Official Wine & Dine 2014

[Mikelly1221]

Congrats to everyone! I was wondering, how were the crowds at the after party? Lines for rides, how were they?

Thinking really hard about doing this next year so trying to get all the info I can!

 

[BuckeyeMark]

A few thoughts from my first RunDisney experience.

* It was great. Just great. Yes, the weather made it into a splash and dash but c’mon - you’re running through Animal Kingdom and DSH and Epcot! Fabulous. Just fabulous.

* About those who wonder about how to avoid the two hour wait in the “paddock area” before the race: you can’t. I thought about this for a long time too trying to see if I could get around the wait, and I kinda pride myself on being able to figure out ways to beat the system. No can do. I’m afraid there isn’t a loophole here. You just can’t move 14,000 people on to a race course in 15 minutes. Disney knows this. It takes a while to get everyone there, bags checked, potty runs made, etc. Translation: get on a bus, show up and just enjoy the wait. Don’t like waiting? I don’t either but it’s just part of the deal here. I did get a fun pic with Chip and Dale, and gear checked and visited the plastic boxes for necessary business before the lines were ridiculous. Talked with some nice runners from Maine. It was all good. Bring something to sit on and just sit down and relax.

* Rain is bad. Most of us don’t run in it so it was hard to know what to do and how to do. When it rains at home (DFW area) I just put off the run a day because I don’t want to risk slipping. Had zero idea what to do to stay warm. Wasn’t worried about wet but the guy next to me at the starting corrals was freaking me out by talking about hypothermia and death. Result? I wore a trash bag poncho for the first three miles. Then I carried the thing stuffed in my Fuel Belt for another three miles. Crazy. I had planned to run in a short sleeve running shirt that had been made into a Tigger costume (yup, I’m the guy running as Tigger). Wore my maroon W&D run shirt under it and was worried it’d be too much. It wasn’t. I did fine.

* All the talk about dark/slipper course? No to both. People posted stuff that made it sound like we ran in a hockey rink or that AK was lethally dangerous it’s so dark. Not for me. Never thought I was going to slip. Not even at the Boardwalk.

* Thanks Balaga sox. You’re the best. No blisters. Feet not cold.

* I did notice as I came out of AK that my shoes were just soaked all the way through and were heavy. They did not get lighter.

* I wasn’t prepared for the number of people who aren’t really serious, regular fairly hard-core runners trying to do this half marathon. My experience has been at a local half that most of the folks there are training regularly, maybe even thinking about doing a full, and are pretty serious about their running. You see compression socks, gels and Gu and lots of technical running shirts.

At the W&D I saw a ton of people who clearly thought this was a 5K fun run. I saw costumes that were great but weren’t going to go 13 miles. I saw cotton socks (ouch). I saw a LOT of walkers. In fact, before I hit mile marker one the guy in front of me said to his running mates “okay, I gotta walk.” I was in corral I. How can you need to walk before you’ve run/jogged a mile?!

That just makes the race have a really different feel. So many first-timers (welcome!) and inexperienced folks who don’t know (or think) to walk right and run left. Who stand in line for photos and then complain when they got swept. Who wore cotton socks and blistered their feet. Who just weren’t ready for 13.1 miles, period, and then surely weren’t ready for 13.1 miles in the rain.

Well, 13.1 isn’t a fun run. You need to be ready for the distance. It’s a long ways. Somewhere around mile 6 or 7 all of us get that “wow, this is a long race” feel. If you’re running your first half, have never even done a training run longer than 5 miles and you’ve got 5 pounds of batteries and LED lights for your costume strapped to you ... it probably isn’t going to go well for you. Yes, you look amazing. No, you aren’t going to finish.

* Speaking of training, was having this conversation yesterday in the airport with a lady wearing her W&D run shirt. She had run a ton of Disney stuff, mostly halves. Got to talking about training and the importance of long runs on the weekends. “Yeah, I never do any of that kind of thing” she said. “Oh really? You don’t do long runs?! So what’d you run the W&D in?” “A little under two hours.” Ugh! I hate her so much. No training and a sub two... oh boy. So there you go - everybody is different and everyone runs different.

