Marathon Weekend 2020

[John VN]

SAFD: DW and I made a rash decision to WALK the Family Fun Run 5K in 2010. Staying in our motorhome at FW we walked to WL at 4:30AM to get the bus to EPCOT, completed the freezing for us Floridian's 5K and got hooked. Leaving FW Sunday morning I drove past the "runners/walkers" and told DW that we will walk the 2011 5K again but when registration opened DW went for the 5K and half marathon while I went for the unofficial Dopey. YUP, we were hooked and since we were always at FW during Marathon Weekend, didn't mind getting up early, it was a no-brainer to include some exercise for our 60+yo bodies while vacationing.

Neither one of us "RUN" so we consider ourselves as being endurance walkers out having a fun time with thousands of other crazy people who don't mind spending hard earned money just to have some extra pain while at Disney.

When the Marathon course was changed to the current route I had to include a detour to McDonald's and thus began the McFlurry John detour. Due to knee issues I can only complete one event per year and since we're always at Disney during MW how can I not enter. I will remain Perfectly McFlurry for as long as my knees allow.

McFlurry John

 

[YawningDodo]

I actually belong in this thread this year, what is this

I've been saying it since last year, but my plan is to run the WDW marathon in 2020. I've got a long, long way to go on my training (gotta get a lot more serious about it this year and get better about transitioning to cold weather training next fall so I don't lose whatever gains I make over the summer...again...), but I think it helps to have a big goal.

Currently the plan is to bring my housemate with me, fly in on Friday, run the marathon Sunday, then have four more days to enjoy the parks (she's never been and I want to show her the World). There's a possibility she may not be able to swing the cost of the trip, though, so I'm also considering what I'll do if I'm flying solo. I might keep the same itinerary and just do more esoteric things (more dining, a day trip out to Universal) than I would if I were showing a newbie around...but it occurred to me the other day that if I end up going solo, I could do Dopey. I wouldn't want to do that when I have a non-running travel companion because I think it would be terribly boring for her to wait on me four mornings in a row, but if it's just me anyway....

But that's really, really ambitious, considering I'm already nervous about doing just the marathon. It also raises the question of how soon I need to know whether or not she's coming; I've been planning to register as soon as registration opens, but April is sooner than we were expecting to make our final decisions. Did Dopey sell out last year? If so, how quickly? I know the marathon still had open spots late in the game, but I wasn't paying attention to the state of Dopey last fall since I hadn't thought about doing it.

 

[steph0808]

I finally completed the Couch to 5k program in March 2012, after saying I would run a 5k since high school (I ran one year of track and didn't run again). In 2012, I finally did C25K, with my first race actually being a 10k with the local road runners club. I was hooked! I started doing the weekly running club runs, did some 5ks and a 15k.

Then I stumbled across an article about "Best First-Time Marathons" or something like that, and Disney was on that list. I stumbled across it in June or July of 2012, and lo and behold, it was the 25th anniversary that year. And they had a $10 or $15 discount going on. And I hadn't been to Disney in a decade. So I registered, found a Hal Higdon plan, and planned a trip with my brother/sister-in-law, and my parents.

I ended up getting the stomach flu the day I left for Florida. I still ran the race, but finished in 6:42. Not what I was hoping for. My poor dad also got sick and couldn't scuba dive in the aquarium or do the race track package we got for him as an early birthday present. But the marathon was all that I thought it would be (except for WWOS - that "mile 20 spectacular" was way way wayyyyyy overhyped).

After that - I was hooked, though I have only been back for the 30th anniversary marathon in 2018 and then the 2019 half. I would do it every year if my DH would let me.

 

[jhoannam]

SAFD: Running has always come easy for me. In middle school gym I would always be one of the first 3 people to finish our daily runs, but it's never been a big part of my life until 3 years ago. I started running because I needed to control my weight, darn age, my coworkers were running at 5:15AM twice a week and ask me to join. After a few months I signed up for my first race official race, a 15K (I've ran it 3 years consecutively). I said I would never run a marathon, but like my husband says I have a Disney addiction. In order to feed my addiction I told myself I needed to run a marathon to justify another Disney trip. I ran my first half in Sept. to submit a POT, it was terribly hot run, didn't meet my goal, but it was good enough for coral D or was I in E? I said I would be a one-and-done, but here I am trying for another half and planning on running the Dopey. I'll do anything for Disney.

