Marathon Weekend 2021

I’m Melanie, a 36 year old SAHM. I’ve been married to my high school sweetheart for 15 years and we have 5 kids (13,10,8,6 & 5). I’m originally from Maryland and am also a UMD Alum (Go Terps!) we’ve been living in Georgia for the past 4 months but in my heart I’ll always be a Floridian (just moved from the Jacksonville area). We have 3 cats, a mini pig and a dog that we rescued this weekend. I feel like I don’t have a lot of time to myself but I love to travel whenever I can and am currently working on my 50 state half marathon bucket list.
 
So, for this week's Sundays are for Disney (courtesy of @run.minnie.miles ) ... Roll Call! Tell us all a little bit about yourself. Share as much or as little as you want ... name, hometown, interests outside of Disney and running (we'll save those for another time), hobbies, a quirky fact or where we can find you on social media if you'd like to share that as well.

I'm Chris, 36, at least for the next 9 days or so, and live in a suburb SW of Minneapolis. I'm originally from Maryland and a die hard Ravens and Terps fan. I have been married to the most amazing woman for almost 8 years now, and am the father to two pugs and a 3.5 year old son. I love playing, watching, and reffing soccer as well as running, though I've been plagued with injuries over the last year or so. I am an Olympics/obscure sports junkie, and am super excited that the FIS Cross Country World Cup is making a stop in Minneapolis this winter. Yes, that means I will be spending my St. Paddy's day watching people Cross Country Ski around a park in Minneapolis by choice.

Hmmm...I'm a Man U fan so this should make for some interesting conversation. (Although, in full disclosure, I became a Man U fan because I love Ireland and Roy Keane so...)

Fellow Man Utd fan here. It's been a very hard time being a fan lately.

Wouldn’t be a football discussion without a Liverpool fan joining in.
Yes it would. Even if they are the most dominate team this season, we don't really need to discuss them, especially since they couldn't even manage a win over Shrewsbury this weekend. :)
 
whether or not DVC or the Dining Plan is worth the cost (spoiler alert: NO.)
Dining Plan: Agree

DVC: Disagree - Assuming you bought in years ago. If you bought in direct at today's prices, IDK. But I didn't think when I bought in 10 years ago my contract would be worth more than what I paid for it so who knows. And if you bought in when the first resorts went online, it definitely would have been worth the cost. I have a friend who bought 200 Boardwalk points in 1998 and paid ~ $60/point that he could sell today after using it for 20+ years for ~ $125/pt.

Can you stay cheaper than DVC? Of course: Stay offsite, in values, campgrounds, with a friend, whatever. But if I sold my contracts at today's value, even taking into account opportunity cost, if you compare the accommodations I've experienced over the last 10 years compared to what I paid in dues, it would be well worth the $$. Not to mention DVC discounts on annual passes, discounts on merchandise and dining and other smaller perks.

Plus there is the non $$ value when someone says "you are going to Disney again?!??!?". I can say "Yes. People who own a vacation home go there every time they can. I own DVC and take advantage of it every time I can." ;)
 
SAFD: Jim: 51. I live and work in Hartford, CT. I have both my undergrad and Masters (MBA) from the University of Connecticut (Go Huskies!!). I love watching and playing all sports although I have way dialed back on playing team sports as I have gotten older and I have focused more on running. In my spare time, I am also a semi-professional musician playing mainly bass guitar in a party rock band.

I have two daughters (23 and 20) from my first marriage. My oldest graduated from the University of Notre Dame and is living / working in Chicago. My youngest is a junior at the University of Dayton – currently the #7 ranked basketball team in the country. Who wudda thought I am more excited about going out to OH to see a college basketball game than I am right here in the self proclaimed college basketball capital of the world??

My current wife and I have been together almost 9 years and we have been married for almost 5. Although she is much younger (still in her 30’s) we do not have any kids together. We actually met through a common interest in Disney. We got engaged on Main Street and had our wedding at WDW. We do several trips a year together to WDW - sometimes just for a long weekend with the runDisney races being our latest obsession. But we also have traveled quite a bit to other parts of the US especially to visit our kids who are not local.

