Is the Castaway Cay 5K really "5K"?

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

I just got back from a cruise on the Disney Fantasy and ran the Castaway Cay 5K on May 6th. I asked one of the CM's there and she told me she measured the course recently and that it was accurate. I'm not so sure. According to my watch I ran 21:36 there on what was a strange combination of very windy on the runway portion and very warm and humid during the loop to the observation tower and back (both times). Now, I'm not slow, as I just ran a 1:39:23 at the WDW Star Wars Half Marathon: The Dark Side about 3 weeks earlier, but I didn't think I'd run sub 22:00 on that course. 22:30 maybe, but not better than that after a week of eating too much but running every day on Deck 4 or the treadmill. My question is to others who have run this, do you think it is really "5K', or maybe just a tenth of a mile or so shorter?

 

[wilkeliza]

it is a 5K if you run the full thing. You have to take the longest portions of the course and on the turn around you have to go all the way out to the sign and turn around. I see a lot of people who just kind of loop in place and come back. I have had my GPS watch and gotten pretty darn close to a 5K either more or less depending my exact running path and am usually with in a minute or two of my usual 5K time.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

it is a 5K if you run the full thing. You have to take the longest portions of the course and on the turn around you have to go all the way out to the sign and turn around. I see a lot of people who just kind of loop in place and come back. I have had my GPS watch and gotten pretty darn close to a 5K either more or less depending my exact running path and am usually with in a minute or two of my usual 5K time.

That's great news. I definitely ran the entire course and raced it much harder than I expected. I came in 4th (I started at the front and counted the people in front of me I did not pass). But with that time, at least I don't feel bad about having the cheeseburger and chicken sandwich at lunch now.

 

[bumbershoot]

The challenge one that you pay for, only done after the January marathon weekend, is 5k.

The free island one is not. It's a different course than the challenge unless you're running the morning of the challenge (inaugural year they just had it later on the same course as the paid run).

Sure if you run extra you can make it so, but that's not how courses are measured. Courses are measured by the shortest path. The one the elites who aren't bobbing through the masses get to take.

 

[opusone]

I'm not sure if Castaway Cay 5k is a certified course or not. I haven't been able to find it on the USATF website. There are other certified courses in the Bahamas, so it's not an out-of-country issue.

 

[Christie Burnett]

We are sailing on our first Disney Cruise and looking forward to our day at Castaway Cay. I just learned about the 5k and was wondering if people dress up like they do for the other runDisney events????

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm not sure if Castaway Cay 5k is a certified course or not. I haven't been able to find it on the USATF website. There are other certified courses in the Bahamas, so it's not an out-of-country issue.

Only the Challenge course would be any sort of certified. The normal run isn't; it's a different course. The Challenge course took us out past the Serenity Bay cabanas, which was possible because we got off the ship before dawn. Not sure how they mollified the cabana users for the island run that day (inaugural event) since they used the same course that day.

We are sailing on our first Disney Cruise and looking forward to our day at Castaway Cay. I just learned about the 5k and was wondering if people dress up like they do for the other runDisney events????

Not for the normal everyday island not-quite-a-5K. (And not really for the Challenge either, in my experience.)

 

[Ariel484]

I'm not sure if Castaway Cay 5k is a certified course or not. I haven't been able to find it on the USATF website. There are other certified courses in the Bahamas, so it's not an out-of-country issue.

I seriously doubt it. The run is super, super casual as it is...I'd be really surprised if they actually certified it.

FWIW...I've run the CC"5K" (the free one) 3 times. First time I took a wrong turn (because I'm an idiot) and went 3.69 miles. The next two times I wised up a bit and did NOT take a wrong turn. Those clocked in at 2.99 and 3.01 miles (all distances per my Garmin watch), so no, not an official 5K. And I didn't cut corners or anything like that - as @bumbershoot said above, for it to be a true 5K they would need to measure it in such a way that the shortest path taken is 5K. That's why you see people saying their watches "measure long" after races - it's almost impossible to run a race course perfectly if you take wide turns, weave, etc. I was REALLY paying attention to running the tangets and not add to my distance, because it was hot as you-know-what and I wanted to be DONE!

 

[Anisum]

Pulling up my Castaway Cay 5k run I clocked in at 3.01 with Runkeeper. I run (read: walk) close to the shortest path because it was hot and sunny and I hadn't put on suntan lotion. So as everyone said it's not a "true" 5k. I will say however that a number of people on our cruise made it far longer because they got stuck in the loop and had trouble figuring out which way to go.

 

[bumbershoot]

I will say however that a number of people on our cruise made it far longer because they got stuck in the loop and had trouble figuring out which way to go.

Oh dear.

Those poor CMs. They work so hard with the big map and the cute stories (DS remembers the CM on the run he did using "hashtag tear" as part of his story) and just trying to hammer it home to us, but it's so easy to get too hot and to forget where to go.

Up the runway, into the loop (counter/anti-clockwise!) (unless I've gotten it backwards!) (again!), out of the loop, to the right, up to the signs while waving "hi" to Serenity Bay, back to the loop, around the loop again (the same way as before, don't switch it up!), out of the loop, back the way you originally came, through the Back...Side...of Starting Clock!