 

[YawningDodo]

SAFD-wise:

I've been hooked on the Disney parks since my family's first WDW trip when I was 12. I did the Disney College Program twice, and while there were some negative aspects to those experiences, on the whole it left me fascinated with the whole operation. In the last couple years (now that I can more or less afford it) I've given up any pretense and started doing some kind of Disney trip about once per year. I've tried running off and on and enjoyed it, and runDisney looked like a lot of fun (though I remember reading cast announcements about road closures when I was working there and wondering why on Earth anyone would want to come to Disney World and "waste" their vacation on running!). My current plans to actually do runDisney (and my ambition to run a marathon) came about when I was trying to make a plan for the next few years' worth of Disney vacations and decide whether or not I was going to use my Disney Cruise Line placeholder (spoilers: not gonna). I was looking at January 2020 and initially thought of marathon weekend in terms of a time to avoid, but then it occurred to me...I could run the 5K! And then I thought about it more, started running, and decided, naw. I'm going to do the marathon and it's going to be amazing.

 

[lhermiston]

But that's really, really ambitious, considering I'm already nervous about doing just the marathon. It also raises the question of how soon I need to know whether or not she's coming; I've been planning to register as soon as registration opens, but April is sooner than we were expecting to make our final decisions. Did Dopey sell out last year? If so, how quickly? I know the marathon still had open spots late in the game, but I wasn't paying attention to the state of Dopey last fall since I hadn't thought about doing it.

Dopey did not sell out and was heavily discounted later in the year. 2020 (to my knowledge) is not any kind of anniversary year, so I wouldn’t anticipate it selling out very quickly (if at all).

That said, Galaxys Edge opening will boost park attendance and could correlate to a boost in race attendance.

 

[jennamfeo]

Dopey did not sell out and was heavily discounted later in the year. 2020 (to my knowledge) is not any kind of anniversary year, so I wouldn’t anticipate it selling out very quickly (if at all).

That said, Galaxys Edge opening will boost park attendance and could correlate to a boost in race attendance.

I think Goofy is an anniversary... @rteetz

 

[rteetz]

I think Goofy is an anniversary... @rteetz

15th

I list all runDisney anniversaries on the runDisney FAQ pinned to the top.

 

[YawningDodo]

Hmm...and I have no idea whether Goofy's 15th is going to be a big draw. I'd really like to register as early as I can and just know I have it locked down (I'd rather avoid anxiety than save money, generally speaking, so I'm unlikely to wait for discounts regardless). I think I need to just get on top of re-crunching the numbers and getting the info to her and see where it goes. We were just talking about it last week; she was wanting numbers since it's getting close enough (now that it's less than a year out, haha) that she can start looking more seriously at it.

Gives me an excuse to crunch numbers for a solo Dopey version of the trip, too, in the meanwhile. It turns out trip budgeting is a favorite hobby of mine now that I've gotten good at it; I like running numbers on the options.

 

[Desdemona924]

Hmm...and I have no idea whether Goofy's 15th is going to be a big draw. I'd really like to register as early as I can and just know I have it locked down (I'd rather avoid anxiety than save money, generally speaking, so I'm unlikely to wait for discounts regardless). I think I need to just get on top of re-crunching the numbers and getting the info to her and see where it goes. We were just talking about it last week; she was wanting numbers since it's getting close enough (now that it's less than a year out, haha) that she can start looking more seriously at it.

Gives me an excuse to crunch numbers for a solo Dopey version of the trip, too, in the meanwhile. It turns out trip budgeting is a favorite hobby of mine now that I've gotten good at it; I like running numbers on the options.

You can register for the marathon when it opens, even if you don't know what will happen with your friend. If she decides she can't go, and you want to do Dopey, you can register for it and pay the difference. I believe there is also a bit of fee too. I have never done this, but I know it's possible and others on the board have.

 

[lhermiston]

I think Goofy is an anniversary... @rteetz

I stand corrected.