* Some people complained about the on course entertainment (or lack thereof). But it didn’t bother me. I don’t run to be entertained (I go to the movies for that). It’s a RUN! Most halves and the full I did have ZERO on course entertainment, apart from people who come out and sit in their front yards to make fun of us moron runners as we stream by. So whatever there was made it all good for me. I loved the Green Soldier guy from Toy Story. He was so funny (“If you’ve got time for a photo, you’ve got time to drop and give me fifty!”). But mostly I did this to run the parks and I got to do that and it was incredible. There’s just nothing like getting to run AK, DHS and (a little bit) of EPCOT. That was fabulous. And so worth it.

* The finish line was the clown show that everyone is saying it is. I’m holding a banana, a bottle of Powerade, a box of (not very good) food items, and trying to wrap a piece of aluminum foil around all of this and take a finish pic. Not great. Good thing you can wear the medal.

* Speaking of medals - do wear it the next day in the park. Saw tons of them. Awesome. Not so much on Monday but saw a few even then. Really fun. All of my other run medals are in a box of assorted running junk at home. To get to wear the thing was greatness.

* No trouble catching a bus. Headed back to All Star Music without issues.

* Volunteers were incredible. Sooooo many. Course so well marked. My dad ran an extra couple tenths of a mile a few weeks ago at a half we did because the course wasn’t clear. No problem like that at Disney.

All in all, it was tremendous. Just incredible. But it’s a very very different kind of run then what I’m used to. This really isn’t about the run, it’s about the Disney experience. That brings out some different people and makes for a different feel. But it was great. I’m so thankful to all here who helped with tips and answers to questions. I hope your run was half as good as mine because I loved every (wet) minute of it!

 

[wilkeliza]

