Official Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend - The Dark Side 2017

[Dis_Yoda]

Yes, where was Rogue One?????

It's the Dark Side!

 

[lovingeire]

It's the Dark Side!

True, I guess, but I don't remember anything super Rogue One at Light Side either. And it surprises me when Disney doesn't use any opportunity to market it's products! LOL!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

True, I guess, but I don't remember anything super Rogue One at Light Side either. And it surprises me when Disney doesn't use any opportunity to market it's products! LOL!

I think Rogue One will be at Light Side in 2018. There wasn't anything for The Force Awakens in 2016 but in 2017 they did.

 

[croach]

I get your logic, but again it's at Walt Disney World. I have only done Wine and Dine and now Star Wars, but I still have to disagree with skipping Magic Kingdom. I ran all 3 races this weekend and one of them could've included MK...

Running in DL you get to do it. I know there's less parks, a more condensed area, but at WDW, regardless of theming, it's Disney. And even with it being Star Wars, I would skip AK and Epcot to get to run at MK.

I would have to wonder if it's not just the logistic of getting 13.1 in from their starting point but also getting in max entertainment.

Yeah, DW saw some of this. (She ended up in F3.) She was contemplating a last second trip to the stalls, but not only was they guy doing his best to prevent people from leaving (so a real emergency would have been a problem), but they were telling people trying to get in that they had to run in G because they had started moving the corral to the start, but that wasn't true. D had just started, and E was sliding forward, but F was just compressing towards the front to get ready. People were jumping the fence along the back and from G. I'm thinking these volunteers might have been new to running?

One thing that was odd was the portapotty situation. The stalls outside the corrals were a lot closer than they are at the Epcot setup, but even with less space, the lines were ungodly. I've never seen anything like that at a Disney race. (However, my brother-in-law tells me the stall situation at the Boston Marathon is the absolute worst he's ever seen, so at least it was better than that!) At first glance, it appears that the back sections of the MK lot is bigger than the part they use at Epcot starts, but it sure seemed a lot more congested.

Yeah it was definitely crowded by the corrals. Had to walk in front of the portapotties to be able to get to my corral.

 

[FFigawi]

I didn't hear about this. I got in the corral late and ended up in F6. They didn't seem to care how many people were coming it at that time. How can they shut it down for too many people when they are the ones that designed it that way? Makes no sense. I am glad you were still able to get in.

This pretty much defines the first time rD tries something. They can never seem to get the logistics quite right the first time around.

 

[BigEeyore]

It's the Dark Side

There was plenty of rebel scum out there on the course!

Seriously though - we loved Rogue One and as the most recent SW movie, I would have thought there would be more out there (hey, it was just released on DVD! Not like Disney to not promote it!). I know it's not officially part of the SW trilogy format, but I just hate that it was basically ignored. Even if they had just shown that final Vader scene on one of the big screens or to entertain us in the corrals I would have been happy.

 

[BigEeyore]

Overall - I think this race weekend is likely one and done for me. It was a bucket list item, and while I loved the course, the heat and spring break crowds and prices weren't my favorites

Spring break was really late this year for a lot of schools because Easter was so late. Next year Easter is April 1st so the crowds shouldn't be terrible next year. The weather in Florida is so hit or miss - just a couple of weeks before it was in the low 50's in the morning. Truly - the weather for the half was a lot like the weather we had for the marathon in January last year (2016) - you just never know with Florida!

 

[Gucci65]

This was my first 10k EVER and I'm proud to say I FINISHED!!! Not the best time ever - but I did the best I could with the shin splints and compression sleeves. Thank goodness for Jeff Galloway and his run/walk method and the interval timer on my shirt straps lol. So relieved to have not been swept. Both 5k and 10k were fantastic! Can't say enough about the volunteers. Here's to next year and possibly doing the Challenge!

 

[MyFavEeyore]

Loved running the SWDS Challenge and 5k! I thought all was organized well and enjoyed running the courses. I would have liked it more had I not accidentally silenced my phone messages and heard my DS was ok at his 5k mark. He twisted up his knee during 10k and was hobbiling around pretty bad. When I didn't hear his tracking go off during the half on my phone and realized I was way past where it should have, I started to get worried and began scanning those in front of me looking for him. The "mom" in me took over finally and I stopped real quick to peek at my 5k mark. That's when I realized what I had done and turned up the messaging sound. DUH! In any event, thanks to stubbornness, determination and a lot of biofreeze he made it as well as I. You know it was ice baths for us back at resort room!

 

[TCB in FLA]

Add me to the fans of this race!
Here's what I liked:
- loved the course for the 10k and liked the half. However, the stretch of highway before the Studios was brutal for me between blisters and the humidity. I didn't mind the roads at the beginning of both races as I like to get miles out of the way before the party to the finish starts.
- the characters were great. I especially liked the ones just inside the Studios for the 10k and outside AK at the half, who were also right before the finish (cosplayers?). They were awesome! I stopped for most of the official character stops during the three races, once per character over the series. I did not stop for the Ewoks during the 5k, then really regretted it later. I was thrilled to see them during the half even if it did cost me 20 minutes. But ewoks! R2d2!
- I love that the characters at the start/finish were the same each day and that they had wait times posted.
- I enjoyed the vibe and attitude of fellow runners. My last two RD events were both Princess ones, and frankly there are too many divas at that event. I'm also not much of a girly girl, and I am the mom of two teen boys. Star Wars was definitely more my style.
- Photopass is great! So much better than Marathonfoto! I had race pictures in my account within a few hours each day.
- really liked the design of the shirt and the medals. RD has really upped its game in this department in the past few years.
- I ran with the 215 Galloway group until the Ewoks during the half, and really got a lot out of that group. I had no problem keeping up with their running pace, but I need to up my walking game. Our group stayed tightly to the left, no more than 2-3 across at most.

