Spring Surprise (March 31-April 3rd 2022)

[GreatLakes]

Marathon?! Omg. Do we even have enough weeks to train for that?

Plenty. They generally run 16 to 20 weeks and that weekend is 23 weeks away.

That being said considering Disney tends to attract more beginning and casual runners they would need to announce a full about 18 to 20 weeks out in my opinion. Maybe not all the weekend details or theme but give people a heads up that one of the races will be a marathon.

 

[CvilleDiane]

Plenty. They generally run 16 to 20 weeks and that weekend is 23 weeks away.

That being said considering Disney tends to attract more beginning and casual runners they would need to announce a full about 18 to 20 weeks out in my opinion. Maybe not all the weekend details or theme but give people a heads up that one of the races will be a marathon.

Aren’t the wdw half marathon plans usually 19 weeks? My expectation is that i’d start training after I register so that I know I’m in. For a full, I’d expect a more training time than the half. I hope the Google search is incorrect. I’d been hoping for something more casual like the Tower of Terror 10 Miler since we still don’t know distances or registration dates. Race weekend is less than 23 weeks away!

 

[camaker]

Aren’t the wdw half marathon plans usually 19 weeks? My expectation is that i’d start training after I register so that I know I’m in. For a full, I’d expect a more training time than the half. I hope the Google search is incorrect. I’d been hoping for something more casual like the Tower of Terror 10 Miler since we still don’t know distances or registration dates. Race weekend is less than 23 weeks away!

Jeff Galloway’s half marathon training plans are 19 weeks and his marathon training plans are 29 weeks, but as @GreatLakes said, most marathon training plans run 16 to 20 weeks. There are exactly 23 weeks until race weekend, so there’s a choice to be made. What do you lose if you start training before registration? If you don’t get in, you’re still in better shape than if you hadn’t started. If it turns out to be a different distance, you’ve got a head start on that training. If you wait, you risk not being ready for race day.

 

[CvilleDiane]

Jeff Galloway’s half marathon training plans are 19 weeks and his marathon training plans are 29 weeks, but as @GreatLakes said, most marathon training plans run 16 to 20 weeks. There are exactly 23 weeks until race weekend, so there’s a choice to be made. What do you lose if you start training before registration? If you don’t get in, you’re still in better shape than if you hadn’t started. If it turns out to be a different distance, you’ve got a head start on that training. If you wait, you risk not being ready for race day.

I’m not excited to train for a race I don’t know about, but I’m making a backup plan. I have the entire week booked on DVC points at VGF. If the race turns out to be a distance or theme I don’t like, I’ll go to USO during the race weekend and spend the weekdays at VGF. All 3 of my favorite room types are still open for that weekend, so it might be fated!

 

[Livelovedance]

Anything is possible, but I'd be surprised if the April race included a marathon distance. runDisney puts such a big emphasis on Marathon Weekend, I feel like putting a marathon in another weekend would take away from that. Each year is supposed to be different though, so...

I am surprised that they're taking so long to make any sort of announcement about the distances/themes. Maybe it's still a "surprise" for them too!

 

[broadsheet]

Can you imagine how HOT that marathon would be?!?

 

[bevcgg]

Can you imagine how HOT that marathon would be?!?

Because the last TWO January Marathons haven't been hot enough? Right!

 

[sunshine girl]

It seems weird to have a destination race geared in part toward "beginner marathon"-ers with barely enough notice to complete a full training plan! But who knows. Maybe that was just a bit of placeholder text on the page. I am dying of curiosity.

 

[Suprize2017]

I can't imagine this weekend will have a marathon for a couple reasons. First, as someone else already stated, Disney races are geared more to the casual runner. Since they still haven't given any information about this race, they are rapidly losing time for the casual runner to prepare for a marathon. I'm well aware how far out most training plans for a marathon are. However, RunDisney races aren't most races, attracting the average runner. RunDisney runners, except Marathon weekend, are pretty casual - for the most part. Second, as another has already said, the first weekend of April is guaranteed to be pretty warm. I realize there have been some toasty marathon weekends, and some cold Princess weekends. But the odds that Spring Surprise weekend will be pretty warm are pretty high. I think there is a reason their other races are November - February. April is definitely outside that window of hoping for cooler temps.

All that said, I was really excited when this race was announced. My husband and I have a family reunion that same weekend, so we were already going to be in the area. It was perfect timing to have this race when we were going to be there. I am definitely a casual runner. I'm more of a walker actually (bad knees and running makes them worse). I've been working on a half marathon and have been able to walk a half at an average pace of 15.3 minutes/mile, so I am comfortable thinking I could walk a Disney half in the time limit. I don't particularly enjoy walking though (too slow!!) and will not enjoy training for a marathon if that's what the Spring Surprise turns out to be. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they announce the details for this race soon, and that none of the races are a marathon!

 

[The Expert]

I did the SWDS half twice at this time of year, and the second time vowed never to do anything that distance that late in the year in Florida again. I also agree that it's doubtful Disney would be trying to attract anything but their usual more casual runner, especially considering this timeframe is awfully close to when Boston will (presumably) return to. It's just a bit odd that this wording even exists, unless it's placeholder language from old MW content.