A few thoughts from my first RunDisney experience. * It was great. Just great. Yes, the weather made it into a splash and dash but c’mon - you’re running through Animal Kingdom and DSH and Epcot! Fabulous. Just fabulous. * About those who wonder about how to avoid the two hour wait in the “paddock area” before the race: you can’t. I thought about this for a long time too trying to see if I could get around the wait, and I kinda pride myself on being able to figure out ways to beat the system. No can do. I’m afraid there isn’t a loophole here. You just can’t move 14,000 people on to a race course in 15 minutes. Disney knows this. It takes a while to get everyone there, bags checked, potty runs made, etc. Translation: get on a bus, show up and just enjoy the wait. Don’t like waiting? I don’t either but it’s just part of the deal here. I did get a fun pic with Chip and Dale, and gear checked and visited the plastic boxes for necessary business before the lines were ridiculous. Talked with some nice runners from Maine. It was all good. Bring something to sit on and just sit down and relax. * Rain is bad. Most of us don’t run in it so it was hard to know what to do and how to do. When it rains at home (DFW area) I just put off the run a day because I don’t want to risk slipping. Had zero idea what to do to stay warm. Wasn’t worried about wet but the guy next to me at the starting corrals was freaking me out by talking about hypothermia and death. Result? I wore a trash bag poncho for the first three miles. Then I carried the thing stuffed in my Fuel Belt for another three miles. Crazy. I had planned to run in a short sleeve running shirt that had been made into a Tigger costume (yup, I’m the guy running as Tigger). Wore my maroon W&D run shirt under it and was worried it’d be too much. It wasn’t. I did fine. * All the talk about dark/slipper course? No to both. People posted stuff that made it sound like we ran in a hockey rink or that AK was lethally dangerous it’s so dark. Not for me. Never thought I was going to slip. Not even at the Boardwalk. * Thanks Balaga sox. You’re the best. No blisters. Feet not cold. * I did notice as I came out of AK that my shoes were just soaked all the way through and were heavy. They did not get lighter. * I wasn’t prepared for the number of people who aren’t really serious, regular fairly hard-core runners trying to do this half marathon. My experience has been at a local half that most of the folks there are training regularly, maybe even thinking about doing a full, and are pretty serious about their running. You see compression socks, gels and Gu and lots of technical running shirts. At the W&D I saw a ton of people who clearly thought this was a 5K fun run. I saw costumes that were great but weren’t going to go 13 miles. I saw cotton socks (ouch). I saw a LOT of walkers. In fact, before I hit mile marker one the guy in front of me said to his running mates “okay, I gotta walk.” I was in corral I. How can you need to walk before you’ve run/jogged a mile?! That just makes the race have a really different feel. So many first-timers (welcome!) and inexperienced folks who don’t know (or think) to walk right and run left. Who stand in line for photos and then complain when they got swept. Who wore cotton socks and blistered their feet. Who just weren’t ready for 13.1 miles, period, and then surely weren’t ready for 13.1 miles in the rain. Well, 13.1 isn’t a fun run. You need to be ready for the distance. It’s a long ways. Somewhere around mile 6 or 7 all of us get that “wow, this is a long race” feel. If you’re running your first half, have never even done a training run longer than 5 miles and you’ve got 5 pounds of batteries and LED lights for your costume strapped to you ... it probably isn’t going to go well for you. Yes, you look amazing. No, you aren’t going to finish. * Speaking of training, was having this conversation yesterday in the airport with a lady wearing her W&D run shirt. She had run a ton of Disney stuff, mostly halves. Got to talking about training and the importance of long runs on the weekends. “Yeah, I never do any of that kind of thing” she said. “Oh really? You don’t do long runs?! So what’d you run the W&D in?” “A little under two hours.” Ugh! I hate her so much. No training and a sub two... oh boy. So there you go - everybody is different and everyone runs different. * Some people complained about the on course entertainment (or lack thereof). But it didn’t bother me. I don’t run to be entertained (I go to the movies for that). It’s a RUN! Most halves and the full I did have ZERO on course entertainment, apart from people who come out and sit in their front yards to make fun of us moron runners as we stream by. So whatever there was made it all good for me. I loved the Green Soldier guy from Toy Story. He was so funny (“If you’ve got time for a photo, you’ve got time to drop and give me fifty!&#148. But mostly I did this to run the parks and I got to do that and it was incredible. There’s just nothing like getting to run AK, DHS and (a little bit) of EPCOT. That was fabulous. And so worth it. * The finish line was the clown show that everyone is saying it is. I’m holding a banana, a bottle of Powerade, a box of (not very good) food items, and trying to wrap a piece of aluminum foil around all of this and take a finish pic. Not great. Good thing you can wear the medal. * Speaking of medals - do wear it the next day in the park. Saw tons of them. Awesome. Not so much on Monday but saw a few even then. Really fun. All of my other run medals are in a box of assorted running junk at home. To get to wear the thing was greatness. * No trouble catching a bus. Headed back to All Star Music without issues. * Volunteers were incredible. Sooooo many. Course so well marked. My dad ran an extra couple tenths of a mile a few weeks ago at a half we did because the course wasn’t clear. No problem like that at Disney. All in all, it was tremendous. Just incredible. But it’s a very very different kind of run then what I’m used to. This really isn’t about the run, it’s about the Disney experience. That brings out some different people and makes for a different feel. But it was great. I’m so thankful to all here who helped with tips and answers to questions. I hope your run was half as good as mine because I loved every (wet) minute of it!

Wow way to be super judgmental. Disney is known aa a run walk event. Their official training guides teach it as well as he official trainer. I have been as high up as corral E and you will see me walk 30 seconds after starting. That's my intervals 30 run minute walk. I also walked the last 5 miles because I slipped off a curb. How about you run your race and I'll run/walk mine always staying to the right but having a ton of fun wearing my less than a pound LED vest.

 

[fozziepitysthefool]

At the W&D I saw a ton of people who clearly thought this was a 5K fun run. I saw costumes that were great but weren’t going to go 13 miles. I saw cotton socks (ouch). I saw a LOT of walkers. In fact, before I hit mile marker one the guy in front of me said to his running mates “okay, I gotta walk.” I was in corral I. How can you need to walk before you’ve run/jogged a mile?!

