Official 2015 Disney Marathon Thread

[dta87]

At packet pick-up we were told you can stick it on your phone, and it will hold you ID etc. I didn't actually see anyone at the races with it, though. Of course, that might have just been my tunnel vision, but I don't think I would ever trust it enough to put my ID in it...

Wondering the same thing, and I cannot figure it out. It has a sticky back on it, so it must be meant to stick to something.

The volunteer that gave me my bibs told me it was for your cell phone. I am not sure why I would want to stick it to my cell phone, but OK.

 

[GBBTomorrow]

I had a hard day, with some medical issues that I thought I had conquered in my training coming back to bite me. While I did not make my goal, I am happy to report that I finished the marathon. I am choosing to label this in my mind as "The Day I Did Not Quit," and to focus on the fact that I was able to get through even though things did not go as planned.

Overall, I think the course is really great. I am a strange one: I like WWOS. I enjoyed seeing the sports teams, having real bathrooms there, the lap around the track, and, especially, all the awesome spectators in the baseball stadium. I LOVED the Streetmosphere characters at the entrance to the Studios, and the run through MK was the highlight of my day. I also like the run from DHS all the way to the finish. I worried about slipping on the boardwalk because of the rain, but it was not a problem.

I was so grateful to all the volunteers, and hope to be one of them some time soon.

The only part of the course I really hated was the race track. That steep hill was brutal, especially since everybody around me stopped to walk it, and the lap around that track just seemed to go on forever. The car people were really nice, though.

One thing I wish Disney could do something about is all the people who buy up all the merchandise to sell it on EBay. For items like the Magic Bands, I wish they would do some kind of pre-order so that if travel plans prevent you arriving on Wednesday you can still get one.

One of my favorite things about Disney is that everybody is treated with equal care: start in A or start in P, and you get the same fireworks at the start, the same enthusiasm along the course, and the same food at the end. RunDisney is a great blow to the "running elitism" that you sometimes hear in the running world. (Runner's World posted a nasty, hateful article just today complaining about slow people like me who are "ruining" the marathon.) At Disney, each person's journey is respected, and I love that.

I hope all of you are doing ok with getting back to real life. Congratulations everybody! I hope you all met your personal goals and had a lot of fun, and if you did not meet your goals, I hope you are choosing to focus in all that you DID achieve on this long journey.

 

[Nole95]

One of my favorite things about Disney is that everybody is treated with equal care: start in A or start in P, and you get the same fireworks at the start, the same enthusiasm along the course, and the same food at the end. RunDisney is a great blow to the "running elitism" that you sometimes hear in the running world. (Runner's World posted a nasty, hateful article just today complaining about slow people like me who are "ruining" the marathon.) At Disney, each person's journey is respected, and I love that.

I would be interested in reading this article. Can you post a link to it?

I do not agree that slow people are ruining anything. If you are a fast runner, you are usually in an earlier start time and would not have to worry about the slow people anyway.

 

[GBBTomorrow]

I would be interested in reading this article. Can you post a link to it? I do not agree that slow people are ruining anything. If you are a fast runner, you are usually in an earlier start time and would not have to worry about the slow people anyway.

I saw it on Facebook and am not sure how to create a link from there, but here is the title so you can find it by Googling:

No Marathon For Me, Thanks: Five Reasons She's Opting Out
On her resolution list? Not running a marathon. One woman shares why she doesn't want to go 26.2. JoAnna Novak

I thought it was going to be about it being hard on the body or too hard to fit in the training, but it's mostly a screed against back-of-the-packers.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I saw it on Facebook and am not sure how to create a link from there, but here is the title so you can find it by Googling: No Marathon For Me, Thanks: Five Reasons She's Opting Out On her resolution list? Not running a marathon. One woman shares why she doesn't want to go 26.2. JoAnna Novak I thought it was going to be about it being hard on the body or too hard to fit in the training, but it's mostly a screed against back-of-the-packers.

I just read it. She's getting A TON of negative comments after the article (understandably)!

 

[Slogger]

Great comments and stories everybody. Glad to hear most everybody had a good experience.

I ran Dopey (accurately named) this year. This was my first experience with Disney races. I agree that the event was first class and they really tried to treat everyone the same.

My marathon was positive. Yes it was still chilly Sunday morning. I wore shorts, compression sleeves, my race shirt, and a short sleeve shirt on top. Was really tired and felt nauseous waiting in Corral M for the start, got really sick during my last marathon in October and didn't take that as a good sign.

Corral M provided a good vantage point for Corrals on the right side of the road. Saw numerous people climbing over the fence to avoid the Bib checkers and more late arrivals jogging past to join groups ready to start. Not a problem for me, I'm just there to take it all in.

