Corral ?

[sweetmama17]

So I ran the 10 miler yesterday which was so fun. It was my first Disney race in a very very long time. I did submit a POT that was borderline and was seeded in corral B. Great. I had no intention of doing this race very fast (for me) and had no time goals but I tend to start races off at a good pace. I was so surprised at how long it took me to go around all the walkers and slower joggers in the first half of the race. I felt as if it really slowed me down and I just wasn't expecting that with a corral B. I was running maybe a 10ish pace (not fast for me) and it really took until after hollywood studios before I felt like I could "break free". Is this normal? Why are there so many walkers in the early groups?

 

[Herding_Cats]

As a more "back of the pack" person, people tend to "race" less at rundisney events than traditional events. So there are more people who are not going to be in a hurry. (I'm sure you knew this already since you are not new to these events.


Additionally, a perk of on the the membership levels of club rundisney is to be placed in the 2nd corral. So that may have been part of what you experienced.

Also, the first few miles are pretty croweded just from how narrow the course is.

 

[Zutroy]

I’ve been doing RunDisney races since 2010, and this has always been a problem—people lying about estimated times or just jumping corral fences to get ahead. Ideally the corral system is to place runners of a similar pace together, but people are so afraid of getting swept that they push to the front because they can’t maintain a 16 min mile. This leads to runners weaving through walkers for the first couple of mile. Disney letting people buy their way into corrals they don‘t otherwise qualify for certainly doesn’t help. The only way to avoid it is to get placed in corral A, which has so much room for activities! All other corrals embody the joke, “How is RunDisney like Game of Thrones? Thousands of white walkers.”

 

[GADisneyDad14]

So I ran the 10 miler yesterday which was so fun. It was my first Disney race in a very very long time. I did submit a POT that was borderline and was seeded in corral B. Great. I had no intention of doing this race very fast (for me) and had no time goals but I tend to start races off at a good pace. I was so surprised at how long it took me to go around all the walkers and slower joggers in the first half of the race. I felt as if it really slowed me down and I just wasn't expecting that with a corral B. I was running maybe a 10ish pace (not fast for me) and it really took until after hollywood studios before I felt like I could "break free". Is this normal? Why are there so many walkers in the early groups?

I was in B too and this totally matches my experience. I wasn't going for a PR or anything but I had planned to really run and it was tough to go the pace I wanted for roughly the first half of the race. I think some of it is that course just never “opens up” in the beginning part so people can’t spread out, I guess?

To me it felt a lot different than B for Dopey this year where it was the other way around and a lot more were passing me. And it also felt like B was bigger overall than the marathon weekend races.

I have been wondering if it was just the randomness of where I happened to be / who was around me (which certainly could be the case), but sounds like we had similar reactions.

 

[sweetmama17]

Thanks all. Glad I wasn't just imagining things. I guess if people can buy their way into the 2nd corral it makes sense. The race was fun and helped me get out of a running slump. While I wont rule out doing another Disney race (my 10 year old wants to do one but I find large 5ks to be even worse) at least I know now if I am going for time to stick to one of my local races.

 

[fatmanatee]

Thanks all. Glad I wasn't just imagining things. I guess if people can buy their way into the 2nd corral it makes sense. The race was fun and helped me get out of a running slump. While I wont rule out doing another Disney race (my 10 year old wants to do one but I find large 5ks to be even worse) at least I know now if I am going for time to stick to one of my local races.

FYI I think your time may have missed the cutoff bc I was also in B and didn’t submit a POT. Would guess that a decent amount of people lied about their pace to get there too.

I personally didn’t have much of an issue with the 10 miler, the 5k was the tougher one for me (thank you, group of walkers stretched out five across early on, despite being warned about not doing that). Biggest issue for the 10 miler for me was the choke point between Epcot and HS but there’s not much they can do about that for this race.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

FYI I think your time may have missed the cutoff bc I was also in B and didn’t submit a POT. Would guess that a decent amount of people lied about their pace to get there too.

I personally didn’t have much of an issue with the 10 miler, the 5k was the tougher one for me (thank you, group of walkers stretched out five across early on, despite being warned about not doing that). Biggest issue for the 10 miler for me was the choke point between Epcot and HS but there’s not much they can do about that for this race.

I had a 55 minute 10K POT and it still put me in B - so it is still a partial mix of those with POT's that are below 2:!5 HM and some that don't. Regardless - OP is correct in that there are now many more walk-walkers in the early corrals for the POT races. It was always a problem for the submit your own pace races (5K and 10K) but I noticed this season that it was significantly worse. Probably also has to do with the extended time frame allowed for POT's from all the way back to 2019 this year.