 

[YawningDodo]

You can register for the marathon when it opens, even if you don't know what will happen with your friend. If she decides she can't go, and you want to do Dopey, you can register for it and pay the difference. I believe there is also a bit of fee too. I have never done this, but I know it's possible and others on the board have.

Really good to know, thank you! That puts my mind at ease.

 

[cburnett11]

So why do you - or why do you want to - runDisney?

What can be better than a marathon in Disney, especially if it is your first marathon (2016)? My wife, college-aged daughter on winter break, and her then bf (now husband) went down there for a vacation in January 2015. We'd always wanted to go down there when it wasn't HOT. We all love Disney and it seemed like a good month to go down there and have it be a bit more relaxing. Some background: I started running mid-year 2012 (C25k) and by this time had done a couple half marathons locally. Friends had asked me when I was going to run a marathon and my response was always never.

We learned we'd arrive marathon weekend, but didn't really think much of it. Well we took Magical Express from the airport on Saturday morning and as we were dropping off people at Saratoga Springs on our way to PORS, I saw runners getting off the race bus returning from the half. Right then I started feeling a little of the energy and love. Sunday morning my wife and I woke up to the sound of fireworks at 5:30am. Wth?! And then again, and again. FINALLY, we realized that PORS was close enough to the start of the marathon and THAT's what we were hearing.

Anyways, that morning we headed to HS for rope drop. As we were standing there at the tapstiles, we saw some of the faster runners coming through HS and out the front. So the thought hit me right then... "if I was every going to run A marathon, what better place would there be to do it?" We even rode RnR on the first train with a runner and that was something we talked about all day. Seeing runners with their medals afterwards, just fueled the fire. So anyways when the registration opened up, I signed up for what was going to be my one and only (January 2016). NINE marathons later (4 there at WDW) and I'm hooked. You never forget your first.

So I think it will be tough for me to ever not want to runDisney. It was my first marathon, running through the parks is magical, the running community here is special, and most of all... my wife and I ran her first marathon together this year. Already planning to do it again in 2020. We had a blast running it together and basically talk about it every single day.

 

[Mickey Momma]

So why do you - or why do you want to - runDisney?

I grew up Disney. (Lived in Orlando and my grandfather worked on property.) I started running when my kids were itty-bitty so that I could feel like I had control over some aspect of my daily life. Anyhow, fast-forward several years and I had worked my way up to the half-marathon distance. Even though I had run at least a half-dozen 13.1s, I had never finished one and thought I had the ability to tack on another 13.1 miles to my race distance.

I am not sure what changed my mind, but I decided if I was going to run a marathon, running through the parks at WDW might keep me distracted enough to finish. And there is also the big plus of Florida being FLAT. I registered for the 2014 marathon and convinced my sister to join me. I remember seeing all the Dopey runners and joking that maybe I would return to run that in four years for a milestone birthday, never thinking I could actually do it. I returned to WDW to run the marathon in 2016 and used it as an excuse to head out to Disneyland so I could earn a C2C medal. AND since I was flying across the country, I added on the 10K for my first Disney challenge and back-to-back running experience ever. I thought I was done for a while, but with an anniversary year in 2018 coinciding with the aforementioned milestone birthday year, I registered for Dopey. I loved that experience, though maybe not enough to repeat it in the near future, but assumed I wouldn't be back until 2020. I found myself registered for W&D just a few months later with a friend who had had a rough year and needed the distraction of training for her first half-marathon to get her through 2018.

Anyhow, why do I runDisney? Because it's fun. It's flat. It's Disney. And because it is amazing to be part of a community to that is passionate about two of my favorite things! I am hoping to run the full in 2020. Still haven't told my family.

 

[pluto377]

SAFD- I can't remember how I found out about Run Disney. But once I did, I decided to come out of my 2nd marathon retirement and run it in 2009. Like others I figured what could be better than running in Disney World? I'd also read reviews online that raved about the organization and course support.

I had so much fun in '09, that I came back in '10 to improve my time, which I did.

I retired from marathoning for the 3rd time, gave birth to my 3 boys and then came back to RD in 2017 for the Princess 5K. I came back that time because it just so happened that our family trip that year coincided with Princess weekend. I was only 7 months out from giving birth to my 3rd son when I ran the race, so I decided to come back in '18 and go for the Fairytale Challenge.