The 5:30 pace group was at the front of our corral and after the start I eased in front of them and just went on cruise control until Magic Kingdom. By then I had a full bathroom emergency coming on and tried to hit the bathroom at the park entrance but only 2 stalls made the line too long. I pressed on until Tomorrowland and went behind the Terrace to a bathroom that was vacant. What a relief (no pun intended).

Felt better and moved through the park and caught up with the pace group again by the golf course. Never ran with a pace group before but I was tired (4 days of getting up early, staying up late) and decided to give it a try. Our leader was great. We walked water stops and at frequent intervals and she kept a steady pace. We did chants, dedicated miles to worthy causes, and the miles to AK went by quickly. She even warned us about the smell we would experience at the treatment plant.

I stuck with them until we headed out of WWOS and then I took a longer break to help my sore feet. Turned on my GPS after that and maintained my pace all the way to the finish. There were times that I wanted to walk more but just can't do it in front of the spectators that were standing in the rain and cheering us on. They were awesome.

Very impressed with the Disney setup. Plenty of water/powerade stops (19!!!!) , lots of medical tents, multiple djs and energetic bands, and everyone at the finish was so enthusiastic and complimentary.

Congrats to all of you that made it to the finish or came close.
My goal was not to PR but to simply start and finish each day and be appreciative of the experience and I definitely accomplished that. I hope that you achieved your goals too.

 

[Fruto76]

One of my favorite things about Disney is that everybody is treated with equal care: start in A or start in P, and you get the same fireworks at the start, the same enthusiasm along the course, and the same food at the end. RunDisney is a great blow to the "running elitism" that you sometimes hear in the running world. (Runner's World posted a nasty, hateful article just today complaining about slow people like me who are "ruining" the marathon.) At Disney, each person's journey is respected, and I love that.

I pretty much said this exact same thing to my husband after the full on Sunday. I love rD because I feel like I am treated as an equal athlete no matter what level I am at. Thanks, runDisney!

And, I completely agree about the expo merchandise. I would have thought after the huge sell outs at 2013 DL half weekend (with the inaugural DDD) that they would have started to require showing race bibs to purchase some of the limited official race day items. I do not think they should limit the expo in general just some of the race specific merchandise.

 

[Nole95]

I pretty much said this exact same thing to my husband after the full on Sunday. I love rD because I feel like I am treated as an equal athlete no matter what level I am at. Thanks, runDisney!

And, I completely agree about the expo merchandise. I would have thought after the huge sell outs at 2013 DL half weekend (with the inaugural DDD) that they would have started to require showing race bibs to purchase some of the limited official race day items. I do not think they should limit the expo in general just some of the race specific merchandise.

Agree. People that cannot make it to the Expo until later in the week should not be penalized. I was at the Expo first thing Friday morning, and I could tell that a lot of things had already been picked over. You have to think that the majority of people running the half or full are probably coming on Friday to pick up their race stuff, and they should have a reasonable expectation that they can pick up some things.

 

[DOOM1001]

Agree. People that cannot make it to the Expo until later in the week should not be penalized. I was at the Expo first thing Friday morning, and I could tell that a lot of things had already been picked over. You have to think that the majority of people running the half or full are probably coming on Friday to pick up their race stuff, and they should have a reasonable expectation that they can pick up some things.

Disney needs to either make more merchandise or if not then just sell a certain percentage of things they know will sell out each day to at least give those coming in Friday and Saturday a shot to get their merchandise.They can still sell a bigger percentage on Wednesday and Thursday but hold some back,maybe 35% on Wednesday,30% on Thursday,20% Friday and 15% Saturday.Again it doesn't have to be for eberythimg, just the items they know are big sellers.I just paid $16 plus $5 shipping for a Goofy 39.3 car magnet online that was $9 at the expo,it was the only item I really wanted so I may have paid $30 if I had to but it shouldn't come down to that,I was at the expo Friday at 11am,I thought I would get it being there Friday at that time but it was already gone.

 

[IamTrike]

One thing I wish Disney could do something about is all the people who buy up all the merchandise to sell it on EBay. For items like the Magic Bands, I wish they would do some kind of pre-order so that if travel plans prevent you arriving on Wednesday you can still get one.

One of my favorite things about Disney is that everybody is treated with equal care: start in A or start in P, and you get the same fireworks at the start, the same enthusiasm along the course, and the same food at the end. RunDisney is a great blow to the "running elitism" that you sometimes hear in the running world. (Runner's World posted a nasty, hateful article just today complaining about slow people like me who are "ruining" the marathon.) At Disney, each person's journey is respected, and I love that.

I was frustrated with that too. I don't know what a good solution is, but the expo certainly seemed picked over by the time I got there. It seems like there is an Opportunity for runDisney to sell some more stuff.