So true, right?!? And yet it happens at every race (not just runDisney ones).

Well, 13.1 isn’t a fun run. You need to be ready for the distance. It’s a long ways. Somewhere around mile 6 or 7 all of us get that “wow, this is a long race” feel. If you’re running your first half, have never even done a training run longer than 5 miles and you’ve got 5 pounds of batteries and LED lights for your costume strapped to you ... it probably isn’t going to go well for you. Yes, you look amazing. No, you aren’t going to finish. Bahahaha!!!

* Speaking of training, was having this conversation yesterday in the airport with a lady wearing her W&D run shirt. She had run a ton of Disney stuff, mostly halves. Got to talking about training and the importance of long runs on the weekends. “Yeah, I never do any of that kind of thing” she said. “Oh really? You don’t do long runs?! So what’d you run the W&D in?” “A little under two hours.” Ugh! I hate her so much. No training and a sub two... oh boy. So there you go - everybody is different and everyone runs different. I hate her too.

Best race summary EVER!!! I added my two cents of humour.

 

[fozziepitysthefool]

Wow way to be super judgmental. Disney is known aa a run walk event. Their official training guides teach it as well as he official trainer. I have been as high up as corral E and you will see me walk 30 seconds after starting. That's my intervals 30 run minute walk. I also walked the last 5 miles because I slipped off a curb. How about you run your race and I'll run/walk mine always staying to the right but having a ton of fun wearing my less than a pound LED vest.

I really don't think it was intended to be judgmental...

 

[wilkeliza]

I really don't think it was intended to be judgmental...

Talking about people's costume choices and saying people aren't serious runners certainly reads as judgement to me. I know people who ran in pretty fancy costumes who finished and finished strong.

 

[BuckeyeMark]

Talking about people's costume choices and saying people aren't serious runners certainly reads as judgement to me. I know people who ran in pretty fancy costumes who finished and finished strong.

Wasn't meant to be judmental. And the entire quote about the costume and not being a serious runner is "If you’re running your first half, have never even done a training run longer than 5 miles and you’ve got 5 pounds of batteries and LED lights for your costume strapped to you ... it probably isn’t going to go well for you. Yes, you look amazing. No, you aren’t going to finish."

It was an attempt at humor. I really don't think anybody had five pounds of batteries and lights on!

I was just trying to say that it seemed to me some people weren't ready to go 13.1 miles. I'm not sure that point is even debatable. And I wanted to say that the run felt different than any half I've ever been a part of. Maybe others run a lot of halves and fulls with unprepared folks but that hasn't been my experience. Your mileage may vary.

And from a guy who runs so slowly that you can time me with a sun dial - trust me: I'm not judging anybody!

 

[QVCshopper]

I just have to comment about the walker/runner comment from Buckeye Mark. Seriously, this was a HUGE accomplishment for me, and you just belittled so many participants.

About 8.5 years ago, a man at work in a charity volleyball game got all super macho and totally destroyed my knee when he dove under the net into it. Later, after going to a bad doctor who said I was fine, I broke my corresponding elbow (worse pain than childbirth with no meds). I have a cadaver ACL in my left knee with basically no meniscus whatsoever. I did months of rehab for knee and elbow. As a result, I haven't been able to be as active as I used to be, but heck yeah, I was finishing this thing. I also have three kids and am a stay at home and watch my 2 year old constantly and work at night. Finding the time to train is incredibly difficult when little people depend on you 100% of the time.

So, if I walked some, who cares? Did it really affect you? I kept under the 15 minute pace that was recommended in the training guide--and that was with 3 bathroom breaks because my stomach was acting up, and 2 character stops.

I'm proud of my accomplishment. I never thought I could even run again 8.5 years ago. I'm usually a nice, calm person, but that comment annoyed me.

 

[Ariel484]

This race was tough for me. I ran the 5K that morning, which was really fun - but I was so shocked to see all of the walls in DAK! I read about them being there, but seeing them in person was totally different. Great race, though. Really fun and good character turnout. Most surprising thing after the walls was seeing the deconstructed AK Christmas tree during the third mile of the race!

