Last week, runDisney announced that the 2021 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend and the 2021 Princess Half Marathon Weekend races are being transitioned to runDisney virtual races. These races have been sold out for months, and there are thousands of disappointed runners and walkers that will now have to miss out on the runDisney experience.
Check out our YouTube video below to see last week’s breaking news update.
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Before we get into the runDisney virtual race experience, let’s talk about the “regular” runDisney race experience.
The runDisney Experience
The first runDisney event I ever saw in person was the Walt Disney World Marathon back in 2011. My husband and I happened to be visiting Animal Kingdom the morning of the WDW Marathon that day, and we had no idea the race was going on. (What can I say…we were a little oblivious!)
As we approached Expedition Everest, cast members directed us to the side of the pathway to allow marathon racers to pass through. There were a few racers that “hopped out” of the race to grab a quick ride on Expedition Everest, which we thought was amazing and fun. We stood and watched marathon racers come through the park, literally paralyzed by fascination. I was stunned to see a blind runner, tethered to a guide runner by a bungee cord. There were runners and walkers of all shapes and sizes.
I hated running in school. My father was a runner, and I remember him frustratedly trying to “teach me” to run when I was in junior high, in hopes that I would learn to love it like he did. (Never happened!). I had NEVER aspired to be a runner, nor had I ever considered a long distance run of ANY kind. (Seriously, the one mile requirement in high school was WAY too long a distance for me!)
The Fire is Lit
But something happened to both my husband and myself that day as we watched the runners and walkers traverse Animal Kingdom in what we would learn later was approximately mile 14 of the 26.2 mile course throughout Walt Disney World. A fire started in both of us to someday be able to participate in one of these massive events. We wanted to run (in my husband’s case) or walk (in my case) a long distance race! I’m still not exactly sure how it happened, but I can tell you that I got very emotional watching those racers, and it was like something clicked inside me.
The next year, we registered for the runDisney Half Marathon for WDW Marathon weekend. Unfortunately, during my training, I screwed up my knee and we were unable to race. Back in those days, Disney would still allow you to cancel or postpone a race registration, so we deferred to the following year. We still took our Disney vacation, and watched racers in both the Half Marathon and the full Marathon races. The fire grew even stronger, and we knew the next year we would for sure be there to race. And you know what? We were!
Our First runDisney Experience
My husband completed the full marathon in January 2013. The heat was stifling that day, with temperatures rising to over 93 degrees during the last few hours of his race. He walked most of it, since he had trained with me, and with my knee issues, running was out of the question. It took him almost 8 hours to finish but he did it. It was an amazing moment, and I was so incredibly proud of him!
I also walked in the marathon, but got pulled just after I left Animal Kingdom because I couldn’t maintain the required pace of 16 minutes/mile. I completed almost 15 miles and was very proud of myself, even though I was disappointed to have been pulled from the race.
We realized in the fall as we were training that with my knee issues, I would not be able to go the full marathon distance. When that happened, I had tried to change my registration to the half marathon, but Disney no longer allowed changes, refunds or deferments. So I participated in the marathon, but completed just over the half marathon distance.
Frank and I stayed together until mile 11. I encouraged him to go on because I was starting to slow down, and wasn’t sure how far I’d make it before they pulled me from the course. I didn’t want his race jeopardized. As I was entering Animal Kingdom, I saw him on the path exiting Animal Kingdom…that was a pretty exciting moment.
Advantages of a runDisney Event
These events are HUGE. Each race has approximately 25,000 participants. The participants are divided into groups or “corrals” to determine when they will start the race. The faster runners start in the earlier corrals, while the slower runners and walkers get placed in corrals farther back. Participants are required to submit a time from another sanctioned event if they want to be placed in earlier corrals.
runDisney has been hosting these events at Walt Disney World for more than 25 years. They have them down to a science at this point. They have TONS (thousands, seriously) porta potties brought in and stationed at various intervals throughout each race. There are lots of water stations throughout the race.
I’m a “back of the packer”, which means I am usually walking towards the back of the race crowd by the last half of the race. I’ve done other big races since that first runDisney event, and I’ve run into issues with water stations being out of water and closed down before I ever got to them. That would never happen with a runDisney event.
Welcoming to Walkers AND Runners
The best thing about the runDisney experience is that the required maximum pace (16 minutes per mile) makes these races doable for runners AND walkers. These events are terrific milestones for people trying to get off the couch and into a walking or running routine. There are thousands of examples of runDisney participants that have lost tons of weight in pursuit of runDisney dreams. These races are beginner friendly, as well as lots of fun for experienced racers as well.
There are some important things to keep in mind. runDisney welcomes EVERYONE, regardless of size, speed or talent. However, if you are unable to maintain a pace faster than 16 minutes per mile, you will be pulled from the course. While these events are beginner friendly, you DO need to train for these distances. Don’t think you can just show up and run 14 miles (or 26 miles!) without training, and be able to finish, let alone keep the pace. That is dangerous and inconsiderate of the other racers around you.
