Downward trend in runDisney?

I love a good discussion especially when there is no right answer.

So I wanted to start a thread discussing what everyone thinks about the downward trend in runDisney race registrations. What do you think are the factors or reasons for this?

Also are you or do you see yourself cutting back on runDisney and why?

I think there are a few factors.

1. Cost
2. Value for the dollar
3. Overall decrease in running races worldwide
4. Non-anniversary years

I’m interested to hear what everyone thinks!
Personally:

I've done two race weekends at DL and one at DW, I much prefer the course layout at DL, the course at DW isn't interesting enough for me to go annually. Too much time on the roads between the parks (nothing they can really do about this), IIRC I had to wake up earlier than I did for DL. It was fun and perhaps I'll return for Star Wars next year if the medals are great but it's not something I'm really excited about at the moment.

On the other hand... I really hope they bring back the DL races. The time in the parks there is by far my favorite half marathon experience.
 
It would be cool if RunDisney could put on races in other countries themed around characters. Things like Peter Pan or Alice theme in London, Hercules in Greece, Mulan in China, etc. Have they ever done races around Tokyo Disneyland or Hong Kong? I'm not even saying I could even go to any/all of them, but it would be a good idea and they could probably even build an Adventures by Disney package around them for runners who'd want to do them. Probably far more expansion than RunDisney is interested in.
 
I agree with two reasons for declining interest that have been mentioned earlier.

1. Reduced interest in racing in general. I don't have firm numbers, but I can tell you the field size for all the larger races in my area have been declining over the past 5 years. Totally anecdotal, but I'd assume it's similar elsewhere.
2. A sense of "been there, done that". This one affects me to a degree. My prior runDisney events were Disneyland Half (twice), Star Wars Half (before they came out with Dark Side), Star Wars: Dark Side Half, and Tinker Bell Half. For me, I've been drawn to weekends that have themes I haven't done before. Disneyland Half was a repeat, but it was mitigated by the fact that it was completing my only Coast to Coast and the theming of the race was different each time (Alice in Wonderland for 2013 and dynamic duos for 2016)

Personally, I prefer the races in California and not having the races in Disneyland reduces my opportunity to participate in runDisney events.

1. I live on the west coast, so transportation is far easier/cheaper.
2. The smaller size of Disneyland means I can go for a shorter trip. I can take fewer vacation days and it costs less.
3. You spend more time in and around the parks during the race at Disneyland than WDW.
4. I can easily walk to the expo/start/finish from my off-site hotel, which means I don't have to get up as early (though the security line at Tinker Bell 2017 tested that theory).

I mean, I'm still going to do these races because I like them and my wife will take any excuse to for a Disney vacation. It's just making it less frequent. Enough people like me and it will reduce demand.
 
It would be cool if RunDisney could put on races in other countries themed around characters. Things like Peter Pan or Alice theme in London, Hercules in Greece, Mulan in China, etc. Have they ever done races around Tokyo Disneyland or Hong Kong? I'm not even saying I could even go to any/all of them, but it would be a good idea and they could probably even build an Adventures by Disney package around them for runners who'd want to do them. Probably far more expansion than RunDisney is interested in.
I think there were Tokyo/Hong Kong DL races, but they weren't officially runDisney races.

EDIT: Here's this for Hong Kong, I may have made that up when I said there was something in Tokyo...:teeth: https://www.hongkongdisneyland.com/10k-weekend-2018/

I can't speak to why others are choosing to opt out of runDisney races, but my personal reasons are basically what @DustyWA mentioned - reduced interest in racing and a sense of "been there, done that." Overall I just burned out on both running and runDisney in 2016/2017...turns out you can have too much of a good thing. :upsidedow Having said that, if they brought back the Tower of Terror 10-miler, the nighttime version of Wine & Dine, or the EE challenge (that is to say, ANYTHING unique), that would get my attention.
 


I think there were Tokyo/Hong Kong DL races, but they weren't officially runDisney races.
There are Shanghai and Hong Kong races for sure. Longest is a 10K and like you said they aren't runDisney. I don't believe Tokyo does any races. Not sure they have the space for it.
 
There are Shanghai and Hong Kong races for sure. Longest is a 10K and like you said they aren't runDisney. I don't believe Tokyo does any races. Not sure they have the space for it.
I wonder why they aren't runDisney and the Paris one is? Maybe it has to do with the parks being under different-ish ownership (you would know way more about that - who owns stake in the parks - than I do!).
 
I wonder why they aren't runDisney and the Paris one is? Maybe it has to do with the parks being under different-ish ownership (you would know way more about that - who owns stake in the parks - than I do!).
I think that is part of it. Paris is now fully owned by The Walt Disney Company. When runDisney Paris started I think Disney was only a majority owner at the time. Hong Kong and Shanghai are majority owned by their local government entities. Tokyo isn't owned by Disney at all.
 


I think that is part of it. Paris is now fully owned by The Walt Disney Company. When runDisney Paris started I think Disney was only a majority owner at the time. Hong Kong and Shanghai are majority owned by their local government entities. Tokyo isn't owned by Disney at all.
That is what I was going for in my post but you said it way better! :thumbsup2
 
I can't speak to why others are choosing to opt out of runDisney races, but my personal reasons are basically what @DustyWA mentioned - reduced interest in racing and a sense of "been there, done that." Overall I just burned out on both running and runDisney in 2016/2017...turns out you can have too much of a good thing. :upsidedow Having said that, if they brought back the Tower of Terror 10-miler, the nighttime version of Wine & Dine, or the EE challenge (that is to say, ANYTHING unique), that would get my attention.