 

[Bree]

I was in corral A for all three races. There was horde of walkers for the 5K which was expected and a wall of walkers for the 10K right from the start. If you are gonna walk I really don’t give a crap, but there is no need to put yourself right in the middle at the front of the corral. Unfortunately no POT is used for the 5K & 10K. There will always be this issue since Disney uses the self seed method from registrations. It is what it is Not sure what’s up with corral B this season. It’s been a mess from people I have spoken to in that corral as well as here and other social media sites. The amount of Platinum Club members isn’t the issue, IMO. There really aren’t that many of them. I think it will be interesting to see what happens at W&D now that POT races can only date back to January 1, 2021.

 

[fatmanatee]

I had a 55 minute 10K POT and it still put me in B - so it is still a partial mix of those with POT's that are below 2:!5 HM and some that don't. Regardless - OP is correct in that there are now many more walk-walkers in the early corrals for the POT races. It was always a problem for the submit your own pace races (5K and 10K) but I noticed this season that it was significantly worse. Probably also has to do with the extended time frame allowed for POT's from all the way back to 2019 this year.

The way they handled POT for this race seems kinda confusing. I talked to runner relations because I thought I might have a run that qualified (answer: no), but the lady said the cutoff ended up being around 10.5 min per mile. That’s also the cutoff for the first group that DIDNT require a POT, which I selected. So you got a group that included people who submitted POTs, CrD, and people who estimated their pace to be in that POT bucket. It’s possible that the group that submitted POT just wasn’t large enough to be a full starting group but I dunno. I kinda expected to be in Group C before getting my bib.

 

[jrsharp21]

As a more "back of the pack" person, people tend to "race" less at rundisney events than traditional events. So there are more people who are not going to be in a hurry. (I'm sure you knew this already since you are not new to these events.


Additionally, a perk of on the the membership levels of club rundisney is to be placed in the 2nd corral. So that may have been part of what you experienced.

Also, the first few miles are pretty croweded just from how narrow the course is.

I have always thought they should have a Club RD lane in the 2nd corral and for the first half mile or so of the course for the people who will be walking. Put some type of divider in the corral and keep the divider going for the first half mile of the course or to where a spot where it opens up and the runners can get some distance between them and the walkers. Maybe make it a third of the space in the corral and off to the right on the course.

 

[camaker]

I have always thought they should have a Club RD lane in the 2nd corral and for the first half mile or so of the course for the people who will be walking. Put some type of divider in the corral and keep the divider going for the first half mile of the course or to where a spot where it opens up and the runners can get some distance between them and the walkers. Maybe make it a third of the space in the corral and off to the right on the course.

How would this work with run/walk intervals?

 

[jrsharp21]

How would this work with run/walk intervals?

Most run/walk participants start off running. So no issues there. It is the people who truly start off walking from the start that would use this RD lane. Almost like a walkers lane.

 

[camaker]

Most run/walk participants start off running. So no issues there. It is the people who truly start off walking from the start that would use this RD lane. Almost like a walkers lane.

Most run intervals are significantly less than the half mile that you suggested for the starting lane. You're going to have run/walkers with running intervals anywhere from 30 seconds up to 3-4 minutes (typically), so there will be multiple run/walk cycles in that first stretch.

 

[Naomeri]

I have always thought they should have a Club RD lane in the 2nd corral and for the first half mile or so of the course for the people who will be walking. Put some type of divider in the corral and keep the divider going for the first half mile of the course or to where a spot where it opens up and the runners can get some distance between them and the walkers. Maybe make it a third of the space in the corral and off to the right on the course.

That sounds nightmarish, IMO

 

[disneyrunnergrl]

The way they handled POT for this race seems kinda confusing. I talked to runner relations because I thought I might have a run that qualified (answer: no), but the lady said the cutoff ended up being around 10.5 min per mile. That’s also the cutoff for the first group that DIDNT require a POT, which I selected. So you got a group that included people who submitted POTs, CrD, and people who estimated their pace to be in that POT bucket. It’s possible that the group that submitted POT just wasn’t large enough to be a full starting group but I dunno. I kinda expected to be in Group C before getting my bib.

