm so impressed with those that PR'd or otherwise did amazingly well! I wish I could have gone to one of the meet-ups, but since DH and I were with another couple, things got pretty busy.

I started the marathon in the mid-to back of H with my friend Amanda and honestly, I think it was a blessing in disguise for my first marathon. It forced us to take things slow at the beginning which helped us stay strong in the end. We followed our 2 /:30 intervals almost perfectly and it really felt manageable the entire time. I LOVED the entertainment (waving to the characters as we passed, loved the music at different points- never needed my earbuds at all! I loved the cheering spectators, and thought the on-course support of fuel and water was plentiful). We ended up stopping for two characters at the end when there was very little line (Joy/Sadness and Jasmine). We didn't stop for Everest bc I was afraid of how I would start back up again, but there's always next time right?? :rolleyes1 (and yes there will be a next time at some point!) My one disappointment was my bib crumpled up and stayed that way pretty much all race, so the only pictures are the ones where Amanda's bib is in view. I had a jumping castle shot I was excited to see that I guess I will have to imagine from here on out :sad:

Thank you to everyone on this board that inspired me and answered questions! Rundisers really are the best!
It was probably @disneydaydreamer33
I get them confused on instagram often until I look closer :)
And I would be so freakin' excited if someone confused me for @Ariel484 I'm just going to say that's definitely what happened on the course!! ::yes::

Sadly, yesterday was my first full and I got swept outside of WWOS between mile 20 and 21. It was a combination of a nervous stomach (hat to make 3 bathroom stops) and my knee tightening up so I had to mostly walk after mile 18. I enjoyed the race up to mile 18 but is was pretty disheartening after that. Yesterday was supposed to be my first full but I’m not sure I’m cut out for it. May just stick with half’s in the future.
The bathroom lines were INSANE! Between the two of us, my friend and I made 3 bathroom stops and waited a long time at each of them. We tried waiting for bathrooms with short lines- there never were any that we saw!

Thank you so much for all the well wishes for Chris’ dad. Chris just sent me a text that he made it through surgery. Still lots of challenges ahead but he made it through for now. Thanks again to everyone here.
I'm so happy to hear your Father-in-law made it through surgerey. Continued prayers for your family!

Highs:
Finishing my final Dopey
DATW on Monday

Lows:
The Weather
Ending up in a boot on Wednesday


I’ll elaborate more when I get my laptop fixed.
So sorry you ended up in a boot @Keels I hope you are able to heal up quickly.
 
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Sending an e-mail to photopass worked for me. They just responded. and I now have Mike and Sully from the Half and Oswald added to my pics.
What did your email say? My daughter got none of her pics from the HM with the exception of her finish line pics. Her bib was on her right leg and I think that is why - it seemed like all the cameras were on the left side facing. She REALLY would love her character pics. Heck give her a link to all the pics and she will look for them herself. How should she go about contacting photopass?
 
Congrats to everyone! I am back home now and finally getting a chance to read thru this and add my thoughts! Sorry, this is gonna be long...

--- Overall: I did the marathon post-pneumonia and it went GREAT! I was nervous, having been so sick and not training for most of December. I never hit a wall thanks to taking it easy, eating often, and strictly following a short interval, run/walk strategy. My longest training run was 15 miles in mid-November... which was obvs not ideal.

My takeaway: more consistent training would CLEARLY have been helpful, but many long (18m+) training runs are not necessary for me personally to finish/enjoy the race. In fact, based on my past experience they may be detrimental and cause injury. (Side note: I switched to a standing desk at work 3 years ago and my legs have been noticeably stronger and rarely tire out since then... so that helped too!).

--- Expo: I had no problems w/ crowds at the expo Saturday at 11am! However, I preordered the Dooney tote and they had none left to fulfill my preorder. :( I was sad. It's just a purse, but still, I had so looked forward to it. Dozens of them were already on eBay, meanwhile Disney was explaining to me that they had a "shipping error" and did not receive enough nor would they get any more. Hmm. I mean, I preordered the day they were released! (I was still sure to be nice to the poor Disney rep who had to break the news. Poor lady, not a fun job.)