The Diaper Dash will be a new and unique experience for you though!!
 
I run triathlons and it is experiencing a steady decline, best shown but the decline in USA triathlon membership numbers. Have had a significant reduction in local shorter distance triathlons in the Charlotte area where I live. At one time, I could run a local to me (less than an hour away) once a month April through October - now that is down to just 3. Costs is certainly a factor but my entry fee for the Disney half was the exact same as my entry fee to the US National Triathlon in Cleveland last summer. Both are mega events, bucket list type things. 22k people running a single race is still a healthy number on Saturday so I am not crying for Disney. But in general, the endurance field is down. My local half in December in its 8th year as smaller than 2017.
 
Interesting topic considering we have also decided to end our rD participation. Between 2014 when we ran our first rD race (Expedition Everest) to our last race, the 2018 DarkSide, we ran a total of 19 rD races, including two Dopeys. I don't see us going back to WDW rD races because the costs have gotten too high and the courses have become boring. (As an aside, we feel the same about F&W Fest at WDW. After going 17 years in a row we felt WDW was relying too much on doing the same thing over and over and stopped innovating.) If DL brings back runs, we may do those, especially the DL Half. DL courses were so much more fun and we spend less on travel, accommodations, and park tickets. We haven't stopped running though. Rather than doing any rD, we have now committed to do one international run each year and a bucket list run when we are able. Last year it was a half in Norway and the Marine Corps Marathon. This year will be the Reykjavik half in August and the Rock N Roll San Diego marathon in June. Otherwise we focus on small local races and dog sports (love my lab!).
 
I run triathlons and it is experiencing a steady decline, best shown but the decline in USA triathlon membership numbers. Have had a significant reduction in local shorter distance triathlons in the Charlotte area where I live. At one time, I could run a local to me (less than an hour away) once a month April through October - now that is down to just 3. Costs is certainly a factor but my entry fee for the Disney half was the exact same as my entry fee to the US National Triathlon in Cleveland last summer. Both are mega events, bucket list type things. 22k people running a single race is still a healthy number on Saturday so I am not crying for Disney. But in general, the endurance field is down. My local half in December in its 8th year as smaller than 2017.

You know, it's really interesting that you posted this as I'm going through my email catching up from the past couple of days and I have DAILY emails from USAT with significant discounts (almost BOGO) if I renew my membership right now for two years instead of one. Obviously, that's not much and it's something I have to have anyway - but while there are still lots of local shorter distances (mostly sprints, but a handful of Olympics) that seem to be profitable, the only non-IM 70.3 we have has been plagued by bad weather and massive mismanagement on part of the race director to the point that while they're selling registrations right now, it's entirely possible the weekend won't happen because it's a snake-bit event.
 
Wow there was a huge drop this year for marathon weekend. Full marathon finishers dropped from 20k to 11k. The half didn’t dip nearly as much it dropped from 20k to 18k. Dopey was also down from about 7200 to 4900. That also means almost 45% of marathon runners were doing Dopey.
 
Wow there was a huge drop this year for marathon weekend. Full marathon finishers dropped from 20k to 11k. The half didn’t dip nearly as much it dropped from 20k to 18k. Dopey was also down from about 7200 to 4900. That also means almost 45% of marathon runners were doing Dopey.

Wonder how much the heat played a part in the drastic drop off in finishers. After the half there were about 5,300 Dopey runners, so at least 400 of them did not finish the marathon. Starting in G I know I saw people putting themselves on the parade bus after Grand Floridian, and saw peope self pull at every bus after that. Also aware of at least one woman who was hospitalized to receive fluids via IV.
 
Wow there was a huge drop this year for marathon weekend. Full marathon finishers dropped from 20k to 11k. The half didn’t dip nearly as much it dropped from 20k to 18k. Dopey was also down from about 7200 to 4900. That also means almost 45% of marathon runners were doing Dopey.

Interesting. I didn’t do the marathon this year due to coming off injury but I watched a lot from Epcot and they had taken the course up by 1:15 which I thought seemed early and meant they got everybody on the course real fast. Your numbers do fit that. Less runners and you get them all out quicker.
 
There are Shanghai and Hong Kong races for sure. Longest is a 10K and like you said they aren't runDisney. I don't believe Tokyo does any races. Not sure they have the space for it.

Tokyo would be able to do a a 5k and 10k for sure and likely a half. That challenge would be where they’d be allowed to run outside the Chiba Penisula.
 
Wow there was a huge drop this year for marathon weekend. Full marathon finishers dropped from 20k to 11k. The half didn’t dip nearly as much it dropped from 20k to 18k. Dopey was also down from about 7200 to 4900. That also means almost 45% of marathon runners were doing Dopey.

Wow that’s massive. Hard to follow the 25th it seems. Will be interesting to see how it sells next year. Wine and Dine sold out in 18 and Princess has sold out for 19 I believe. Maybe it’s time for some thematic changes to marathon weekend?
 

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