Courtesy and Race Ettiquette
Also, if you know you are moving slower than those around you, keep to one side, and don’t walk or run more than 2 people wide. Faster runners sometimes get frustrated with slower walkers or runners in front of them, especially in the beginning of the race when so many people are still congested together. Try not to let it intimidate you, but also be respectful of those around you. If you are slowing down or stopping, try to make sure you aren’t doing it directly in front of someone else. Try to get out of the way if you can.
Having said that, I personally think a runDisney event is a SUPER goal to shoot for if you are working on adding walking or running to your fitness routine, or if you are working on weight loss.
I’m planning to train for and complete the virtual Princess Fairy Tale Challenge in February, and will post periodic updates on the blog with my progress.
Weight Loss on Vacation?
Let’s face it, unless you are super good about making healthy choices, most Disney vacations are going to include a lot of treats. While you walk a lot on any Disney vacation, it’s usually NOT enough to burn off all the extra calories from those Mickey Bars and margaritas.
However, run 20 or 30 miles during your vacation? You’ll definitely come out ahead on the weight loss front. 😉
Entertainment and Photo Opps
By far, one of the best things about the runDisney experience is the entertainment sprinkled throughout the course. There are characters at various intervals of the race course. You might see parade floats. There is often music or a band playing. There are signs in some places, and each mile marker is colorful, large and encouraging.
For the shorter races, the 10K and the Half Marathon distances, you race through Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. For the full Marathon, you race through all four theme parks. There is nothing like running up Main Street towards Cinderella Castle with 25,000 of your fellow Disney fans. I get emotional just thinking about it. It’s quite a moment!
It’s All About the Bling Baby
runDisney has beautiful medals! They are always of high quality and heavy. The really fun thing about the runDisney experience and runDisney races is that most racers wear their medals into the parks as they tour after the races. With most other (non Disney) races, you get the medal at the end of the race. You go home, hang it up (or shove it in a drawer, your mileage may vary) and that’s it.
With runDisney, you wear your medal for a couple of days around the parks. I get the impression that elite runners think this is a silly practice. And let’s face it, for the runners that barely break a sweat, complete the race in 2 hours or less, and have a room FULL of medals, it probably it. But for most of us regular joes? We worked really hard for that medal, and it’s really gratifying to be able to show it off for a bit. Cast members and even other park guests will often express congratulations and it’s very uplifting and gratifying.
DisAdvantages of a runDisney Event
The biggest disadvantage of runDisney events? The price. I’m not saying it’s not worth it, because they are amazingly well organized events. The race logistics (water stations, porta potties, race entertainment) are second to NONE. The medals are always beautiful, and the race shirts are always high quality with fun runDisney themed designs.
But these are expensive events. In the early days, racers also got a one day theme park ticket as part of their race registrations; that is no longer the case and race prices are higher than ever. Race prices range from around $90 (for 5k races) to $225 (for Marathon). If you want to do a challenge that includes 2 or more races, challenge prices START at $340 and go up from there.
Vacation Expenses
And of course, unless you live in the Orlando area, you’ve got the added expenses of a Disney vacation. Not that I object to those expenses, because hey, Disney vacation. But this is definitely a more expensive race weekend that say, going to Chicago or St. Louis for a Rock n Roll Half Marathon, know what I mean?
Crowds
As I mentioned above, thousands of runners and walkers participate in these races. Even though the races are split into corrals, and each corral starts a few minutes later than the last, there are still hundreds of racers in each corral. During the first few miles of the race, the course is fairly congested, and serious runners often complain that they aren’t able to get to the speed they want to race at due to the congestion.
These events also welcome a lot of first time racers, who may not be familiar with race etiquette, and may not understand the need to move to one side to allow faster racers to pass them. They may not understand that they should not race in “packs” and block faster traffic behind them.
I tend to recommend that racers do these races for the fun, the experience and the camaraderie, rather than to pursue a fast time or a personal record time. As with anything else, your attitude determines your joy in anything, and if you allow yourself to get frustrated with slower racers or the congestion, you will not enjoy the runDisney experience nearly as much.
Wearing Out Your Legs
The challenge of a runDisney vacation, especially if you aren’t a hard core runner, is that you need to plan your trip so that you DON’T wear out your legs walking around the parks (or the race Expo) prior to your race (or races!) In 2014, we did both the 10K race on Friday and the half marathon on Saturday. We walked WAY too much on Thursday and Friday, so by Saturday night, I was DYING. (My husband never seems to wear out though. Not sure WHAT his secret is!)
It’s really hard to be at Disney World and NOT want to walk all over and visit your favorite attractions. If you can afford the time (and the hotel costs), I highly recommend you save park touring for AFTER your races (and maybe allow a day for recovery in there somewhere!).
The runDisney Experience
To summarize, the runDisney experience is so much fun, and honestly, can be life changing. I love every Disney vacation, but our runDisney trips have been among my favorites.
Now that you have a good understanding of the runDisney experience, it’s time to talk about runDisney’s virtual events. In the next post in this series, we will discuss how runDisney virtual events work, the costs, how to register, and what to expect if you decide to do a virtual runDisney event.
Happy Dreaming!
Brooke