We are currently planning Wine and Dine in November and skipping MW 2021 but I have a feeling we will come down for some combination of races next January.
 


SAFD:

I've been on the Marathon boards for a couple years now and am still learning so much about you guys!

I'm Lesley, 37, from Arkansas. I'm a professional portrait photographer (families, seniors, newborn, etc.) and also full-time homeschool our three kiddos (ages 11, 10, 7). I love my alone time (why running is the perfect sport for me), binge-watching baking/cooking shows, reading, vacation planning, teaching teenagers at my church and a women's bible study, and following interior decorating instagram accounts. And 90% of my thoughts are in Hamilton lyrics. (I'm a lively one, huh?)

DH and I just finished our 3rd MW and I've done Wine and Dine. We are taking MW 2021 off but looking for some more challenging races for this year and I want to keep up with everyone, so I'll be around here.

Running related ig: averagerunnermom
Pro ig: lesleyhobbsphoto (it's just my work pics, fyi)
 
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SAFD: I'm Gisele. 55 year old living in SW Missouri with my husband of 31 years, Chris. Chris is on the boards as well @Chris-Mo , but he rarely posts. We have 3 kids, my son who will be 22 in a few weeks and twin daughters who are 16. I'm a laboratory director for a large health care system and Chris is a school superintendent. I came to running later in life and ran my first marathon at the WDW marathon weekend in January of 2013 (so hot!). We liked Disney before that, but runDisney turned us into full-fledged Disney mega fans. We've since run at 6 marathon weekends and 2 wine and dine. We just ran our first runDisney races with our girls for Wine and Dine weekend and it was great. Missed marathon weekend this year, so looking forward to returning to it next year. I like to read (although haven't done as much of it lately as I'd like) and we enjoy movies and travel as well. We love the lake in the summer too.
 
SAFD: I'm Lauren. A 37 year old who lives in Holly Springs, NC with my husband of 12 years, three kids, and our dog Sully. We have an 8 year old and twins that are 6. I'm a former middle school math teacher turned stay at home mom. I currently substitute teach and became a travel agent back in April. Got into running after the birth of my oldest. I enjoy movies, being outdoors, hanging out with family and friends, and going to bed just as soon as my kids are down. Trying to get back into reading this year and currently counting down the days til next marathon weekend. Not sure about any of you guys but this has been the worst post race blues I've felt after a runDisney event.

You can find me on instagram @lasears24.
 


I’m Jenn! I’m 39 from Northern VA, by way of the Fingerlakes in upstate NY. I’m married to my high school sweetheart and am a mom of two. I love crosswords puzzles and everything on Bravo and the Hallmark channel. Disney and running are just ok. I mean, I’ll go if you make me! :rotfl2:
DH here.
Finger Lakes!!! Where?
My father's family has had a small cottage on Keuka since the late 1930s.
 
SAFD: I'm Grace, 43 year old MD and mum of 4, living in Melbourne Australia. I'm a new runner - started training after signing up for MW 2020 and discovered I really enjoyed running. I met DH in college and we've been married for 15 years. In our limited spare time we love travelling, cooking/dining, movies and all things Disney.

This board has been a great source of information and inspiration. Thank you, all regular contributors!
 
SAFD:
My name is Joey, I’m from 34 the Columbus, Ohio area. My wife of 10 years and I have 3 kids 8,6,4. I met my wife in calculus class freshman year at WVU (which is I guess better than a bar?) I’m a financial analyst for a healthcare network. This will be my 6th marathon weekend (Hot, cold, cold, hot, hot....this year not withstanding I prefer hot). Every year my wife says this will be the last year but then I remind her how cold it is in Ohio and how big of a bummer the post holiday months are when it gets dark at noon ......or whenever. Between the three kids, work and the running I don’t have a whole lot of time for anything but sleeping and that sometimes is hit or miss. Looking forward to Marathon number 6!
 
