Has anyone run the 5K with a young kid, and if so, was it a good experience? We’ve started taking DS on the warmup portion of our runs and he’s really enjoying it. He also did a 3K kids race this summer.
I ran a local 5K with my 8 year old nephew a couple of months ago. My primary responsibility was to keep him from going too fast. His parents knew he could handle the distance, but didn't want him to try and sprint the entire thing, so I needed to make sure he maintained an appropriate pace. At this year's WDW 5K, I saw young kids who went too fast and were certainly feeling the effects of that early on in the course. A Disney CM went so far as to make sure the kids were okay, but the parent reassured the CM that the kids just needed to slow down.
My thoughts: He enjoyed it and I enjoyed spending one on one time with him. He wanted to stop a few times because he was tired, but I insisted that he keep going, although we slowed down more when he needed to. We wound up finishing in around 52 minutes, which placed him first in his age group, so he was smiling extra wide with his finishers medal and age group 1st place medal from that race. He still periodically brings his medals down to show me when I go over to visit.
Overall, it was most definitely a good experience.
Potential drawbacks:
-Course is pretty packed
-Character lines are long
-Wake up call is very early
-There is a lot of waiting around because of how early rD requests you be at the corrals
-Said waiting, weather, and running attire often don't mix well (it's been very cold multiple times in the last few years at Marathon Weekend and precipitation can be an issue as well)
I agree that anyone running a runDisney 5K with a child should take these factors into account before deciding. It can be a very enjoyable experience, but make sure you think about how your child will respond to these factors especially the ones that are not tied to the weather.
I guess I’m in the minority, but I loved the half marathon. The back half of the course was beautiful and peaceful.
Further cementing my dissenting status, I am less than enamored with the 10k route, but the boardwalk area in the dark is breathtaking as is even the sliver of World Showcase that we cover.
You raise a good point. I don't think the half course is bad. I just don't like it as much as the other half courses (2012 Wine & Dine, 2017-2018 Star Wars Dark Side) I have run. And while I had run through Disneyland many times before, I still really enjoyed getting to run through the Magic Kingdom for the first time during the 2019 half.
This is my recollection from 2014 and 2015 as well...it's probably my favorite RD course - something about running through World Showcase with the torches on and the illuminations music going is wonderful.
This to me is the single best reason to experience a runDisney 5K. I hope they keep the Illuminations music next year for the races because of the nostalgia.