Hello fellow runners, I am considering running the Wine and Dine 10K or half this Nov 2020. I keep reading that the Dis events are not events to run if you want a good time.
In general, yes it can be difficult due to course congestion to run as fast as you want. But with that being said, it does not have to be a deal breaker. I've run plenty of fast PR times from the front of corral A in 5ks, 10ks, HMs, and Ms at Disney. Plenty of people have been able to run fast PR times from any corral with patience and courtesy.
I noticed the 10K allows runners to send in an anticipated pace, while the Half requires POT. How good are the organizers at placing you in a corral based on your pace?
I wasn't at the 2019 W&D 10k, so I can't speak to that one specifically, but in general the corral placement makes sense based on the submitted estimated pace. Faster estimated pace = earlier corral. Given there's no POT requirement for the 10k it means runDisney is at the mercy of honesty when it comes to the estimated pace. The POT submission for the HM is fairly exact.
My thought is that for the 10K the A corral may include much slower runners since there is no official POT required and based on info from the POT thread, it appears there are a wide range of runners placed in the A corral for the half. Is it really difficult to navigate around people? Any bottlenecks during the race?
In my experience, the corrals open about 75 min before the race starts. If you get into the corral right around when it opens, then you should have little issue being near the very front of the corral. By being near the very front, you may have congestion for a few moments, but the race does open up fairly quickly. I've started 12-15 rows of people back before and it's taken a little more time to get in a groove, but it does open up even then. Bottlenecks are always going to depend on the course and no idea if the W&D 10k stays the same.
With that being said, when combing the data sets post race it's pretty clear that it's possible to run a very fast time in most any corral. Just being courteous and realizing it's an experience for everyone is important. Sometimes you might have to slow down, but just see it as saving energy.
And do you not get your corral assignments until you pick up your packets?
For the 10k, yes not until packet pickup. Although it's assumed that if you submit a sub-7 10k estimated pace (given that's an accurate estimated pace), then you'll be in corral A unless there's an error. I always take screenshots of my registration just in case an error occurs.
For the HM, when waivers come out is when you can figure out your corral assignment. That's usually 3 weeks in advance of the race. But the POT thread is fairly accurate.
I also read about a runner who was turned away from his assigned A corral on race day because it was full. How early do you have to be at the race to get in your assigned corral?
In the past, the A corral closes about 30 min prior to the race start for the 10k because that's when the "march" to the start begins (although my experience is based on MW and I'm not sure W&D is the same). There is a little more leeway during the HM, but I'd still say be there before the 30 min to race start mark. Although if you're aiming for the front of the corral, then the corral being full won't be an issue. My personal advice is that during training work on hydration timing. Because there are no porta-pottys in the corrals themselves. So you need to come up with a timing methodology that keeps you from needing to use the portas once you enter the corral itself.