Silver lining: this was the first expo at which I exited with MORE money than I had when entered. :rolleyes:

--- Merch Sizing/Quality: I liked the “intense Mickey face” look on some of the merch! But I’m not a big fan of the thin Champion tech shirts w/ race-specific branding that are sold at the expo. The sizing/length is weird and the shirts are flimsy. The preorder jacket design was great but sizing was also quite off. I was able to wear my ladies medium, but it was so tiny! I could have worn an XL with the way they were sized. The hats I saw were cheap material, one size fits all (which is not true). Overall everything seems of lesser quality than it was a few years ago.

--- Weather: After much consideration, I decided to layer up and focus on staying warm for the initial cold/dark miles and was glad I did. I was 100% comfortable the whole time. By the end I was down to a tshirt. I easily pocketed/tied all my layers around my waist and ditched my handwarmers. I also brought two large mylar blankets and used them in the corrals - they really kept me warm. I am always cold, and doing run/walk doesn't warm me up as much as straight running. When it comes to race day clothing, know and trust thyself!!

--- Gear check: I had on even more layers pre-race to stay warm, and checked it all in the gear check. Disney does SUCH a good job with the gear check. I've never waited in a line either to check my bag or retrieve it at Disney. Do no be afraid to gear check! Use it if you need it, and stay warm!

--- Medals: Speaking of cheap... I do love my new marathon medal, but holding it up next to my 2013 20th anniversary Disney marathon medal, there is NO comparison. The 2013 medal looks far higher quality and remained without a scratch after multiple days of in-park wear. My 2018 medal has rough seams, scratched-up edges, and the finish is rubbing off the silver in patches. However, a medal is a medal! And I do love the big Mickey ears and ribbon w/ sparkly text.

--- Crowds: I started further back in the corrals than I usually do, and the crowding was NOTICEABLE. I felt crowded almost the entire first half. Got stuck behind people walking in groups, multiple times. It didn’t really bother me since my goal was to take it slow, but I sure did notice it.

--- Photos: Many times people leaped, scrambled, or cut in front of me just as we were approaching a photographer, in order to improve their personal photo prospects. I wish more people would be aware of / courteous toward others when it comes to race photos! It also seemed like there were fewer photographers on the course? I got just as many photos from Wine & Dine, and that was a half marathon. However overall I think Disney does a great job w the photos and with making the photo spots obvious.

--- Theme parks: Super crowded until Monday evening when it cleared out (everyone was maybe home watching football?) and from then on out it was great. I especially enjoyed the new, frolicking baby tigers at Animal Kingdom, they were so cute!

Whew. That was long. Despite any minor complaints above, I had a GREAT time!!! Already planning on coming back for Wine and Dine and possibly, maybe even Star Wars! In my opinion Disney put on an excellent, well-organized, fun, inspiring race and I feel lucky to have been able to take part.

And a huge THANKS to everyone here, I have so enjoyed following along the excitement on this thread. While I unfortunately couldn’t make the meet ups, I was thinking of you all!

:sunny:
 
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What did your email say? My daughter got none of her pics from the HM with the exception of her finish line pics. Her bib was on her right leg and I think that is why - it seemed like all the cameras were on the left side facing. She REALLY would love her character pics. Heck give her a link to all the pics and she will look for them herself. How should she go about contacting photopass?

I basically gave them my bib number and the character shots I was missing from the half and the full. You could also give them the description of what you were wearing. I clicked on the link on mydisney.photopass site that said contact us. The photopass phone number is (407) 560-4300

I wish they had a "Lost and Found" section to look for photos that did not get the bib number in the shot clearly.
 
The DJ at WWOS was entertaining the crowd with ride wait times when I went past. He was asking us how far we ran whilst someone waited at Flight of Passage. It actually took your mind of things for a minute (or more - because math), but also made you realise what you’d achieved in the race so far.

Is anyone else struggling with getting back to a normal sleeping pattern? I m normally a night owl but after all those early nights for Dopey I am a different dwarf (Sleepy) by 9pm every night!
 
Marathon-DH enjoyed it. I enjoyed spectating (My sign was about the hungry demogorgons-did anyone see me?), 2 of my DDs and I took a Minnie Van to AK to see DH-super convenient.

I didn't see your sign but totally wish I would have! I was a little preoccupied looking for my husband during that stretch. He took an Uber over there and also said it was super convenient.