10.5 minutes per mile? The POT on the website said under an hour and a half for the 10 miler. Isn’t that a lot faster than 10.5 minutes a mile? I thought it was strange that the time was so far off from the 2:15 for the half for the other 3 events. I was at the front of the second wave of corral B and was able to run the entire race without much weaving. I skipped most of the characters the first few miles since I could move and was having flash backs to the half marathon in January (did not enjoy how crowded that course was).

 

[DopeyRunner486]

I have always thought they should have a Club RD lane in the 2nd corral and for the first half mile or so of the course for the people who will be walking. Put some type of divider in the corral and keep the divider going for the first half mile of the course or to where a spot where it opens up and the runners can get some distance between them and the walkers. Maybe make it a third of the space in the corral and off to the right on the course.

Just far too many variables to make that remotely viable.

 

[matt and beth]

I was in corral A for all three races. There was horde of walkers for the 5K which was expected and a wall of walkers for the 10K right from the start. If you are gonna walk I really don’t give a crap, but there is no need to put yourself right in the middle at the front of the corral. Unfortunately no POT is used for the 5K & 10K. There will always be this issue since Disney uses the self seed method from registrations. It is what it is Not sure what’s up with corral B this season. It’s been a mess from people I have spoken to in that corral as well as here and other social media sites. The amount of Platinum Club members isn’t the issue, IMO. There really aren’t that many of them. I think it will be interesting to see what happens at W&D now that POT races can only date back to January 1, 2021.

At the MW and PW there were multiple people squeezing up front in the corral after we’d all been there awhile saying “keep going up front we need all the time we can get”. While I appreciate your efforts and certainly don’t want want to take away from your experience, please don’t take away from others and squeeze all the way to the front in the middle to clog it all up. If walking that’s fine, we don’t care, just clog up the far right. Realize you are in running-jogging territory when you push up through everyone and have some manners.

 

[bumbershoot]

people lying about estimated times or just jumping corral fences to get ahead

You think people are jumping fences?
I have consistently signed up for an appropriate time and then hurt myself. No lying needed.
Also, disney runs are generally intended to be fun, which means people are going to be taking it slow. Those who might win are in A and are at the very very front.

I have always thought they should have a Club RD lane in the 2nd corral and for the first half mile or so of the course for the people who will be walking.

"Walking" isn't just one speed. There's a wide variety of speeds inside of just walking.

Most run/walk participants start off running.

Not always true. And people like Jeff Galloway, who qualified for Boston with a run/walk, do a 15 second interval. A VERY fast 15 seconds, and a recovery 15 seconds, over and over and over. He suggested I do 30 seconds (I am nowhere near as overall fast as he is). I've also done a minute for each interval. Some go until they can't, recover, go until they can't, etc.

If walking that’s fine, we don’t care, just clog up the far right.

A reminder that unless rundisney tells slower people to "stay to the right" there's no reason to expect slower people to be on the right. They have said nothing about it for some years now, they have said "right", and they even had a year or two of "on the sides."

Also, since I'm slower but very mindful of others, I can watch things unfold in front of me that faster people have no idea of. I might have watched run/walk people going back and forth and back and forth for 5 minutes, getting caught by each other doing the same so that suddenly a walker is right smack dab in the middle without the ability to get over, and then a straight-runner will come up and be angry with that slower person choosing to be there, when there was NO choice at all. I've seen this countless times as I meticulously either stay all the way to the right or add miles on by meticulously shifting where I am.

 

[fatmanatee]

10.5 minutes per mile? The POT on the website said under an hour and a half for the 10 miler. Isn’t that a lot faster than 10.5 minutes a mile? I thought it was strange that the time was so far off from the 2:15 for the half for the other 3 events. I was at the front of the second wave of corral B and was able to run the entire race without much weaving. I skipped most of the characters the first few miles since I could move and was having flash backs to the half marathon in January (did not enjoy how crowded that course was).

I think they had recently updated the POT requirements to include more runners (it had been two hours for the half, now 2:15). They probably had similar intentions with the 10 miler but it’s very possible and very runDisney for them to not completely communicate that change.

 

[Zutroy]

You think people are jumping fences?
I have consistently signed up for an appropriate time and then hurt myself. No lying needed.
Also, disney runs are generally intended to be fun, which means people are going to be taking it slow. Those who might win are in A and are at the very very front.

I have fun by running fast. I train so that I can set a PR, place in my division, or just have a good performance for the conditions. If someone else has fun by walking the race, that’s great too. But if somebody doesn‘t train at all, and their solution is to push all the way to the front, nobody is having a good time. This usually only happens during the 10k, which is the distance I love to race.