Marathon Weekend 2018

[BuckeyeBama]

Still working my way through it!



FYI, the pre-race meet up before the Half Marathon occurs before the walk to the corrals begins. You can still achieve a front of the corral placement and attend the pre-race meet if you wish. We will be standing within 30-50 feet of the place where they first open the walk to the corrals, so you will be among the first to know we've been given the green light.

As a general statement, this is true of all four pre-race meet-ups. All will occur before the corrals are open and thus attending the pre-race meet and being at the front are not mutually exclusive. I'm certainly going to be lining up at the front of my corral in all four races since by my current projections I'll finish in the top 30 in the 5k, top 50 of the 10k, top 100 of the HM, and top 150 of the M.

Thanks - this is very helpful. Can we begin moving to the corrals before they give the green light?

 

[PCFriar80]

Thoughts and positive wishes sent your way @OldSlowGoofyGuy.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Thanks - this is very helpful. Can we begin moving to the corrals before they give the green light?

They open the corrals roughly 60 min before the race is scheduled to start. In both the case of the 5k/10k and HM/M there is a stop point until within 60 minutes. The meet up for the HM and M is located right at that stop point and is set to occur before the 60 min green lift is given. So you will be able to get essentially no closer to the corral location if you choose to stand with us at the pre meet or about 30 feet closer in the mass of people. This is based on the last 4 years and as we all know things could change but I anticipate this part will remain the same. But to be fair, the second I notice the corrals or walk to the corrals is open, then I will be leaving the pre meet. Whether that be at 60 min like I expect or some completely new random time.

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Marathon Weekend DIS List FORM
Race - Marathon
Name (optional) - Kim
DIS Name - Mimsy Borogove
Costume - Judy Hopps
Corral - G
Planning to attend the Pre-race Meetup? - Yes
Front, Middle, or Back of the corral - Middle
Expected Pace - However long it takes for photos, possibly go on EE, etc. which will all be gametime decisions!

Also please add me to the Boardwalk contingent.

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

Corral B for half/full.

Looks like my Dopey plans may be changing. My mom's health has taken a sudden turn for the worst and not sure a long trip is going to happen for me. But you do what you have to do.

I'm following the 'trust your training' guideline. In this case the 'training' is 50+ years in a loving family.

Sending prayers for you and your family. That sounds pretty tough.

 

[croach]

Does anyone (or any blog) have a map or a list of the "real" bathrooms along the course? I can probably figure it out myself from the course map but wanted to check to see if anyone else had already done the work first. I like to plan ahead for bathroom stops and it really helps me with race day anxiety

So just a quick review of park maps, I’d say the following:

MK
Tomorrowland - left side after where Star Traders is, across from speedway
Breezeway between Liberty Square and Adventureland
AK
Path between Africa and Everest, be on your left
Maybe past Nemo show building, back off path so might not be accessible
HS
Right past Tower of Terror, on your left
Another one on Sunset Blvd on left I think, between shops maybe
Entrance plaza on left as we turn to leave park
Epcot
England, US, and Germany should all be accessible I’m guessing.

No idea on WWOS.

 

[rteetz]

So just a quick review of park maps, I’d say the following:

MK
Tomorrowland - left side after where Star Traders is, across from speedway
Breezeway between Liberty Square and Adventureland
AK
Path between Africa and Everest, be on your left
Maybe past Nemo show building, back off path so might not be accessible
HS
Right past Tower of Terror, on your left
Another one on Sunset Blvd on left I think, between shops maybe
Entrance plaza on left as we turn to leave park
Epcot
England, US, and Germany should all be accessible I’m guessing.

No idea on WWOS.

There is one for sure in WWoS I remember. I am sure there are more.

 

[gjramsey]

In AK, there is one right across from Primeval Whirl.

 

[huskies90]

Marathon Weekend DIS List FORM
Race - Half
Name (optional) – Jim
DIS Name – huskies90
Costume - None
Corral – I am in A but moving back to G
Planning to attend the Pre-race Meetup? - No
Front, Middle, or Back of the corral – No Idea
Expected Pace – No Idea


We are doing just the HM. I would be an 8:15 pace but plan to run it with my wife. This our first RD race and it will be her first ever race. When she signed up in February, she had all intentions to train and run at least a 10K to get a POT. Neither happened so we are both nervous about how far she will be able to go. She is realistic and is just hoping she makes it to the MK but she is a good athlete so I don’t know, maybe she can finish? I am hoping I can be supportive and not push her. It is going to be challenging for me. Any advice would be helpful.