DVC: Disagree - Assuming you bought in years ago. If you bought in direct at today's prices, IDK.
Agreed for the most part. And I'll add it can be worth it if your travel patterns align with DVC's booking/availability patterns. I'm a former DVC member and used the heck out of my membership for the 7 years I had it, but it got harder and harder to book on short notice and I couldn't plan 11 months, or even 7 months, out, so it was no longer worth the investment. I sold and broke even, so it was mostly a wash for me. But at today's prices for average folks like me, who don't have a big pile of extra cash laying around? No way! Even resale prices are ridiculous for what you get, IMO.
 
Agreed for the most part. And I'll add it can be worth it if your travel patterns align with DVC's booking/availability patterns. I'm a former DVC member and used the heck out of my membership for the 7 years I had it, but it got harder and harder to book on short notice and I couldn't plan 11 months, or even 7 months, out, so it was no longer worth the investment. I sold and broke even, so it was mostly a wash for me. But at today's prices for average folks like me, who don't have a big pile of extra cash laying around? No way! Even resale prices are ridiculous for what you get, IMO.

Its possible for last minute trips - it just takes a lot of stalking.

(Says the girl that is stalking for president's weekend because of dog shows in lakeland - we're at a point where we should really look at getting a small condo or similar with my mother to split costs but until certain things are figured out, that is off the table)
 
I'm Jhoanna (I just recently got a new user name) - I live in Oklahoma! I work for our city as a Business Analyst - my job is to manage our department's budget. I've been running regularly for 5 years and loving it. Race goals:
Marathon for my 35th - done
Goofy for my 37th - coming up 2021
Dopey for my 40th -2024
I'm a mom of 2 girls, have been married for 13 years and we love to travel. We have a 3 year travel plan that includes all 4 of us getting dive certified. My 12YO's dream is to swim with pigs in Exuma and hike the PCT after high school.
 
I'm JB, I live in Orlando (isn't my username awesome?!), 38 and a product manager for a software company. My wife of 3 years and I love to run, cook, and enjoy being outside on a patio drinking a beer or cocktail.

My goal for 2021 is to run the marathon again ('18 Dopey, '16 Chicago, '14 NYC, 13' MCM) and finally, FINALLY have a good race and feel good about my accomplishment.
 
I’m Ellie. I’m a 36 year-old attorney, my husband is a 37 year-old union stagehand (works a lot of concerts and conventions here in Orlando) and former football/rugby player, we have two daughters (12 and 2) , an ancient cat (Levi) and an adorable but super dopey puggle (Goldie). I have a BA from the University of Notre Dame and a JD from Georgetown, and root for one for football and women’s basketball and the other for men’s basketball. I’ll let you guess which is which. 😉

We recently moved down to the Orlando area from DC where I worked as a federal attorney, and while I do love it here, I’m still homesick for the DMV often. It would be pretty fair to call me a policy wonk. Lol

Prior to law school, I worked as an actor and dancer, including performing in WDW parades and being a “friend” to a couple princesses. My husband and I were married at the Wedding Pavilion and had our reception at the Grand Floridian, and we still spend a lot of time at the parks. We like board games, live trivia, tabletop gaming, video games, arcades and other ridiculously nerdy pursuits. One of the great things about being here in Florida is that we can enjoy all of these traditional “indoor” activities outside! We’re also HUGE sports fans, mostly Chicago-based teams, but we also like UCF and I root for the Seahawks because my oldest daughter’s first crush was on Russell Wilson and so we watched them whenever they were on. She’s got pretty good taste.

Aside from Disney, we love cruising (mostly RCCL) and travel in general. We spend a week on Hilton Head Island every summer, and I think the Carolina low country is one of the prettiest places in the country. I also do a lot of pro-bono work for The DNA Doe Project, which I’m very passionate about. I have an hour commute each way to work, so I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts—mostly true crime/paranormal/conspiracy weirdness.

On a fun note, my recent Ancestry DNA test showed that I’m FAR MORE Norwegian than I’d previously thought, so I’m attempting to pick up Norwegian in my “spare” time, which mostly ends up looking like the Duolingo Owl shaming me for not spending more time on it.
 

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