I don't really understand the "ruining the marathon" mindset. Our pace group leader seemed frustrated with Jeff Galloway and him making the marathon accessible. It's as though they feel that they had this really elite title "marathoner" and now because more become can do it, they aren't elite any more.

I pretty much said this exact same thing to my husband after the full on Sunday. I love rD because I feel like I am treated as an equal athlete no matter what level I am at. Thanks, runDisney!

We all run the same number of miles (unless you are really bad at running tangents, then you run a lot more.)

Agree. People that cannot make it to the Expo until later in the week should not be penalized. I was at the Expo first thing Friday morning, and I could tell that a lot of things had already been picked over. You have to think that the majority of people running the half or full are probably coming on Friday to pick up their race stuff, and they should have a reasonable expectation that they can pick up some things.

I'd be all for being able to pre-order all my race merchandise. I usually know exactly what I want. It would be nice to pay ahead of time to know that I would get it. I'm trolling ebay now which kind of sucks because I feel like I have to choose between not getting what I wanted or incentivising people's bad behavior.

 

[Pleglech]

Hating on slower runners seems to be something that's most common among people who are on the faster end of average, but nowhere near elite. So the guy who runs a sub-3:00 thinks the 4:00+ crowd is soiling his accomplishment ... someone should ask that guy what the real elites think of him. They're probably happy to have him around, even though he's "slow" by comparison. Seriously, unless you're out to win, I don't see how anyone else's involvement effects you in any way.

Completely separate... the corral jumping was worse this year than any other Run Disney event I've participated in. I started Saturday in Corral A. Just before the start, three people jumped the fence right next to me -- one from Corral E and two from P. There even were people walking right off the front line. On Sunday, I moved back to E to pace DW. Again, a group of maybe 5-6 people jumped in right next to us from P.

 

[faneuil]

Disney needs to either make more merchandise or if not then just sell a certain percentage of things they know will sell out each day to at least give those coming in Friday and Saturday a shot to get their merchandise.They can still sell a bigger percentage on Wednesday and Thursday but hold some back,maybe 35% on Wednesday,30% on Thursday,20% Friday and 15% Saturday.Again it doesn't have to be for eberythimg, just the items they know are big sellers.I just paid $16 plus $5 shipping for a Goofy 39.3 car magnet online that was $9 at the expo,it was the only item I really wanted so I may have paid $30 if I had to but it shouldn't come down to that,I was at the expo Friday at 11am,I thought I would get it being there Friday at that time but it was already gone.

The MagicBands were almost gone by 11am on Wednesday.

Disney cannot, for one second, tell me the demand for any of the product was "greater than expected."

I hate to say this, but one of the things I would do is close the Expo to the general public. The Runner and two guests - or something like that. Then, limit sales. You cannot buy 50 of the same pin. The people next to me in line spent over $3,000 in merchandise. I just don't believe it was all for personal use.

I'm lucky enough that I live just a few miles away and can go to the Expo first thing, the first day. But I really don't like it when runners are almost punished for coming in later in the week.

I'd be all for pre-order, as long as they had pictures of everything. I didn't like any of the shirts, and would have been disappointed to pay for one.

 

[Nole95]

Completely separate... the corral jumping was worse this year than any other Run Disney event I've participated in. I started Saturday in Corral A. Just before the start, three people jumped the fence right next to me -- one from Corral E and two from P. There even were people walking right off the front line. On Sunday, I moved back to E to pace DW. Again, a group of maybe 5-6 people jumped in right next to us from P.

I was in the front of J. When they started moving I up, the number of people I saw run over and jump into I was as many as I have ever seen. By this time, the volunteers were busy moving the lines forward and no longer checking on whether anyone belonged. It looked like chaos with all those people trying to jump up into an earlier corral.

Not sure there is any way to stop that from occurring in the future other than to completely close off the corrals after a certain time. Even then, I do not think it would be possible to 100% police this.

 

[IamTrike]

The MagicBands were almost gone by 11am on Wednesday.

Disney cannot, for one second, tell me the demand for any of the product was "greater than expected."

I hate to say this, but one of the things I would do is close the Expo to the general public. The Runner and two guests - or something like that. Then, limit sales. You cannot buy 50 of the same pin. The people next to me in line spent over $3,000 in merchandise. I just don't believe it was all for personal use.

I'm lucky enough that I live just a few miles away and can go to the Expo first thing, the first day. But I really don't like it when runners are almost punished for coming in later in the week.

I'd be all for pre-order, as long as they had pictures of everything. I didn't like any of the shirts, and would have been disappointed to pay for one.

I was shocked that when we arrived on Friday morning the Disney merchandise booth in the Field House was already completely empty. I don't know how that compares to prior years though. Last year it was fully stocked on Weds and I think it was pretty well stocked on Wed's the year before.