I picked Fairytale Challenge because after running the marathon in 2010 I had decided that I wanted to do the Goofy Challenge the year I turned 40. Well, that was 2017 and I had had my son in July 2016, so I wasn't quite up to Goofy. I didn't think I had another marathon in me, so I gave up the Goofy quest completely and decided FT Challenge was doable. I had a great time doing it and felt like it was "easy."

As soon as I got home I started reading up on Dopey and thinking, what if? FT had felt easy. Adding a 5K would surely be no sweat. So the only "hard" part would be adding a marathon. I decided to go for it and completed it this year. I was not thrilled with my marathon time or experience, but the other 3 races were a blast.

Looking forward to returning again in 2020. Not sure which race yet. It definitely won't be Dopey, but I would like to do it again someday. Maybe 2022 which will be the year I turn 45.

 

[flav]

I am trying to calm my nerves while staying off my feet prior to a race tomorrow so I am compulsively looking at everything for Dopey 2020 (flights, resorts, news, costumes)...

The flights (including return) should be available for booking in two days. Yeah!

When will runDisney TA start publishing their room rates for 2020? Will it be when race registrations open in April? Any other possibility besides DVC and room-only full price reservations right now?

As for costumes, we probably will hold off until we know the race themes (especially the 10k... Please let it be Minnie).

 

[rteetz]

I am trying to calm my nerves while staying off my feet prior to a race tomorrow so I am compulsively looking at everything for Dopey 2020 (flights, resorts, news, costumes)...

The flights (including return) should be available for booking in two days. Yeah!

When will runDisney TA start publishing their room rates for 2020? Will it be when race registrations open in April? Any other possibility besides DVC and room-only full price reservations right now?

As for costumes, we probably will hold off until we know the race themes (especially the 10k... Please let it be Minnie).

You can book through runDisney already.

As for other packages those won’t be released until May/June.

 

[Professor_Cookie]

I am trying to calm my nerves while staying off my feet prior to a race tomorrow so I am compulsively looking at everything for Dopey 2020 (flights, resorts, news, costumes)...

The flights (including return) should be available for booking in two days. Yeah!

When will runDisney TA start publishing their room rates for 2020? Will it be when race registrations open in April? Any other possibility besides DVC and room-only full price reservations right now?

As for costumes, we probably will hold off until we know the race themes (especially the 10k... Please let it be Minnie).

I’ve never done costumes for a race, but I am considering Ronan the Accuser and Honest John(or Gideon), so I guess I should find 2 more villains.

 

[lhermiston]

Good morning, runDisney all-stars!

I'm staring at my office window as snow piles up outside, which definitely does not spark joy (in the parlance of our times). But, you know what does spark joy? Sundays are for Disney! So, let's roll...

Winter in Iowa is pretty much the antithesis of Walt Disney World - cold, colorless and the only castles are made of snow. It's a good day to take myself, mentally, back to WDW. For this week's Sundays are for Disney, I want to know how you get into Disney mode or bring a touch of Disney into your life when you're back home. Do you have a Disney mug for coffee? Flip through a photo album? Start planning another trip?

I have a few things I do when I'm wanting to feel a little bit of the magic. First and foremost is listen to Disney music, especially songs that can be heard at the parks. My favorite and most effective song is "Married Life" from Michael Giacchino (the instrumental at the beginning of "Up"). A version of it is sometimes played in the hub at MK and whenever I put that song on, I am instantly transported back to Magic Kingdom. I have a few other park-specific songs, but that one is most effective.

Otherwise, I like looking at photos from past trips or watching the little 5-minute slideshows I've made from previous trips on YouTube. Those are good ways to relive the memories.

Have a great week everyone!

 

[rteetz]

I want to know how you get into Disney mode or bring a touch of Disney into your life when you're back home. Do you have a Disney mug for coffee? Flip through a photo album? Start planning another trip?

Well I have the Dis. Our kitchen is Mickey Mouse themed, one bathroom is Finding Nemo, another is Toy Story. I have tons of Disney mugs. Always looking to plan another trip. I plan trips for others as well. I’m always listening to Disney music or watching Disney videos too.