2018 Princess Half Marathon

[bumbershoot]

Oh and how about that ramp thing to the F corral? In the dark? With no one letting you know it’s there?

That was fun.




My main LIKE of the event was the white cherry powerade.

And that my cousin ran her race at her pace.

And that she and I are very silly when together and we didn’t let politics derail our cousinship at all.



But I’ve put the thought out there that we do January instead...

 

[joan4mickey]

Oh and how about that ramp thing to the F corral? In the dark? With no one letting you know it’s there?

That was fun..

I wondered how they were going to get the corral on the left over to the right hand road to start. Sounds awful.


My husband and daughter were at the finish line and they announced there were 27 corrals that took an hour and half to start...???

 

[Gemini1131]

This year? After the half???
.

Yep I wasn’t sure if it would be there since it was monorail only to get there. My sister who was spectating checked and we all rode back on the bus after the half. Stopped at poly then shades of green then grand Floridian. I was in f also and finished a little over 3:30. Was definitely happy to not have to walk back to the monorail. And yes the ramp thing to f was miserable

 

[Ariel484]

Man, I've never done princess, but almost never want to.
Maybe Disney needs to reduce their time to a 15 min pace? Also require Pot for all races

People would freak the bleep out if they did this.

I’ll say the same thing I say when people complain about how the expos are run: runDisney doesn’t care about stuff like this - course cutters, corral jumpers, poor race etiquette, etc. They only care that people are paying to run the races, thus filling their hotels and buying merchandise. In other words, $$$$$

Lowering the pace and requiring PoT would be deal breakers for a lot of people (again, this weekend is extremely popular for first-timers)...I just can’t see them making changes like this.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I wondered how they were going to get the corral on the left over to the right hand road to start. Sounds awful.


My husband and daughter were at the finish line and they announced there were 27 corrals that took an hour and half to start...???

The balloon ladies started at 6:43:45 so about 75 minutes for all the corrals to go.

 

[FFigawi]

People would freak the bleep out if they did this.

I’ll say the same thing I say when people complain about how the expos are run: runDisney doesn’t care about stuff like this - course cutters, corral jumpers, poor race etiquette, etc. They only care that people are paying to run the races, thus filling their hotels and buying merchandise. In other words, $$$$$

Lowering the pace and requiring PoT would be deal breakers for a lot of people (again, this weekend is extremely popular for first-timers)...I just can’t see them making changes like this.

She nailed it again. runDisney won't change anything until people stop showing up and their revenue suffers.

 

[Ariel484]

She nailed it again. runDisney won't change anything until people stop showing up and their revenue suffers.

 

[joan4mickey]

Remember when...

They announced the course for the first Princess half and it wasn't going to include MK...we weren't going to run through the castle. Well our small group of 7000 had enough of us complain and they changed the course and they upped the 15mm pace to 16 mm pace as well.

 

[wallskm]

Yep I wasn’t sure if it would be there since it was monorail only to get there. My sister who was spectating checked and we all rode back on the bus after the half. Stopped at poly then shades of green then grand Floridian. I was in f also and finished a little over 3:30. Was definitely happy to not have to walk back to the monorail. And yes the ramp thing to f was miserable

Yeah from reading the event guide I got the impression that the monorail was the only option getting TO the race, but not from. I rode the monorail back to the Contemporary after the marathon and I said I’d never do that again. My friend finished 20 mins after me and took the bus and beat me back. I thought I’d never make it to the monorail that day, it’s a LONG walk!

 

[apdebord]

Now that I'm back and have had a few days to gather my thoughts, I'll throw my more detailed review out there. This was my first PHM, but my 7th half and my 7th runDisney race. PHM is the only current rD Florida offering we had not done, but it was the reason I started running in the first place. 7 years ago (there's a lot of 7s involved this weekend) we happened to be visiting during PHM. I had no clue they had races at WDW and I said that someday I would do this race, so there were times where I got a little emotional over the weekend with everything coming full circle.

Expo: We went to the Expo Friday morning around 11 AM. Headed straight to bib pickup, no lines. Then we walked over to pick up t-shirts. The Raw Threads booth was a nightmare, I couldn't look at anything without having to dodge an elbow. Moved on to RockTape and got my shin taped up as I've been having some pain in my shin/calf area. DH went to pick up our shirts while I stood in line. Afterwards we went to the official merchandise area. I didn't think this was crowded at all. The only thing I wanted was the AP weekend shirt and it was gone, which I did expect. DH got the medal pin; the line was not too bad to check out. I do wish people knew how to follow instructions and that "move all the way to the end of the registers" does not mean, stop wherever you want. We took our picture in front of the carriage and were on the bus around noon.