 

[GreatLakes]

Aren’t the wdw half marathon plans usually 19 weeks? My expectation is that i’d start training after I register so that I know I’m in. For a full, I’d expect a more training time than the half. I hope the Google search is incorrect. I’d been hoping for something more casual like the Tower of Terror 10 Miler since we still don’t know distances or registration dates. Race weekend is less than 23 weeks away!

I'm not sure exactly but WDW plans are an outlier compared to most. Disney attracts more beginner runners and starts their plans with that in mind. Most runners that have some halves under their belt don't need 19 weeks even coming out of the off season.

That being said I would be shocked if there was actually a full that weekend. Whomever provided that sentence might be someone like my coworkers that ask if I'm "running the 5K marathon for Thanksgiving". I could also see rD positioning the spring race as a beginner race for anyone that wants to train for the following year's full maybe.

It doesn't hurt to train for a full and then adjust. Training for a full will improve your times in shorter races. Most of my marathon training cycles cut time off of my shorter distances as well.

 

[Ronski]

Running a full would be very dicey. For example, in early April last year the high temps went from 89 to 70 in the space of a week. Too much risk I'd think.

 

[matt and beth]

March 31 Expo
April 1 Tower of Terror 10 mile run at 10pm
April 2 Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind Run 10 mile at 10pm
April 3 Everest 5k at 10pm

guessing

 

[Naomeri]

March 31 Expo
April 1 Tower of Terror 10 mile run at 10pm
April 2 Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind Run 10 mile at 10pm
April 3 Everest 5k at 10pm

guessing

I love the theming and timing theories, but I would hope Disney wouldn’t do 2 races of the same distance in the same weekend.

 

[jimrpa]

March 31 Expo
April 1 Tower of Terror 10 mile run at 10pm
April 2 Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind Run 10 mile at 10pm
April 3 Everest 5k at 10pm

guessing

Almost, but I’d shuffle them slightly:
March 31 Expo
April 1 5:00 AM Everest 5K Scavenger @ AK. Expo
April 1 9:00 PM ToT 10K ending at HS open until midnight for runners and party ticket holders
April 2 10:00 PM GotG 10 miler - Food trucks at finish in Epcot parking lot
April 3 9:30 PM - 1:00 AM Post Race Party at Epcot

Two parties! And the people doing the 10 miler could reasonably go to both

think of routes for the night races that would minimize public road closures and minimize disruptions to larger public walkways (boardwalk and such)

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

Almost, but I’d shuffle them slightly:
March 31 Expo
April 1 5:00 AM Everest 5K Scavenger @ AK. Expo
April 1 9:00 PM ToT 10K ending at HS open until midnight for runners and party ticket holders
April 2 10:00 PM GotG 10 miler - Food trucks at finish in Epcot parking lot
April 3 9:30 PM - 1:00 AM Post Race Party at Epcot

Two parties! And the people doing the 10 miler could reasonably go to both

think of routes for the night races that would minimize public road closures and minimize disruptions to larger public walkways (boardwalk and such)

What if GotG was 13.1 so there wouldn't be 2 races of the same distance?

 

[Naomeri]

Almost, but I’d shuffle them slightly:
March 31 Expo
April 1 5:00 AM Everest 5K Scavenger @ AK. Expo
April 1 9:00 PM ToT 10K ending at HS open until midnight for runners and party ticket holders
April 2 10:00 PM GotG 10 miler - Food trucks at finish in Epcot parking lot
April 3 9:30 PM - 1:00 AM Post Race Party at Epcot

Two parties! And the people doing the 10 miler could reasonably go to both

think of routes for the night races that would minimize public road closures and minimize disruptions to larger public walkways (boardwalk and such)

This sounds like fun!! Someone alert Disney that we’ve decided what we want for our Springtime Surpirse and we’re ready to hand over our money!!

What if GotG was 13.1 so there wouldn't be 2 races of the same distance?

10K and 10 mile are different distances?

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

This sounds like fun!! Someone alert Disney that we’ve decided what we want for our Springtime Surpirse and we’re ready to hand over our money!!


10K and 10 mile are different distances?
[/QUOTE

Oops, I missed that part. My brain read it as both 10 mile. That would work, 10k (6.2 mile)and 10 mile. But I'd rather the ToT run be the 10 mile since that was what it was in the past.

 

[1lilspark]

This sounds like fun!! Someone alert Disney that we’ve decided what we want for our Springtime Surpirse and we’re ready to hand over our money!!


10K and 10 mile are different distances?

Maybe a 15k instead of 10M yes that’s 0.70 miles less but less confusing visually

 

[jimrpa]

Maybe a 15k instead of 10M yes that’s 0.70 miles less but less confusing visually

A ten miler is sort of a traditional distance. It’s also a nod to the old ToT 10 miler. That’s why i (and I’m sure the other poster) chose it.
Now, I could have gone really old school and said ToT 13K