Didn't care for:
- the light show during the beginning was blinding! I was still with the pace group at the time, very close to the left side of the road. Perhaps it wasn't as bad if you were in the middle.
- folks just forget about race etiquette after a few miles. Sigh.
- I do wish that RD would extend the POT requirement. This did not affect me personally, but my roomie has a POT just out of the 245 requirement and was in the last corral. That doesn't seem very smart to put slower experienced runners in with newcomers who don't have any POT. After the 10K, she said she really needed to be up early to get to the front of her corral at the half to avoid congestion.
- the humidity was tough Sunday on this NC mountains girl. So hard to train for that, although I really kept up with my hydration.
- I do wish the race was a few weeks earlier. I know that would mean the middle of spring breaks, but being so late in the school year means my boys won't ever be able to do this event.
- that I missed the meetup. Next time!

 

[DISbot]

Did anyone else get a post-race survey asking questions including gauging interest in room or room and ticket packets?

 

[maw]

Just wanted to chime in - I had a great time last weekend. I'm so (so so) sad it's over. I didn't get the time I wanted with the 1/2, I really struggled with the humidity. 10k was fun. I really liked running through the "business" parts of Animal Kingdom. I was glad we didn't have an out and back on the highway like last year. I'm hoping we can do it next year, and I'm trying to talk my husband into a California trip for the Light Side.

Is the cute couple with bib numbers 26395 & 26396 on here? I got a great pic of you in my photopass and I'm happy to send it your way.

All in all, such a great weekend. I've had a hard time coming back to the real world this week.

 

[BigEeyore]

I love that the characters at the start/finish were the same each day and that they had wait times posted

I loved seeing the wait times too - they were really organized, and we had a breakfast reservation to get to so we really did need to know how long the wait for Vader was (we got the pic!). Hope to see more of this in the future!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

I had a great time this weekend and really enjoyed most of the new courses. If you're interested, I've started a trip report here, it's part of my Kessel Run (and WDW half marathon misfire) TR, so you can start at the beginning (Coast to Coast and Back Again TR in my signature) of it if you'd like to read about my Light Side experience. Great meeting folks at the meetup on Sunday morning!

 

[PrincessV]

I didn't hear about this. I got in the corral late and ended up in F6. They didn't seem to care how many people were coming it at that time. How can they shut it down for too many people when they are the ones that designed it that way? Makes no sense. I am glad you were still able to get in.

Thanks, me too! This is very interesting... I wondered how many waves they did for F; I tried counting how many times the fireworks went off after I started, but lost track. I did edge up the side after I got in, but nowhere near far enough to be 3 weaves ahead - makes me think they finally did open it back up after we hopped the gates. And yep, that argument was being made by people that if we all have F bibs, and we aren't in the corral yet, how can it be at capacity?! It was so surreal.

Yeah, DW saw some of this. (She ended up in F3.) She was contemplating a last second trip to the stalls, but not only was they guy doing his best to prevent people from leaving (so a real emergency would have been a problem), but they were telling people trying to get in that they had to run in G because they had started moving the corral to the start, but that wasn't true. D had just started, and E was sliding forward, but F was just compressing towards the front to get ready. People were jumping the fence along the back and from G. I'm thinking these volunteers might have been new to running?

Yes, exactly! F didn't move for quite a while after I got in.

 

[ejcraft]

Thanks, me too! This is very interesting... I wondered how many waves they did for F; I tried counting how many times the fireworks went off after I started,


there were 7 waves in F, I was the first wave in G, so had no issues counting

 

[ejcraft]

would anyone who had a bib number towards the end of numbers in coral G care to tell us what their proof of time was, I'm trying to figure out what I need so i don't end up in the last coral at my next race

 

[Barca33Runner]

would anyone who had a bib number towards the end of numbers in coral G care to tell us what their proof of time was, I'm trying to figure out what I need so i don't end up in the last coral at my next race

Proof of time was required for anyone putting in an expected finish of 2:45 or better. I believe corrals F and G included everyone without such a PoT. It seems F included everyone who put in an expected finish between 2:45:01 and 3:00. I'm not sure if this is exactly how it worked, but I think it's pretty close.

Even though I wasn't in either corral F or G I was not a fan of their plan.

 

[DISbot]

Proof of time was required for anyone putting in an expected finish of 2:45 or better. I believe corrals F and G included everyone without such a PoT. It seems F included everyone who put in an expected finish between 2:45:01 and 3:00. I'm not sure if this is exactly how it worked, but I think it's pretty close.

Even though I wasn't in either corral F or G I was not a fan of their plan.

They also included anyone with a POT that put them over a 2:45. There did not seem to be a fixed rhyme or reason. I was standing next to a couple with the exact same POT where one was placed in F and the other in G. The two corrals appeared to be more random and only because the couldn't have 60-75% of tge race in the same corral.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

They also included anyone with a POT that put them over a 2:45. There did not seem to be a fixed rhyme or reason. I was standing next to a couple with the exact same POT where one was placed in F and the other in G. The two corrals appeared to be more random and only because the couldn't have 60-75% of tge race in the same corral.

No - the just put 33% in the same corral!