Running the 5K beforehand wasn't what made the half tough, though - I got sick partway through the day and it came on really suddenly. I thought it was a migraine (never had one before but I had a splitting headache and was nauseous), but quickly figured out it was IBS with food poisoning-like symptoms (but not actually food poisoning...best way I can describe it without going into more detail ). It struck around 4PM and I almost had a panic attack afterward. I was soooooo upset.

I had plain crust from Via Napoli for dinner around 4:30 and drank a ton of water. We bought ponchos at MouseGear to use while waiting for the start of the race - best decision ever! I was in corral E, two of my friends were in F and the 4th was in I. We all wanted to run together, so we started in I. We were the foursome wearing the "Beer Run" shirts.

In retrospect, the 3 of us dropping back was a bad idea and we won't be doing it again. My friend that was originally in I didn't want us to drop back because she didn't want to hold us back, and during the first couple of miles she told me it was too much pressure to try to go faster than her normal pace. My other two friends took off from us around mile 4 and around mile 6 I was starting to really hurt, I think from changing my gait to run slower than what I am used to. Somehow it did not occur to my that slowing my pace would affect me like that. So I took off from my friend and instantly felt better (she did too - ended up going faster without the rest of us around). I actually ended up catching my other two friends in the Studios. Lesson learned - we'll all start separately next time.

Anyway...from running this race last year to this year, I can say that the rain really made it very different. A lot of the entertainment and characters that should have been there just weren't. I braced myself for the possibility that there wouldn't be any characters or entertainment on the course at all, so anything that I did see on the course was a pleasant surprise to me (though I will say that the character line-up was almost exactly the same as last year - I was hoping for some special characters since it was an anniversary year). But those few miles running by myself in the rain were really tough. I have run in the rain before (9-10 miles or so at home) but always had a hat, and was really fixated on the fact that I did NOT have one this time. That and the fact that I felt "ditched" by my friends (we didn't talk through possibly splitting up earlier - MISTAKE!!) and was worried about getting sick again (which I didn't!!! Whew ) made those few solo miles a little dark for me. Physically I was fine - it was totally mental.

Balega socks saved me - I really made an effort to leap over puddles, but still, no blisters! Very surprising.

Volunteers were incredible - running distracted me from just how rainy it really was (seeing it now on the official runDisney video is really surprising to me) so I can't imagine how they felt just standing there for hours. They all had smiles on their faces. Can't thank them enough.

Like I said, I was able to catch two of my friends and we finished together. We were all nervous on the Boardwalk area - it was a little slippery. Friend #4 came in about 15 minutes behind us. Yes, it was tough carrying all of the stuff at the finish - but at least we GOT all of that stuff! And they moved us through quickly to clear the area for the other runners to come through - it's race logistics. It was a little overwhelming carrying everything but I was still grateful to have it. I agree a bag would have been nice but I won't complain about it.

Bag check was quick for me, just like last year. I skipped the beer line so I can't comment on that.

After changing into dry clothes, I was just done. I was chilled to the bone and couldn't stop shivering, so I headed out early. And how you all say at least one resort has bad transportation? At the time, that was mine - Port Orleans Riverside. The line was HUGE. I waited maybe 25 minutes for a bus. Another dark time for me - I didn't just want to get back to Riverside, I wanted to go HOME. To Ohio. But a hot hot hot shower and night of sleep helped a lot.

Congrats to everyone that finished! I've run 10 races at Disney and this was, by far, the toughest for me.

 

[BuckeyeMark]

I just have to comment about the walker/runner comment from Buckeye Mark. Seriously, this was a HUGE accomplishment for me, and you just belittled so many participants.

About 8.5 years ago, a man at work in a charity volleyball game got all super macho and totally destroyed my knee when he dove under the net into it. Later, after going to a bad doctor who said I was fine, I broke my corresponding elbow (worse pain than childbirth with no meds). I have a cadaver ACL in my left knee with basically no meniscus whatsoever. I did months of rehab for knee and elbow. As a result, I haven't been able to be as active as I used to be, but heck yeah, I was finishing this thing. I also have three kids and am a stay at home and watch my 2 year old constantly and work at night. Finding the time to train is incredibly difficult when little people depend on you 100% of the time.

