Disneyland Half Marathon 2024

[StarGirl11]

Ok I got on the line at Partner Statue for five minutes, they need an express lane for people who just want to get one shot and dip.

Yeah I was waiting for someone so I got in the line. Took 45 minutes. Good photos though.

What happened at water stop 3? I need to take some time to gather my thoughts about this Disneyland trip because it’s been pretty disappointing. But I want to catch up on sleep and make sure I’m not just my sleep deprivation talking.

But one thing is for sure I’ve enjoyed meeting many of you. Even if it was just a quick hi. @dis_or_dat pulled me along in the half this morning and we managed my third and fourth fastest miles of my club 71 adventure at mile 12 and 13. Who would have thought I’d still have gas in the tank after such an exhausting endeavor. That or I just really couldn’t wait it to end

I waited about 20 mins for my pic at about 10:15 this morning. Unfortunately the sun is shining directly onto my face and it’s bouncing off the medals. But it’ll have to do because I don’t want to lug them all back to the park.
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Basically someone in their infinite wisdom decided to put a water station at what is considered a choke point. (Coming out of DCA and before your really into the esplanade). You had so many people getting water and Powerade and once it made it impossible to move

Ftr this isn’t necessarily a new race problem. It’s a poor planning problem. They also once had a year where they put porta potties at a point backstage that made the lines take up 90 percent of the course

I figure they’ll fix it next year

Also for all of the issues we had this weekend. There are definitely things WDW could take note and learn from a chair perspective. Having someone help us navigate the chute back to the tent for all three is one. Having more than just a bike guide for the leads is another

 

[AZMermaid]

Did anyone else see the volunteers sleeping on the benches around mile 7.6?

No! But funny!!

Water stop/mile 3 was just a way too narrow of a space for a water stop. When I wentbto the volunteers were frantically trying to move the tables back the few inches they were away from the wall. I felt for them- it was a very chaotic situation. It looks worse in that pic than when I went through. We didn’t jam until just about the exit doorway area just before the water area.

 

[AZMermaid]

What happened at water stop 3? I need to take some time to gather my thoughts about this Disneyland trip because it’s been pretty disappointing. But I want to catch up on sleep and make sure I’m not just my sleep deprivation talking.

But one thing is for sure I’ve enjoyed meeting many of you. Even if it was just a quick hi. @dis_or_dat pulled me along in the half this morning and we managed my third and fourth fastest miles of my club 71 adventure at mile 12 and 13. Who would have thought I’d still have gas in the tank after such an exhausting endeavor. That or I just really couldn’t wait it to end

I waited about 20 mins for my pic at about 10:15 this morning. Unfortunately the sun is shining directly onto my face and it’s bouncing off the medals. But it’ll have to do because I don’t want to lug them all back to the park.
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FWIW- I love this pic!

 

[furiated]

When I was getting pictures there was two other people who had been taking pics for awhile. Photopass ended up asking them to move because they were interfering with the photopass shots. I just don’t think there’s enough space unless people want angled shots and not ones head on with the statue and castle.

That's a good point. It's a pretty tight space in there. Probably not much you can do for that particular spot.

 

[fatmanatee]

I’m mostly happy with how it went, race was about what I expected and I wasn’t that concerned about photo ops (although I can totally understand people being disappointed about how that went). I’m still baffled that they had nobody at AC… I think they were concerned about space issues but they had a LOT to work with just off the course and they didn’t do anything. Maybe they could have had another photo op here and there before the race reached the actual parks, to spread people out a bit more. I think a few of these complaints can be fixed with some tweaks, and like I said before, i think they’ll benefit by holding this later in the month.

 

[fatmanatee]

Somehow the line at the statue has gotten worse lol.

 

[Blue Caterpillar]

Did anyone else see the volunteers sleeping on the benches around mile 7.6?

Doesn't Disneyland have to use paid workers now? Which I'm not sure makes that more or less funny.

 

[fatmanatee]

Doesn't Disneyland have to use paid workers now? Which I'm not sure makes that more or less funny.

Correct, they can’t use volunteers for this, a lot of them are contracted workers.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Somehow the line at the statue has gotten worse lol.

I am happy I planned on doing those photos tommorow. Over in DCA I got the pic with Walt and mickey statue with no wait then went over to Goofy and Daisy with very little wait got medals.

 

[furiated]

I am happy I planned on doing those photos tommorow. Over in DCA I got the pic with Walt and mickey statue with no wait then went over to Goofy and Daisy with very little wait got medals.

Yeah I only brought my Half medal in today for a couple photos. I'll bring them all in tomorrow and hope that the lines are a bit less crazy.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

I am now in hot tub... I am in heaven.

 

[AZMermaid]

Race report with maybe TMI among running friends!

First it was great meeting a few of you this morning! I started in D and was shocked how many more people there were today than yesterday. I felt this a lot in the park miles. Of course I had to pee early on but the lines were so long. I finally pullled off at the Flos bathroom which wasn’t too crowded. I lucked into the bigger stall which was good because my underwear was chafing a bit and I knew it’d get worse. So commando it was and it was instantly not a problem. My back was bothering me a bit throughout the park miles. I was also frustrated by lack of characters and especially unique characters. I did stop for Pete and was happy with that one. My on course photos came out MUCH better than yesterday, so that was a plus. Skipping ahead the finish line ones were also great!