 

[AlexRunsDisney]

I think it depends. Disney is a very congested race course to begin with. While there are definitely open areas there are also areas where the course narrows. Therefore unless you're starting at the front of corral A it's likely you'll face congestion on the course regardless of pace as people stop to take pictures, use the bathroom, get beer, etc. Being in H the congestion is going to be worse since you have people that are going to be slower than you several corrals up. I think though, if you get to the front of your corral (or at least to the front of a wave) you'll have an open area to break away from the pack and run your own race until you catch up with the runners ahead of you. By then people should be somewhat spread out. Dodging and weaving is somewhat inevitable at Disney but I wouldn't think it will effect you much more than anyone else.

Good insight, thanks. I think by mile 6 or 7 I should have passed most of the people from the corrals H and G so I'm hoping after that it will open up.

 

[AlexRunsDisney]

I'm a slower runner, and I can tell you that at typical half marathons I've run, I end up with .2-.3 more in distance because I have to dodge around people. It's one of the hazards of being slower because many of us take walk Breaks or we run Galloway method, and sometimes people who only walk don't want to get swept and get in corrals they aren't paced for. I've heard disney is more congested, so I am planning to realize that even though I'm slow (13 min mile), I'm going to have to be patient and set my expectations lower for speed.
I honestly hope things go okay for you, my husband is just under a sub 4 and there's no way he could deal with the dodging at his speed.

Thanks! I think you should be fine. I think I will be okay too. I probably know the beginning may start off slower, but hopefully that will allow me to run a negative split! The good thing about a marathon is that there will be plenty of time where I can make up time.

 

[BikeFan]

Marathon Weekend DIS List FORM
Race - 5K
Name (optional) - Tom
DIS Name - BikeFan
Costume - No idea
Corral - A
Planning to attend the Pre-race Meetup? - Hopefully
Front, Middle, or Back of the corral - Middle
Expected Pace - 7:30

Race - 10K
Name (optional) - Tom
DIS Name - BikeFan
Costume - No idea
Corral - A
Planning to attend the Pre-race Meetup? - Hopefully
Front, Middle, or Back of the corral - Middle
Expected Pace - 8:00

Race - Half
Name (optional) - Tom
DIS Name - BikeFan
Costume - No idea
Corral - A
Planning to attend the Pre-race Meetup? - Hopefully
Front, Middle, or Back of the corral - Back
Expected Pace - 8:20

Race - Full
Name (optional) - Tom
DIS Name - BikeFan
Costume - No idea
Corral - A
Planning to attend the Pre-race Meetup? - Hopefully
Front, Middle, or Back of the corral - Back
Expected Pace - 9:00

Hoping your mom's health improves, @OldSlowGoofyGuy !

 

[croach]

In AK, there is one right across from Primeval Whirl.

I think that one might be a bit of the path but I’m not totally sure on that.

 

[PrincessV]

I don't know if this will help assuage some of the stress and anxiety related to corral placement, but I'll give it a try...

For reference, I am a back-of-the-packer, have been for almost all of my many rD races at WDW. I am not a patient person, I have some social anxiety, and I hate crowds with every fiber of my being. I'm not exceptionally slow, but I'm not what anyone would call "fast": if I put my mind to it, my running pace is around a 10:00/mile pace. I do run-walk intervals because I'm old, a former athlete plagued with chronic injuries, and I stopped being competitive when it stopped feeling fun, so my average run-walk pace for a marathon is about a 13:30-14:30 mile without stops.

I personally find many of the accounts of what it's like to be in the back corrals to be grossly exaggerated. You can see by my signature I've done plenty of races at WDW, and here's my average experience in the WDW half and full, starting from the back of a corral in the back 25% of corrals:

Start to mile 1: congested - tight, but not impossible to move near my pace, usually about :30 slower, which gives me time to warm up

Mile 1 to MK: roadway plenty full, but sufficient room to go my pace with little dodging and weaving - I may need to skip a run or walk interval here and there, but I've never been unable to run

MK: a little congested - I can run, but opt not to through most of it because I want to enjoy the park time

Cone Alley to Bear Island (marathon): TIGHT. No way to go any faster than the prevailing speed of the crowd, so I just relax and roll with it
World Dr. to exit (half): wide open roadway - plenty of room to move

AK: a little tight, but I again opt to slow down and take it all in - I could move faster if I wanted to

AK parking lot to WWOS: open roadway - pretty full, but ample room to move

WWOS: TIGHT. I'm sick to death of people by that point and frustration kicks in - If I can talk myself into a happier state, it can be a fun place to people watch, help someone struggling, contemplate all the things I could be doing other than running...

