Marathon Weekend 2017!

[croach]

No one else I'd rather associate with in the running community than this great group of DIS runners, so yes Cliff that is what truly matters

It would be fun to line up with the elites though and be those guys you see at Boston and NYC every year getting on camera for a couple minutes.

 

[Pleglech]

I've wondered, what is the cutoff for "elite" designation at Disney and does it get you anything above and beyond corral placement?

I've been off by <5 bib numbers a few times, so I'd guess 1:20/2:50-low would get you there in the male category. But that's speculation.
From what I've seen, it doesn't get you much. The elites are allowed to hang off to the side at the half/full and then move to the front at the last minute, but the ones I've spoken to all sounded disappointed at the lack of perks. At W&D, I'm pretty sure they had to jockey for space in corral A. Same at DL IIRC.

 

[cavepig]

I've wondered, what is the cutoff for "elite" designation at Disney and does it get you anything above and beyond corral placement?

At the Disneyland half in 2015 we ran into a guy in corral A for the 10k (he had a Team Nebraska tank on so we started talking), he was "Elite" on his Dumbo Double Dare bib & he said he had no idea how he got that. I said you must have had one of the top 10 times submitted to put you as elite. But other than being in A corral he didn't say he got anything else special as he was never given anything special. He was just mixed in with the rest of us in the A corral out there.

 

[goingthedistance]

I forget which year it was but this was when they had the red and blue starts for the Marathon. One start was corrals A-C. The other start was Elite, then D-everyone else. I qualified for C but dropped back to D so I would not have to wait for A and B to clear the start. I lined up right behind the elites in the front of corral D. The elite runners were so focused and intense. Bastos (the Brazilian who won that year) was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. It was interesting seeing the elites' warm-up routines. Once the race started they took off and were quickly out of sight.

 

[DerTobi75]

Sorry, nothing new about Waivers, Bibs or Corrals, just wanna let you know, after a two weeks break, I am back in training

Did a 10k run today and I am ready for my last 20 Mile run on friday.

 

[Keels]

If those corrals hold true, I'll be VERY VERY VERY happy!

 

[StarGirl11]

Regardless of where you start (in your assigned corral or not) and what you stop for (pictures, etc.), if you are passed by the sweepers in any race at certain points you WILL GET SWEPT. I don't know what is so difficult to understand about this.

You apparently had absurd times for where you started. I was two corrals behind you and my times were nowhere near that. I can see your bib number in your avatar, so maybe I'll go compare clock/net to see what the true difference in time between corrals is.

But please don't act like telling people a two-hour 10K and a four-hour half is "conservation" in preparation for an eight-hour marathon. It's not. You got lucky.

I'm a sucker for #math. So I wanted to see how @StarGirl11 accomplished an 8 hour marathon starting from J (which I confirmed). It's like the classic two trains leave the station at two different times and two different speeds when will they meet (one train is our runner and the other is the balloon ladies). Although the twist is you (or your train) did not travel at a constant speed, but was variable throughout the marathon. My goal was to see when the balloon ladies would have passed you in theory if running an even pace for a 8 hr marathon (18:11 min/mile) versus what you actually did with variable pacing. Once the trains meet each other (or are at the same place and time a person is "swept"). So for those not interested in math, please ignore the following...

Spoiler: #Train Math

I found your time based on your bib and description of your times. I used the splits provided by RunDisney from during the race to calculate your pace between mile markers. I assumed (which is a jump) that between mile markers with splits that your pace was even. Thus, you hit mile 5 at 1:07:37 and mile 10 at 2:16:24, thus the time between was 1:08:47 with a pace of 13:45 min/mile.

View attachment 210169

In theory, if you ran an even 18:11 min/mile (8 hour marathon) you would have been passed by the balloon ladies at mile 15.1 and thus swept. This can be seen in the above graphic with the box in black around 15.1 where the "even pace" and "balloon ladies" intersect at 10:36am.

But instead, because your are an experienced runner at faster paces you were actually at mile 15.1 at 9:40am roughly 54 minutes ahead of the balloon ladies. This is because up to this point in the race you were running a 14:27 min/mile.

You actually didn't get passed by the balloon ladies (in theory) with your pacing strategy until mile 24 when your time at mile 24 was 12:59pm as was the balloon ladies. You finished ~24 minutes slower than the balloon ladies after being even with them at mile 24. So you must have JUST made it past the last sweep point and then was able to be allowed to finish. Very lucky indeed!

The strategy worked for you because you weren't running an even 8 hour marathon. It worked because you were experienced and could run a 14:27 min/mile through 15.1 miles and this wasn't pushing you to your current physical limits. Although for someone who is projected at a 16:00 min/mile pace running the first 15.1 in 14:27 isn't feasible and would likely end up in a major slow down in the end ensuring a near inevitability of being swept. So your 8 hour marathon was lucky and only accomplishable because you were capable of actually going faster than an 8 hour marathon in the beginning of the race without causing you to succumb to a massive slow-down to the level of being swept. So yes, an 8 hour marathon at Disney is possible, but very unlikely for someone who has an actual physical limitation of running a faster marathon than the cutoff of 7 hours.