Race Day: We woke up at 2:30 AM to get ready. I ate some leftover filet and mashed potatoes from Saturday night's dinner at Artist Point (food was fine but I didn't think the atmosphere justified a $50 steak). Drank my coffee while doing my hair and makeup, rolled a little and we were off. There were 2 buses outside Wilderness Lodge and we got on the first one. We were off in about 5 minutes and we arrived at the Epcot lot around 3:45. DH is a Tailwind ambassador and was asked to do an Instagram story takeover during the race, so he was taking lots of pictures and videos. We got through security no problem. He made a stop at the porta potties, I said I wanted to wait until we got to the corrals...this was a statement I later regretted. I don't know if it was because it was dark or I was tired, but I could not find where to go to get to the corrals. I was in a group of people thinking they'd lead me the right way, but nope. Finally found the entrance to the lonnnnnnng walk over. I was extremely annoyed with the walk in the wet, uneven grass. Then a volunteer told us there were no more porta potties and she voiced her frustration over the setup. I may have had a mini meltdown and told my husband I was turning around and going back to bed lol. We did eventually get to our corral (E) and had a seat towards the front. I spotted more porta potties, but I never ended up using them because I didn't feel like pushing through people to get out, then pushing through people to get back to my husband. Right at 5 when the announcers took the stage, everyone around us stood and started pushing towards the front of the corral. I did not think it was too aggressive, but it was a little too early to stand in my opinion. Eventually people started sitting again. I thought the waves really moved quickly and we were off at 5:51 AM. I originally was bummed that I didn't get into D based on my POT, but I didn't use the right calculator before I raced my 10K and I missed D by a minute or so. So I was more so mad at myself as I knew I could have raced a 10K faster than what I did. However, once I saw the weather report, I was glad I was in E so I could slow my pace a bit. First 2 miles were the slowest splits. DH stopped at the first set of porta potties and caught up to me just before the 2 mile marker. I did slow my pace a bit while we were separated. He said he was doing 7:20s to catch up to me, so sorry if he ran anyone over...I think he ran in the grass though. Everything felt really great. The RockTape was awesome and it was the first time I was running with 0 pain since December. I also took a risk and switched from a stability shoe to a neutral shoe with PF insoles a week before PHM, definitely paid off!! It was certainly humid, but I loved it. No problems breathing and no cramping issues. I ran into my friend from home around the 4 mile mark and got a quick selfie so I got to see how sweaty I was! Running down Main St. and through the castle was amazing. I was definitely holding back tears. My husband had to make another stop at the aid station for bandaids near the car care center, but he caught up with me soon after. I was still feeling really good. I normally have a meltdown at mile 11, but for whatever reason I didn't. We were looking at the time and realized I had a small chance at a PR if I ran the last mile straight instead of 2/1 intervals. I had no goal of a PR, which I think is why I was feeling very comfortable, but I told him I'd decide right at 12. Well, that last turn up the ramp someone cut me off and I had a little ankle tweak. It went away, but that made me decide to just stick with what was working and do the intervals to the finish. I was 2 minutes and 15 seconds shy of a PR, but with how comfortable the whole race was, I'm not disappointed I didn't push at the end. And it was a runDisney PR by 4 minutes, so I'll take it. And I never had to use the restroom after all!

Post-Race: Typical finish line chute, got my snack box and took probably the worst picture of my life. I look like the Incredible Hulk. It's really bad... Anyway, we got on our bus which made its first stop at Fort Wilderness. By this point we had been on the bust for 50 minutes because of traffic! We got off and took the internal bus to the boat dock and took the boat back to the Lodge. Not sure if this saved any time, but I needed to get up and walk. We ate breakfast at the Geyser Point walk-up, showered and made it to MK for our Pirates fast pass and Main St. picture. Late lunch at Geyser Point before a nap, California Grill and Happily Ever After. Capped off the night at Territory Lounge and was asleep around midnight. Long day! I was really shocked that I didn't wake up sore at all. I was like, "Did I actually run?!" because everything felt amazing. I get sore after rD 5Ks for some reason, so I was really pleased that I posted a decent (for me) time and my body responded so well.