WWOS exit road to DHS: open - smooth sailing

DHS: pretty open - no massive jams that I recall

DHS exit to EP: in other races, monstrous, but not so bad for the full - I think us slow folks are pretty well spread out by then

EP to finish (marathon): who cares?? you're almost done! Also, beer/treats. But really, not a log jam.
EP entrance to finish (half): who cares?? you're almost done! A little tight, but one could totally sprint to the finish if one really wanted to

I think the key here is adjusting expectations. No, I do not think someone why desperately wants to run 7:00 miles from the back of H is likely to have a good time. But if that same person goes in knowing there will be slow sections, and decides to enjoy the experience, there is absolutely no reason he/she can't have a great race!

 

[AlexRunsDisney]

I know you are really frustrated at your corral placement, but truthfully, you need to be prepared for MAJOR congestion. I've not started in the back before, but I've always been in the middle of the pack and congestion is a fact of life in these races. The course is too crowded and too narrow at multiple junctures to avoid the congestion. You should be ready for multiple portions of the race course where you will likely be forced to walk for extended periods of time. That will be true likely until you are past Animal Kingdom. At that point, the crowd tends to thin a bit more and the course is mostly wider. I would recommend that you try to be patient and soak in the surroundings during the first half of the race and conserve your energy. If you spend a lot of excess energy in trying to bob and weave around everyone, you won't have a lot in the tank at the end. Likely better to just do the best you can and move through the crowd when the opportunity presents itself and then be prepared to really make up some ground on the second half of the course. I worry that you are going to be so frustrated by your corral placement that you end up not enjoying the race, and that would truly be a shame. Even had you landed in corral C or D (likely where your PoT would have landed you), the crowding and congestion is significant especially in the first half of the race.

To be honest, it is pretty disheartening that after all my training the past year and proving that I could run almost a 2 hour half marathon, that I am put in the last corral. HOWEVER, I just have to have the mindset that there is nothing I can do about it now, and just try to enjoy the race. If I was only concerned about my time, I would have signed up for a different marathon. The reason I signed up for Disney is because of the course. I will enjoy it as much as I can, I just hope I'm not stuck walking or finish like 20 minutes behind my goal time

 

[AlexRunsDisney]

For the half and full, I would recommend pacing yourself until you hit World Drive. Unfortunately, it's so congested until that point and you'll exert a lot of energy and incur additional mileage trying to weave in and out of the congestion. The other extremely difficult area to navigate with congestion will be Cone Alley after the Magic Kingdom. It's narrow and that's far enough into the races, you'll have folks stopping for scheduled and unscheduled walk breaks.

So you are saying it will be congested until about mile 2 for the full? That's not too bad then.

 

[Ariel484]

To be honest, it is pretty disheartening that after all my training the past year and proving that I could run almost a 2 hour half marathon, that I am put in the last corral. HOWEVER, I just have to have the mindset that there is nothing I can do about it now, and just try to enjoy the race. If I was only concerned about my time, I would have signed up for a different marathon. The reason I signed up for Disney is because of the course. I will enjoy it as much as I can, I just hope I'm not stuck walking or finish like 20 minutes behind my goal time

Keep this in mind for future runDisney races - always have a valid PoT ready to go, and screenshot your submission.

 

[StarGirl11]

Thought I would share some data a person on Facebook put together about the new corrals:



Corral numbers:

I’ve seen maps of the bathrooms on the route posted on Facebook before. I’ll see if I can’t find them again.

 

[michigandergirl]

Marathon Weekend DIS List FORM

Race - 5K
Name (optional) - Sharon
DIS Name - michigandergirl
Costume - Star Wars Droid tank
Corral - ?
Planning to attend the Pre-race Meetup? - most likely yes
Front, Middle, or Back of the corral - middle
Expected pace - 11:00

Race - 10K
Name (optional) - Sharon
DIS Name - michigandergirl
Costume - Mrs. Incredible
Corral - ?
Planning to attend the Pre-race Meetup? - most likely yes
Front, Middle, or Back of the corral - middle
Expected pace - 11:00

Race - Half
Name (optional) - Sharon
DIS Name - michigandergirl
Costume - Dory inspired
Corral - C, but may drop back to D
Planning to attend the Pre-race Meetup? - most likely yes
Front, Middle, or Back of the corral - middle
Expected pace - 12:00

Race - marathon
Name (optional) - Sharon
DIS Name - michigandergirl
Costume - Little Mermaid
Corral - C, but may drop back to D
Planning to attend the Pre-race Meetup? - Yes
Front, Middle, or Back of the corral - middle
Expected pace - total crapshoot, but I'll guess 13:00

 

[StarGirl11]

Does anyone (or any blog) have a map or a list of the "real" bathrooms along the course? I can probably figure it out myself from the course map but wanted to check to see if anyone else had already done the work first. I like to plan ahead for bathroom stops and it really helps me with race day anxiety

Found the bathroom maps!