If anyone is wondering where to send their spectators next year, I fully recommend Animal Kingdom parking lot. It's easy to get to and not nearly as crowded as some other spots. Plus, it's a great pick me up after the halfway point with plenty of time to get to the finish or boardwalk area.
 
Running the marathon with my daughter was fun. It was gonna be me and my wife, but she woke up with a bad ankle the Tuesday before the marathon and we couldn’t get it better prior to the race. At the expo on Saturday she made the wise decision to sit the race out. So 4 out of 5 of us started and finished.

We closed down MK tonight and will finally leave WDW sometime tomorrow. I’m not sure if anyone else is left from marathon weekend. We have to drive back tomorrow (we flew down) as we’re bringing my daughter home. She worked here from late August until just before the race... and she happened to acquire some extra stuff. So I’m guessing the vehicle is gonna be packed full.

Random note: We were at EPCOT today for the start of the Festival of the Arts and happened to meet the guy who designed the current rundisney logo and another who designed this years dopey medal. One was signing prints at a booth for his art and the other was a friend of his passing by to say hello. My daughter just happened to buy a print of his she liked.
 
First off, I want to thank everyone on this Board for their great advice. :disrocks:
I may not post too much (I am a new runner) but have learned so much from everyone’s experiences.

After last year’s Half that became a Full for me, I was determined to come back to do it again, even if it meant going on my own. Last year’s Full was a blur…I didn’t really enjoy it because I was basically in Survival Mode, I finished but it didn’t feel right. I knew I needed to do it again but which race?? Well, Goofy of course! I needed to run the Half that I was supposed to run and I loved being able to run through all 4 parks so I signed up!

Highlights from the weekend:
  • The HM was awesome despite the cold. I don’t think I stopped smiling the whole time. :)
  • The first half of the Full was great! Stopped for some characters and even rode EE, lost a banana on the way there. Area around WWoS was brutal for me…I was ready to burst into tears… but I got through it with the help of the Character Text Group. I ran Goofy solo so the group was a nice distraction.
  • Stopped in Mexico for a margarita and ran to the finish line with it in hand. I was very careful not to spill any! When I crossed that finish line, I felt such a sense of accomplishment …and exhaustion but so worth it.
  • I was a little nervous about going to DATW the following day as I don’t know anyone but I am glad I did. What a great group of people (even though I like bananas and cilantro). It was a lot of fun and it was too bad that I had to leave early to catch a flight. Next time I will leave the following day! View attachment 293793
Also ... was this before or AFTER @croach forgot about me?? :sad:
 
My Marathon weekend comments....

First off I want to say that I sucked at making the Dismeets partly because our family was just having so much fun and also because when DD & I got to the 10K it was overwhelming in a spectacular way (I also forgot where the meet spot was-HA!)

Expo-we went on Thursday and had ZERO of the problems encountered on Wednesday. We were in and out in no time, waited in no lines at all. Marathon finisher jacket that DH wanted was s

Marathon-DH enjoyed it. I enjoyed spectating (My sign was about the hungry demogorgons-did anyone see me?), 2 of my DDs and I took a Minnie Van to AK to see DH-super convenient.

What I didn't like: Waking up at 2:30am! There is NO way I'd ever do Dopey because of that wake up time 4 days in a row. Also, the temps-can't really control that though.

What impressed me: The amount of organization that went into this event. (Again, we experienced NO problems at the Expo) It was by far the most well-run event I've participated in.

DH & I are tentatively planning to do the 1/2 at Marathon weekend next year (It'd be my 1st 1/2) we had such a fun time!

I SAW YOUR SIGN! I loved it! I laughed and pointed it out to my friend, who told me she didn't watch Stranger Things. So I had to berate her for the next few miles. :P
 
I didn't see your sign but totally wish I would have! I was a little preoccupied looking for my husband during that stretch. He took an Uber over there and also said it was super convenient.

If anyone is wondering where to send their spectators next year, I fully recommend Animal Kingdom parking lot. It's easy to get to and not nearly as crowded as some other spots. Plus, it's a great pick me up after the halfway point with plenty of time to get to the finish or boardwalk area.

Second this. This is where I was camped out for the 2017 marathon and it was super convenient
 

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