So, if I walked some, who cares? Did it really affect you? I kept under the 15 minute pace that was recommended in the training guide--and that was with 3 bathroom breaks because my stomach was acting up, and 2 character stops.

I'm proud of my accomplishment. I never thought I could even run again 8.5 years ago. I'm usually a nice, calm person, but that comment annoyed me.

I need to say again: I did not mean to be judgmental of people who walked. That wasn't my intent at all. FOLKS, I WALKED TOO! I always walk some. Thank you Jeff Galloway - I walked as part of a full marathon finish.

To anybody who finished - kudos to you. That was a rough night. If you ran, sprinted, crawled, wheeled (how about the wheel chair people!), walked, or slithered then GOOD FOR YOU.

Mostly I just wanted to be funny - I didn't mean to offend to anybody, especially since I'M A WALKER TOO. And one time I forgot to put my hand up before I pulled over...

 

[bcarey2k]

Buckeye - I read your humor in your post .... It's all good.

We were in G corral and were clicking about 13 min miles ... Between the cold and the wet, and running the Avengers this weekend, we weren't slipping and sliding

We ran up and around folks all evening and witnessed the hand raise and the anti-hand raise stop .... We subscribed to the hand raise right veer ... Equally as problematic sometimes.

Congrats to all that ran and finished (only about 11K finished? Per the results page)

Brian

 

[PrincessV]

Lines for rides, how were they?

I dind't do any rides, but I saw the Soarin' wait time while I was waiting in a restroom line in the Land: 10 mins at 2:45am.

In fact, before I hit mile marker one the guy in front of me said to his running mates “okay, I gotta walk.” I was in corral I. How can you need to walk before you’ve run/jogged a mile?!

I'll take your word that you were being "funny", but have to point out that this^ doesn't come off as funny. I was also in corral I and I do run/walk intervals from the very start, so for sure - I was walking well before the Mile 1 marker, as were many thousands of other run/walk folks. That's how the Galloway program works: you don't wait until you're tired to start walk breaks.

 

[RnbwSktles]

I need to say again: I did not mean to be judgmental of people who walked. That wasn't my intent at all. FOLKS, I WALKED TOO! I always walk some. Thank you Jeff Galloway - I walked as part of a full marathon finish.

To anybody who finished - kudos to you. That was a rough night. If you ran, sprinted, crawled, wheeled (how about the wheel chair people!), walked, or slithered then GOOD FOR YOU.

Mostly I just wanted to be funny - I didn't mean to offend to anybody, especially since I'M A WALKER TOO. And one time I forgot to put my hand up before I pulled over...

I understand that your comments weren't meant to be as harsh as they originally sounded. However, you definitely made those comments in the wrong forum so don't be surprised by the reaction. While many "good" runners participate in Disney races, they are not the target market. Disney has motivated a lot of people (including me) to get in to competitive running and the Jeff Galloway training programs are the ones recommended by Disney. If you have trained for the race using a run/walk interval, then you are going to try hard to stick to that, even if that means walking very soon after the start. If that is all you have ever done, then it is scary to attempt to run the first mile not knowing for sure if you will burn out too soon. I have told friends after the first half-mile or mile that I "have to walk" because of this. Not because I was already out of breath. People pace themselves differently.

For some people, completing a race does not mean running the whole thing, or even most of it. It just means crossing the finish line.

Also, the human body is capable of a lot of things and putting up with a lot of pain. So what if someone only ever did 5 miles before the race? Maybe they were injured or sick and that was all they could get in. Life happens. Should they have thrown away the money and stayed home? Some of those people will fail, and others will not. I see no harm in trying.

 

[bcarey2k]

I dind't do any rides, but I saw the Soarin' wait time while I was waiting in a restroom line in the Land: 10 mins at 2:45am. I'll take your word that you were being "funny", but have to point out that this^ doesn't come off as funny. I was also in corral I and I do run/walk intervals from the very start, so for sure - I was walking well before the Mile 1 marker, as were many thousands of other run/walk folks. That's how the Galloway program works: you don't wait until you're tired to start walk breaks.