An interesting case-study.

My advice to those near the cutoff for finishing in a 7 hour marathon (16:00 min/mile). Do your best. If you do your best and fall short of your goals, then that's the best you could do. Don't try to "bank" time in the beginning of the race by going out faster than a 16:00 min/mile because this likely won't end well because of the physiological aspects of running the marathon (massive slow down at end if too fast in beginning because of fatigue build-up). I'm wishing you all the best of luck!

Okay I think there is a slight miscommunication here about my, in retrospect, ridiculous times. I was going for a personal best on the Marathon. Was it stupid to attempt on the last leg of Dopey? In hindsight probably yes. I went into the first three legs knowing I was aiming for a personal best at the marathon distance since I was in personal best form so thus the effort to try and conserve. I was originally aiming to try and break 6 hours (my current standing Marathon PR is a 6:12, breaking that was what I was conserving for, not the 8 hour marathon it became), no stops, no characters, no nothing. I had PRed at Disney races prior I couldn't see why I wouldn't be able to pull it off. I had no way of knowing during legs 2 and 3 that I was going to have a heat meltdown going into World Wide Center of Sports (though again in hindsight there were warning signs early in the marathon I just ignored them). Which is what happened. I was averaging as @DopeyBadger pointed out a 13:45 mile up until leaving Animal Kingdom. After which everything just went downhill. I started cramping up just about Mile 16 but still managed a shuffle run through WWOS. Before everything got so bad leaving WWOS around mile 19 or 20 that I had to walk the rest of the way in. Going by my photos timestamps it took me three hours to get from the point of the initial meltdown to the finish. That's how severe it was. In retrospect, the only reason I finished without being swept was because I banked time (unintentionally mind you) during the first half of the race aiming for a PR.

By the time I got to WWOS and switched gears most of the lines were so short that I think I spent maybe 2, 3 minutes top in line for a character (okay probably a stupid decision in retrospect to stop anywhere but that didn't occur to me at that point) so making somewhere about 8 stops that only accounts for 20ish minutes of the 3 hour 10 miles. My mid-race meltdown was just that severe.

No personal best attempt this year (lesson learned). So my times should be more reasonable since I will be doing more running than walking. Just got to make sure to keep a good balance in check.

Just to kind of emphasize my point. Here's me in Magic Kingdom while still feeling good even if my face is sweat covered:



Here I am in Animal Kingdom not long before the start of the melt down somehow looking half way decent:



And here I am in Hollywood Studios post meltdown stopped for the Incredibles:



In retrospect, my race is probably an example of what not to do. Like, if you drink around 10 oz of Powerade Zero before you hit mile 4 (as I said before there were warning signs, I just ignored them until too late) then a PR is probably not in the cards.

 

[SheHulk]

I'm tardy to the party but you can put me down as someone who would meet up before the marathon! I run alone and I hate sitting there by myself working up my nerves.

 

[rteetz]

First run of my dopey simulation today on the treadmill. Went better than I thought but I'm sure not going to like these longer runs on the treadmill.

 

[surfde22]

First run of my dopey simulation today on the treadmill. Went better than I thought but I'm sure not going to like these longer runs on the treadmill.

That's why you layer up and run outside.

 

[rteetz]

That's why you layer up and run outside.

Well today was the coldest day of the year and last day of finals for me so treadmill was the best option. Tomorrow will be even colder than today. Friday and Saturday we are expecting 6-9 inches of snow. Really not a good weekend to run outdoors.

 

[surfde22]

Well today was the coldest day of the year and last day of finals for me so treadmill was the best option. Tomorrow will be even colder than today. Friday and Saturday we are expecting 6-9 inches of snow. Really not a good weekend to run outdoors.

It's not going to be any better here in the twin cities. You'd have to hold a gun to my head to get me on a treadmill.

 

[rteetz]

It's not going to be any better here in the twin cities. You'd have to hold a gun to my head to get me on a treadmill.

You sir are braver than I am.

 

[surfde22]

You sir are braver than I am.

Or dumber, not sure which yet.

 

[sammykster]

Or dumber, not sure which yet.

I'm feeling more and more grateful I finished my final long runs last weekend so I can go to CA this weekend lol!

 

[Ariel484]

I said it before, I'll say it again: NEWP.


20MPH wind, snow AND windchill below zero is my limit.

 

[rteetz]

I said it before, I'll say it again: NEWP.
View attachment 210288

20MPH wind, snow AND windchill below zero is my limit.

 

[Keels]

OMG. So much nope! NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE.

 

[surfde22]

I said it before, I'll say it again: NEWP.
View attachment 210288

20MPH wind, snow AND windchill below zero is my limit.

It builds character, just ask @CheapRunnerMike

 

[Ariel484]

@rteetz good lord.