Wrap-Up: While I was annoyed with the walk to the corrals, I really enjoyed the race. I'm probably in the minority, but I liked the course. This could be that the Boardwalk area is getting a little stale for me from the other races I've done. I do think that I had so much adrenaline the first few miles getting to the castle that those miles just flew by. Normally those are the hardest for me and I question why I do this to myself. Not on Sunday, I was having a great time! I typically hit my stride at the 10K mark, so that was great to get me through to Epcot. I thought the spectators were great and I loved all the signs. Even though I feel very positive about the race, it wouldn't be my first choice only because I have a soft spot for Wine and Dine (first half and my favorite time to visit).

 

[PrincessV]

People would freak the bleep out if they did this.

I’ll say the same thing I say when people complain about how the expos are run: runDisney doesn’t care about stuff like this - course cutters, corral jumpers, poor race etiquette, etc. They only care that people are paying to run the races, thus filling their hotels and buying merchandise. In other words, $$$$$

Lowering the pace and requiring PoT would be deal breakers for a lot of people (again, this weekend is extremely popular for first-timers)...I just can’t see them making changes like this.

Yep, all of that. And I'll add this: I've stopped bothering to run 10Ks for PoT because I really hate the experience of racing for time and I've found that my experience in corral F (or G or I or whatever it winds up being) is pretty much the same as I'd get with my PoT time - and I've had perfectly fine races without that PoT in every race weekend except PHM. Shoot, I PRd my marathon last month doing Dopey with no PoT! It's only PHM that causes me fits, and that's easy enough to handle; I'll just stick with the other WDW halfs and a couple locals ones from now on

 

[Bree]

I was showing my DH some photos taken from the mile 10 bridge of the mob of runners below. We agreed that it looked like a scene from the Walking Dead. Now he understands why I stress over POT and corral placement LOL!!!

 

[Ariel484]

Yep, all of that. And I'll add this: I've stopped bothering to run 10Ks for PoT because I really hate the experience of racing for time and I've found that my experience in corral F (or G or I or whatever it winds up being) is pretty much the same as I'd get with my PoT time - and I've had perfectly fine races without that PoT in every race weekend except PHM. Shoot, I PRd my marathon last month doing Dopey with no PoT! It's only PHM that causes me fits, and that's easy enough to handle; I'll just stick with the other WDW halfs and a couple locals ones from now on

Yeah, it definitely seems to make the biggest difference for Princess.

I thought they were doing so well with the corralling, having people submit up to 3:15* and doing more, smaller corrals. Then they went back to 2:45 and the giant corrals (which - I know they have mini waves but I wonder if people knowing that is what is causing people to push to the front)? I don't get why they backtracked on the (what I thought were) good changes to the corralling system.



*3:15 as the max time = more people being able to submit, which means more work for runDisney to verify the times, so maybe that's why they went back to 2:45. That is to say, I wonder if they got lazy.

 

[PrincessV]

Yeah, it definitely seems to make the biggest difference for Princess.

I thought they were doing so well with the corralling, having people submit up to 3:15* and doing more, smaller corrals. Then they went back to 2:45 and the giant corrals (which - I know they have mini waves but I wonder if people knowing that is what is causing people to push to the front)? I don't get why they backtracked on the (what I thought were) good changes to the corralling system.



*3:15 as the max time = more people being able to submit, which means more work for runDisney to verify the times, so maybe that's why they went back to 2:45. That is to say, I wonder if they got lazy.

^ Could not agree more!

 

[Figment1990]

Yeah, it definitely seems to make the biggest difference for Princess.

I thought they were doing so well with the corralling, having people submit up to 3:15* and doing more, smaller corrals. Then they went back to 2:45 and the giant corrals (which - I know they have mini waves but I wonder if people knowing that is what is causing people to push to the front)? I don't get why they backtracked on the (what I thought were) good changes to the corralling system.



*3:15 as the max time = more people being able to submit, which means more work for runDisney to verify the times, so maybe that's why they went back to 2:45. That is to say, I wonder if they got lazy.

^ Could not agree more!

Ditto!

 

[bumbershoot]

I wondered how they were going to get the corral on the left over to the right hand road to start. Sounds awful.


My husband and daughter were at the finish line and they announced there were 27 corrals that took an hour and half to start...???

For F we walked down the grass and just moved our way towards the light lol. Huge mass of people funneled down so they could see our bibs. And many of us were looking up and nearly tripped on this stupid narrow ramp they put there to get you up the hill. Would have been easier to walk up the hill.

Corrals went to H. But there were miniwaves inside of the corrals.

Yep I wasn’t sure if it would be there since it was monorail only to get there. My sister who was spectating checked and we all rode back on the bus after the half. Stopped at poly then shades of green then grand Floridian. I was in f also and finished a little over 3:30. Was definitely happy to not have to walk back to the monorail. And yes the ramp thing to f was miserable

UGH.