I stopped at the med tent at 4.5ish for bio freeze and Tylenol. My new best friend put it on my back for me. After that, my back was fine. Yay! I settled into the street miles pretty good. I was able to maintain my 60/30 interval throughout the race. In reading about the DL races, I read about all the local support and was expecting more. Bit I know they don’t get tix anymore, so I sure that impacts things. I loved the bands and the signs that were out.

I texted my husband and best friend at 8 that things were going decent and just 5 more to go…. So. We make that turn to the Honda center and I was admiring what turned out to be the Anaheim transit building- the ones with the arches. Well, I took my eyes off the ground and tripped. I think over the white reflecter things but maybe just an uneven spot. I hitnthe ground hard and splayed out. Lots of gasping and oh my god-ing. 5-6 people stopped including a woman who had a wipe and a couple where the man said he was a medic. I intially jammed my shoulder and scraped my elbow and hand. Fortunately this happened maybe a block before the med tent. They were super nice and cleaned me up. I did Runner math and figured even if I had to walk it in, I’d be ahead of the balloon ladies. As I left the med station and restarted my music- Go the Distance randomly came on!

But I was able to maintain my intervals. Woot! I loved the energy at the Honda Center. I stopped for the DVC picture and then my knee started hurting. Like almost right away. Same side as my elbow and I had a small mark on it, so maybe from the fall, maybe I just tweaked it? I debated again walking it in, but it hurt more walking.

The Disney Way sign might be my new favorite- I was so happy to see it! My husband and kids were cheering for me at the end which was wonderful. I got a bit teary at the home stretch. I was hoping to PR over my only other half for Princess 2019, but that was not meant to be. But I enjoyed the race besides the injuries.

Im the opposite of a lot of you. DL is a 6 hour drive so these races are much easier for from a cost and time perspective. But I loved Princess and agree the WDW half was better. They can’t do much about the course through the city, but they should have been better prepared for the crowds and had more in number and more unique character stops in the parks. Not getting to run at Angels stadium was a bummer too, but probably out of their control with all the dirt bike/monster truck events going on in Jan.

Im not gonna say never again. I loved the 10K and it is just so much easier to get here. But…. I hope Run Disney is taking notes and makes changes.

Oh and my knee is killing me! But we braved the parks and while crowded- not as bad as I expected. The genie issues sucked.

 

[Z-Knight]

Did anyone suffer water stop 3? The videos on social media are horrible.

links, or it didn't happen.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Water stop 3 photo courtesy of FB

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Ah, the memories! This is exactly what it looked like for us. My thoughts echo many of the PPs. I was in D today (E yesterday) and I was shocked at what a difference it was. Yesterday, I commented here about how wonderful it was with no bottlenecks and crowds. Today was the exact opposite. The first 5 miles or so through the parks were miserable. I still can't believe the difference. Way way too many people. For the first time, I saw three people go down--and all that blood at mile 6 (actually my daughter saw it--I didn't look). Easily the worst start for me in the 16 or so half races I've done. Also... the security lines on the harbor side to get back to the Grand were horrible. The last thing I wanted to do was stand on pavement in a half-hour long line. RD needs to do better. I thought the course could use a lot of improvement and I missed the entertainment and Cos players that they used to have. I know the red hat ladies were gone before the last races, but I miss them too. Anyway, glad to have the races back, but I hope things are better in September.
P.S. My very few races photos are also not good.

 

[furiated]

Interesting tidbit from one of the FB groups, I wonder if it's true:

RunDisney had nothing to do with these races! Disneyland Special Events took over and basically told them "we've got it from here" and don't want their help in September either FYI

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Ohh also... 50% 100th merch... got some ear, loungefly bag and ornament all under 70. I could add my dvc discount on top of it.

 

[SarahDisney]

Ohh also... 50% 100th merch... got some ear, loungefly bag and ornament all under 70. I could add my dvc discount on top of it.

We bought 2 loungeflys with my sister's disney visa discount and the two together was less then the original full price for one. And they fit a lot - they've been good park bags

 

[softballpooh]

Interesting tidbit from one of the FB groups, I wonder if it's true:

RunDisney had nothing to do with these races! Disneyland Special Events took over and basically told them "we've got it from here" and don't want their help in September either FYI

Explains A LOT if this is true! My sentiments echo everything that has already been said about the races. I’m thankful for being able to get my Coast to Coast and to experience a DL race, but it’s a one and done for me. No second chances needed. The Disney magic just doesn’t even feel the same here and the travel is exhausting for this East Coast visitor. The only positive is that the wake ups were easy peasy and I actually got decent amount of sleep

@Kender so nice to meet you this morning on the way to to corral! Loved having my feather

 

[accm]

Interesting tidbit from one of the FB groups, I wonder if it's true:

RunDisney had nothing to do with these races! Disneyland Special Events took over and basically told them "we've got it from here" and don't want their help in September either FYI

That's so interesting. And if true, I wonder if runDisney will let them run them again in September, since it ends up looking bad on runDisney.

 

[Grabnar]

That's so interesting. And if true, I wonder if runDisney will let them run them again in September, since it ends up looking bad on runDisney.

Holy **** this explains SO MUCH.