 

[Nole95]

I was shocked that when we arrived on Friday morning the Disney merchandise booth in the Field House was already completely empty. I don't know how that compares to prior years though. Last year it was fully stocked on Weds and I think it was pretty well stocked on Wed's the year before.

I was shocked by this as well on Friday. Last year, we did not arrive until mid-afternoon on Friday and both locations were still well stocked with merchandise.

This year we picked up our packets at about 10:30am on Friday, and there was not a piece of merchandise to be found in that area.

 

[FloridaNative8]

I was shocked that when we arrived on Friday morning the Disney merchandise booth in the Field House was already completely empty. I don't know how that compares to prior years though. Last year it was fully stocked on Weds and I think it was pretty well stocked on Wed's the year before.

I noticed this too, and was there on Thursday morning! I figured they just really wanted you to go to the Expo to see all of the merchandise.

I completely agree with closing it to the public. And luckily I'm not a fan of the NB shoes. It was crazy to see groups of adults with a stack of 6 pairs of shoes, and everyone knew why they were doing it. I would definitely pre-order items given the chance.

 

[IamTrike]

My other merch beef was the lack of race specific merchandise. It seems like every year they have more generic marathon weekend or run disney stuff and less race specific stuff.

My first goofy I was able to pick up this mug, http://www.*****************/Disney-Travel-Mug--2012-Marathon--Goofy-Race-and-a-Half-Challenge_p_16236.html I keep looking for other Goofy stuff like it, but outside of shirts and magnets there doesn't seem to be much stuff.

 

[thill]

Congrats on your finish! Sorry you missed the beer stop. They were out there until they ran out of beer & it started raining.

I was moving into Epcot when it started misting so I probably went right by them. I was too focussed on pushing to the finish and checking out the boardwalk, I had never been there before, to probably notice or stop anyway. There were so many great spectators in that area that it was great just running through, looking around, and enjoying the cheers.

Disney needs to either make more merchandise or if not then just sell a certain percentage of things they know will sell out each day to at least give those coming in Friday and Saturday a shot to get their merchandise.They can still sell a bigger percentage on Wednesday and Thursday but hold some back,maybe 35% on Wednesday,30% on Thursday,20% Friday and 15% Saturday.Again it doesn't have to be for eberythimg, just the items they know are big sellers.I just paid $16 plus $5 shipping for a Goofy 39.3 car magnet online that was $9 at the expo,it was the only item I really wanted so I may have paid $30 if I had to but it shouldn't come down to that,I was at the expo Friday at 11am,I thought I would get it being there Friday at that time but it was already gone.

Yeah, I could not get down any earlier than Friday and I was very disappointed that I couldn't get a Goofy magnet or "I did it shirt" but I'm not sure I want to pay the scalpers that bought enjoying up to make money off me online. I'm not sure that I want to but I still might.

As for people looking down on those slower than them I will never understand that. I passed plenty of people during my races and had people pass me too and I thought the same about all of them, just people running the same race as me. I used to run cross country in high school and college but now I run for health, enjoyment, and to say I did it. I respect and admire anyone willing to put in the miles at any pace and everyone should do the same. What fun would it be to always run solo anyway?

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

My only points of comparison are ToT 2013, Princess 2013 and 2014. This was the first time I was at the expo on the early side (Wed around 1pm) so I was pleasantly surprised by selection. Got a half tshirt and some runDisney stuff including the MBs. DS9 would have loved some 5K specific merchandise but contented himself with runDisney gear.

I don't think they should limit entrance to the expo to only runners +1 or 2 -- too restrictive. DH and DD come with us to the expo, sometimes others join. They don't buy anything, but it would seem ridiculous to ban them from walking through with us, IMO! I can see limiting purchase of race specific merchandise to runners with a limit per item. That strikes me as fair.

 

[VAfamily1998]

The MagicBands were almost gone by 11am on Wednesday.

Disney cannot, for one second, tell me the demand for any of the product was "greater than expected."

I hate to say this, but one of the things I would do is close the Expo to the general public. The Runner and two guests - or something like that. Then, limit sales. You cannot buy 50 of the same pin. The people next to me in line spent over $3,000 in merchandise. I just don't believe it was all for personal use.

I'm lucky enough that I live just a few miles away and can go to the Expo first thing, the first day. But I really don't like it when runners are almost punished for coming in later in the week.

I'd be all for pre-order, as long as they had pictures of everything. I didn't like any of the shirts, and would have been disappointed to pay for one.

I would completely support limiting sales. No more than 2 of any one type of item per registration--and if it is race specific, you should have to show your registration. The only people buying an "I did it" Goofy shirt, for example,should be people actually registered for Goofy.