Hey everyone. Just popping in to say hi.
Sorry I've been completely absent until well today actually. I swear this year went faster than a blink. Graduation, three more marathons, starting back at Mines...yeah its been a bit nuts. Still can't believe we're less than a month out from the big weekend. With winter break started finally and just a few short weeks left I thought I would pop in.
I am coming back for my 4th Dopey though. Funny how I once said I would never do one of these and I am now doing number 4.
For those saying they won't stop for characters if the wait looks too long, how can you tell? Number of people in line? I'd imagine people move through characters pretty quickly as well all need to keep runnin'?
Kind of depends on the person. But I've gotten good at eyeballing lines to know approx wait times and I'm usually not that far off. Rare lines can start around 15 minutes and go up from there. I usually decide who to stop for depending on who the line is for and how long the line is. Some 'rare' characters are harder to find at WDW then they are at DL (ie Jack and Sally, rare characters at WDW but are pretty easy to find at DL during a certain time of year where as Oogie Boogey I've only ever seen as a stop for the race). And if it falls under 'Well I can still find them pretty easily' at DL which is a frequent haunt of mine then I am far less likely to stop unless its a personal fav.
Good morning, runDisney all-stars! Marathon weekend kicks off in 23 days!
This week's Sundays are for Disney is about characters. For the runners planning on making a bunch of character stops, who do you hope to see along the route? For those of you on the fence/not planning to make character stops, which character or characters would get you to stop? For those of you who have run past races, who has been the best character you've seen along the course (in any race)?
I'm not planning on making a lot of stops and I might only make them for the half. But, I would probably stop for Oswald (I'd much rather see him in the parks), The Incredibles and Frozone, Mike and Sully and MAYBE Buzz and Woody. I don't remember a lot of the characters from my lone rD experience, but seeing Vacation Genie (by the golf course? It was right outside of MK) was pretty cool.
Have a great week, everyone.
Pretty much anything Lilo and Stich related will get me to stop. Villains is another will stop for. Also will sometimes stop for obscure characters since they sometimes come from movies like (ie Brother Bear).
First of all, thank you everyone for all of the amazing info!! This is my first Disney run and I’ve signed up for the Dopey. It has been nothing less than a crazy these last two years and I am extremely looking forward to celebrating with my mom (also running the 5k and 10k) and all you other Disney nuts out there!
I do have a question I’m hoping someone can help with regarding pacing for the Dopey. Is the pacing requirements strict for each individual person or do you just not have to get passed by the ballon ladies? Basically, if I am in an earlier corral than my mom do I still have to finish in less than 16min/mile from the time I cross the start line or can we both just stay in front of the balloons?
Okay this is where things get complicated. I am going to preface this with I was the DLFer at the Marathon last year. And you
really don't want to be within shouting distance of the balloons until your past the last hard sweep except for maybe the 10k once you're back into Epcot.
Basically short version: don't get passed by the balloons, you can do a 17 min/mile as long as you stay in front of them. Long version: If you can keep them within view range and not fall too far behind you can still make the last cutoff before the sweep. That being said that depends on how well you can pay attention to the bikes. The people who are actually in charge of calling the sweep. I made the last sweep at the Marathon because I caught one of them pulling over to a couple of other runners and warning them they were about to be swept. I didn't hear them actually say it, but when the two took off like a bat out of hell...well its pretty obvious what was happening. I made the cutoff by the chin of my hair basically but I made it.
So yeah I don't recommend letting the balloons pass you. The only reason I slipped up was that I was having a medical issue decide that marathon weekend was the best weekend to strike. And the only way to get relief is a good night's sleep. Which is basically the equivalent of a mythical unicorn for me. I since have figured out what the trigger of that was and we won't be having a repeat of it anytime soon.
