Official 2018 Star Wars Dark Side Weekend

[PrincessV]

Wow, what's up with corral F? I'm used to seeing the increase in corral size farther back but this seems extreme. Maybe they think with the waves it doesn't matter as much, but it seems F should have been split into two or the time between F and G shifted.

rD moved to this system a couple years ago: everyone who entered the first time range that doesn't require PoT gets lumped into one giant corrral. It worked really well the first time they did it (happened to be a Dark Side half): I was in F with 6,000 others and they did at least 6 wave starts for F, maybe 7? With plenty of time between each wave, we spread out quickly. It was a bit less efficient for W&D the same year because they did fewer waves and less time between them. It was, IMO, an epic disaster for PHM this year: 10,000 in one corral with no extra waves and short times between waves. So the good news for DS 2018 is that it's "only" 7,000 - hopefully they use at least 6 waves and give us some time to stretch out.

Are the waves for all corrals or just the later ones?

All of them, but the bigger the corral, the more waves it's divided into. Possible A is only one start with no waves.

 

[Biskit67]

For the people driving to the EP parking lot, the runner's guide basically says you need to get on a shuttle bus for the half and 10k like 90 minutes before the race? Does it take a long time to make it over to the start, or do they want to get everybody over there ASAP. 90 minutes is a long time to wait around for the start of a race. I usually get to my races about 45 minutes before the start.

 

[PrincessV]

For the people driving to the EP parking lot, the runner's guide basically says you need to get on a shuttle bus for the half and 10k like 90 minutes before the race? Does it take a long time to make it over to the start, or do they want to get everybody over there ASAP. 90 minutes is a long time to wait around for the start of a race. I usually get to my races about 45 minutes before the start.

Yeah, WDW races are not your average races, lol! It doesn't take long to get from EP to the start, but they stop running the shuttles so as to close roads, so you MUST be on one before they stop running. It takes a lot of time to move 20,000+ people into corrals, and then move those corrals to the start line. If you arrive too late, you can be shut out of your corral if it already closed.

 

[Biskit67]

Yeah, that's true. If you figure like 70 people per bus, that's a lot of buses. Our local half marathon has 35,000+ people, but they don't have to move them to a different location before the race. Thanks for confirming, I'll make sure to get there early.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

A has waves. My husband usually is solidly in B the last few half marathons and usually has to wait to the third start since Dark Side 2017

 

[cavepig]

https://track.rtrt.me/e/WDW-SWDS-2018

Tracking with bib numbers is up!

 

[JM735]

rD moved to this system a couple years ago: everyone who entered the first time range that doesn't require PoT gets lumped into one giant corrral. It worked really well the first time they did it (happened to be a Dark Side half): I was in F with 6,000 others and they did at least 6 wave starts for F, maybe 7? With plenty of time between each wave, we spread out quickly. It was a bit less efficient for W&D the same year because they did fewer waves and less time between them. It was, IMO, an epic disaster for PHM this year: 10,000 in one corral with no extra waves and short times between waves. So the good news for DS 2018 is that it's "only" 7,000 - hopefully they use at least 6 waves and give us some time to stretch out.

Thanks for the explanation. I typically glance at the distribution for events I'm running and I don't remember it being this extreme. And the only thing I remember about the first Dark Side half is the awful lap around the Animal Kingdom parking lot!

I've been able to ride out an existing PoT so I was fortunate in previous corral placements, but this year I was more concerned that I might be farther back and looked more closely at the bib numbers for each corral. While I'm not sure I agree with the approach, at least I now understand why it's that way.

 

[MissLiss279]

https://track.rtrt.me/e/WDW-SWDS-2018

Tracking with bib numbers is up!

Thanks! Looks like I’m right in the middle of C.

 

[JM735]

https://track.rtrt.me/e/WDW-SWDS-2018

Tracking with bib numbers is up!

Awesome - thanks for posting!

 

[Bree]

https://track.rtrt.me/e/WDW-SWDS-2018

Tracking with bib numbers is up!

Yay! I was right about being placed in corral D for the half.

 

[jaxonp]

Question: I submitted my proof of time right at marathon weekend right after the race was over and it looks like I’m not in the right corral for SWHalf. Does anyone know what the next step is to getting it adjusted? Email RD or speak to them at the expo? I improved my time quite a bit and I want to be in an earlier corral since I worked for it!

 

[Keels]

B for the Challenge! Fork yes!

 

[FlashAM7]

Question: I submitted my proof of time right at marathon weekend right after the race was over and it looks like I’m not in the right corral for SWHalf. Does anyone know what the next step is to getting it adjusted? Email RD or speak to them at the expo? I improved my time quite a bit and I want to be in an earlier corral since I worked for it!

Go talk to Runner Relations at the Expo. Do not email them, it's completely pointless. I was able to get a corral switch very easily at the WDW Marathon Expo. Just make sure you print out the Active page you used to sign up with your proof of time and show it to them.

https://track.rtrt.me/e/WDW-SWDS-2018

Tracking with bib numbers is up!

Corral C it is!

 

[cavepig]

https://www.trackshackresults.com/disneysports/waivers/WvRSWds18/verify.php

In case anyone hasn’t seen waivers & corrals all up now
https://www.rundisney.com/star-wars-wdw-half-marathon/

 

[jaxonp]

Go talk to Runner Relations at the Expo. Do not email them, it's completely pointless. I was able to get a corral switch very easily at the WDW Marathon Expo. Just make sure you print out the Active page you used to sign up with your proof of time and show it to them.



Corral C it is!

Thanks! I should be in C but they have me in E.

 

[JClimacus]

I haven't posted in a long time. I've been dealing with injuries since November and had our Marathon Weekend trip cancelled because of the weather. My daughter and I signed up for the Dark Side Weekend in January after the Marathon Weekend cancellation. I figured the injuries would be fine by then. But they only got worse as January went along and I wasn't in any mood to be social. Finally, they seem to be improving and I was able to start running again a few weeks ago. I'm confident I'll finish the First Order Challenge but I definitely won't be fast. And I'm in a much better mood now.

I'm in corral A for the First Order Challenge. I'll run from there for the 10k and drop back to corral C for the half to run with my daughter.

It's good to experience that Disney race anticipation again!

 

[garneska]

@Keels you are running the challenge? We are hoping to hit the meet up but we are getting in Saturday and have to get our numbers.

Am excited I got coral A. DH is in B, we are both going for PRs, so he already told me to run out of A.

@JClimacus i hope you have a good race and work through those injuries.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Last year I was pretty miffed at the corral distribution. They grouped all runners over 3 hours into the last corral regardless of what they had actually proven at a race. Fortunately, the wave release worked very well. I've run negative splits at Disneyland races solely because the course congestion early on in the race finally thins out and I can move instead of walking much slower than I would like.

I'm in corral G this year, which I anticipated given my proof of time.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

My husband is in B for the half like I expected and I assume A for the 10k. I’m probably in A or B for the 10k based on my number.

 

[Keels]

@Keels you are running the challenge? We are hoping to hit the meet up but we are getting in Saturday and have to get our numbers.

Am excited I got coral A. DH is in B, we are both going for PRs, so he already told me to run out of A.

@JClimacus i hope you have a good race and work through those injuries.

I am!