Hey, they should use that.

 

[Anisum]

Oh dear.

Those poor CMs. They work so hard with the big map and the cute stories (DS remembers the CM on the run he did using "hashtag tear" as part of his story) and just trying to hammer it home to us, but it's so easy to get too hot and to forget where to go.

Up the runway, into the loop (counter/anti-clockwise!) (unless I've gotten it backwards!) (again!), out of the loop, to the right, up to the signs while waving "hi" to Serenity Bay, back to the loop, around the loop again (the same way as before, don't switch it up!), out of the loop, back the way you originally came, through the Back...Side...of Starting Clock!

Hey, they should use that.

That sounds about right.

I know we saw several people going the wrong way around the loop and then the right way around the loop. At some point in there they should have exited the loop and seen the CM with the water but I don't know. If they didn't have a bib on I would say they were just someone who liked running the loop (which sounds awful and hot but just my opinion) so who knows.

 

[Ariel484]

Oh dear.

Those poor CMs. They work so hard with the big map and the cute stories (DS remembers the CM on the run he did using "hashtag tear" as part of his story) and just trying to hammer it home to us, but it's so easy to get too hot and to forget where to go.

Up the runway, into the loop (counter/anti-clockwise!) (unless I've gotten it backwards!) (again!), out of the loop, to the right, up to the signs while waving "hi" to Serenity Bay, back to the loop, around the loop again (the same way as before, don't switch it up!), out of the loop, back the way you originally came, through the Back...Side...of Starting Clock!

Hey, they should use that.

That's where I screwed up the first time I ran it. I went the wrong way into the loop, and as it was my first time on Castaway Cay, I didn't realize that I could just keep running and would still come out in the right place...so I kept going and eventually turned around and ran back in the right way (whichever way that was?!).

During Cc5K 2 and 3 I STILL wasn't totally sure which way to turn when that point came in the course, and I'll likely doubt myself again the next time I do it.

 

[bumbershoot]

This is the part I forget. The loop doesn't start immediately. So you run in on a short "stalk" connected to a loop. (Like a quidditch hoop with a short pole, for the Potterheads)

When you get to the left/right choice, turn right. Or left, since it's a circle. But the maps tell us to go right.

 

[Shanti]

We are sailing on our first Disney Cruise and looking forward to our day at Castaway Cay. I just learned about the 5k and was wondering if people dress up like they do for the other runDisney events????

We did it in January and no one was dressed up. It's a hot & humid run.

 

[pacific mermaid]

Wait, so, is the course not marked? The runners have to rely on a complicated set of directions?? Lol... this should be fun.

 

[Shanti]

Wait, so, is the course not marked? The runners have to rely on a complicated set of directions?? Lol... this should be fun.

It's an easy to follow course, not a complicated one. There are also water stations along the way.

 

[Anisum]

Wait, so, is the course not marked? The runners have to rely on a complicated set of directions?? Lol... this should be fun.

There aren't many signs. I think there's one to turn around at the tram stop but the cast member outside the loop is your many guiding point. It's not complicated despite what we're all saying it's just disorienting if you've never been on Castaway Cay because palm trees and air strips and strategically placed barrels that say rum on them but don't actually contain rum. There actually is a map on google that someone took of the course. Apologies if it's a bit big. You run from the family beach area to the air strip by taking a right out of the roundabout. You then run to the opening in the trees (the loop) and run clockwise around the loop. Then out past the cast member (and water station) to the airplane at Serenity Bay then back up to the cast member, back into the loop around again (the map says clockwise but I always run it counterclockwise because it gives me a different angle/perspective) and out of the loop again. Back up the airstrip turning right to leave it then around the roundabout back to the start. The most important thing is not to get stuck in the loop or complete it more than twice.

 

[Ariel484]

What threw me (multiple times, because I'm an airhead) is that you run through the loop IN THE SAME DIRECTION both times. For some reason this does not compute in my brain - I always feel like the second time through the loop should be in the opposite direction.

 

[Anisum]

What threw me (multiple times, because I'm an airhead) is that you run through the loop IN THE SAME DIRECTION both times. For some reason this does not compute in my brain - I always feel like the second time through the loop should be in the opposite direction.

I ran it in the opposite direction because it's the same length (unless there's some crazy loop magic that I'm forgetting) and it confuses me as well because logic would dictate that when running a 1.5 mile course (1.45 mi) like this you run it then turn around and reverse it.

 

[Ariel484]

I ran it in the opposite direction because it's the same length (unless there's some crazy loop magic that I'm forgetting) and it confuses me as well because logic would dictate that when running a 1.5 mile course (1.45 mi) like this you run it then turn around and reverse it.

Right. The first time I did it, I went into the loop going the wrong way and eventually figured that out - somehow I thought the race was more official than it really was and that I needed to turn around. So I did and did the entire loop the correct way...hence the 3.69-mile CC5K I referenced above.