I'm a believer in the run/walk method too!

I think the opportunity is that the folks weren't adhering to the 'to the right'/hand up opportunity.

We're all in agreement that conditions dictated a slower pace for those of us mid-packers.

I was in G and had to dodge many folks doing intervals in the middle of the road (which was quit slender in places).

I, as I read Buckeye's post, am not intending disrespect .... Especially to those who finished (11K out of 14K) ... But if you're intervaling, your hand is your signal ... And if you and 3 of your friends are doing it, just be mindful of the folks behind you. I bounced off several folks (don't get me started about folks intervaling, wearing headphones) whom I apologized to as I went around ...

I've done many Disney races and have run in much worse conditions. It was all good.

And I'll be doing it all again in a few days!!

I love it and can't stay away!

-b

 

[sunshinecruise]

We didn't stay for the after party because after the race I was so cold.

I have a question for those of you who did stay. What did you do with your gear bag? Did you just carry it around? My bag was heavy. I had brought extra shoes so I had my wet clothes and shoes in the bag.

I wonder if there were any lockers available. Do you think that you could get a locker early in the day, put your extra clothes in your gear bag in the locker so you didn't have to check your bag, then use it for your wet clothes after the run?

 

[bigtony777]

RUNDISNEY: We need tables or benches, somewhere to organize all that stuff OR…HAND US ALL THAT STUFF IN ONE BAG…A BAG, WE NEED A BAG. I'm sure some sponsor would be happy to supply a cheap plastic shopping bag for said purpose.

Yes a bag is needed. They stopped giving out bags when they switched to these boxes. I finished my powerade before getting grabbing anything else and then juggled until I got to bag check to put everything in my bag. You could wrap up a grocery bag to run with to have one for future Disney races.

 

[Ariel484]

I think that some people forgot that :30/:30, :45/:45, 1:00/1:00, etc. are real intervals that a lot of people use successfully. I don't think there's malicious intent anywhere on this thread, just maybe an inability to see things from others' point of view. Bottom line, if you toed the starting line of that race you're a bada**. It was no joke.

We didn't stay for the after party because after the race I was so cold.

I have a question for those of you who did stay. What did you do with your gear bag? Did you just carry it around? My bag was heavy. I had brought extra shoes so I had my wet clothes and shoes in the bag.

I wonder if there were any lockers available. Do you think that you could get a locker early in the day, put your extra clothes in your gear bag in the locker so you didn't have to check your bag, then use it for your wet clothes after the run?

I checked a Vera Bradley backpack in my gear bag (inside of a Disney bag) and put all of my stuff in that, so it was a little easier to carry afterward. My friends and I did debate getting a locker beforehand but ultimately decided against it. I did see other people getting stuff from lockers on my way out.

 

[walkdmc]

Buckeye, I LOVE Balega socks! I wear them all the time and wore them for the race. My feet felt dry the entire race, until I jumped in a puddle at the end but even then, they felt dry a minute later.

ANd no blisters! Between my running baseball cap with brim and Balega socks, I felt pretty dry.

 

[Ariel484]

I dind't do any rides, but I saw the Soarin' wait time while I was waiting in a restroom line in the Land: 10 mins at 2:45am.

Gonna sound like a total creeper...were you wearing all black? I'm pretty sure I saw you waiting for the family bathroom. I was shivering on a bench about 5 feet away.

 

[PrincessV]

Gonna sound like a total creeper...were you wearing all black? I'm pretty sure I saw you waiting for the family bathroom. I was shivering on a bench about 5 feet away.

OMG yes! Not the creeper part - the all black/companion restroom part, lol! Too funny! Yeah, we started at the changing tent... looooong line outside in the cold - nope. EP entrance restroom... loooong line outside in the cold. A couple more EP restrooms... yep, loooong, cold lines. We wound up opting to wait in line INDOORS with heat - best decision ever! Hope you finally warmed up!