Last year a bunch of us forgot at the end and went to the buses. They still had the same signs up from the 10k so there seemed to be a bus for the monorail resorts. As we got going she said “no” for bay lake and contemporary and a fit was pitched. One woman on the bus had been wheeled over there by CMs and was going to contemporary.

The driver was telling us to get off at WL then take a boat somewhere, the whole thing.

Finally she gave in. Said “this isn’t worth my blood pressure” and took us there.

Yeah from reading the event guide I got the impression that the monorail was the only option getting TO the race, but not from.

Not the impression I got. But the guide kept changing, and at some point I gave up.

I do wish people knew how to follow instructions and that "move all the way to the end of the registers" does not mean, stop wherever you want.

Lol. Friday I went to buy something, the directing cm told me to go to the lady at the very end who was waving her paddle, and as I got around the first cm I saw that someone had come in the exit of the line to do a return. And the cashier took her!!!

I also took a risk and switched from a stability shoe to a neutral shoe with PF insoles a week before PHM, definitely paid off!!

Brave!

I switched to more supportive shoes and it did NOT pay off.

took probably the worst picture of my life. I look like the Incredible Hulk. It's really bad...

Ummmm. You know we need a pic, right?

 

[TheHamm]

Beach Club had coffee for the runners, but I didn’t take a look to see what else was there. I also got a text and letter under the room door. I thought it was a nice touch!

Where was this coffee? I missed it!! I tried to set up the coffee pot in my bathroom so as to not wake my preschoolers, but DH put a stop to that! And the line at race start was sooooo long I abandoned it and regretted that at mile 2. So, incase I get to do this again, where was that coffee?

 

[TwoLittlePrincesses]

Where was this coffee? I missed it!! I tried to set up the coffee pot in my bathroom so as to not wake my preschoolers, but DH put a stop to that! And the line at race start was sooooo long I abandoned it and regretted that at mile 2. So, incase I get to do this again, where was that coffee?

Beach Club coffee and bananas were right in the lobby, just in front of the main entrance doors. It was really a nice touch!

 

[ohdanalee]

I stayed at the Hilton Bonnet Creek and their marathon perks were awesome. They had granola bars, fruit, bagels, coffee, powerade, waters, etc in the lobby, a bunch of people cheering with signs at 3 am, and bus transport to and from the race for the half marathon. When signing up for the race day buses we also got a drawstring bag with a towel and a discount card for the hotel restaurants. We chose it because by then all the Disney resorts were twice the price (even the All Stars which are, frankly, not nice)! They also have a really nice pool area and a ton of restaurants and transport to and from all the parks and disney springs. So if anyone wants an alternative and doesn't mind being "off site" (while still in the Disney resort area - it's right next to Caribbean Beach), the Waldorf Astoria and Hilton Bonnet Creek are good options for race weekends.

 

[pluto377]

Got home yesterday and just thought I would post my review of the races.

Expo- I went Friday afternoon around 4:00. Aside from a lot of vehicle traffic to get in (I took the bus from AoA and that one traffic light takes forever!!!!) I had no issues. I went to the official merch first. No line to get in. I decided not to get anything, but I did take a pic with Snow White.

10K- I had a great time at this race. I was in corral C. My only complaint was the lines at the first on course potties. There were not enough there especially considering they emptied the corrals so early and there weren't any bathrooms after that. I didn't stop to take any character pics and I'm regretting that I didn't stop for Pluto. He was so close to the end though that by then I just wanted it to be over. I woke up at 3:00, was on a bus by 3:45 and to the start at about 4:00. Security bag check was a breeze as was checking a gear bag. I was back in my room by 8:00am.

Kids Races- I hustled back to the hotel after the 10K so I could get my kids to their races. I wish they had explained better how the races work. For those that don't know, there are just waves of about 20 kids for the whole hour. There's no organization as far as which wave your kid needs to be in. If I had known that I would have shown up much later because I had one kid in the 100m and one in the 200m. Then I would have done one of the last waves of the 100 and the first of the 200. We ended up having to wait 30 minutes between races and it was sweltering hot that day. In the end, that really ended up ruining the rest of our day as it snowballed into exhaustion by 2pm and us not really getting to tour AK. I was also upset that at the beginning of the 200 I was stuck in a pack of people and didn't realize for about 10 minutes that kids that were running alone could go around the pack and go in. No one ever announced that. At least not so I could hear it. So in sum, I probably wouldn't do the kids races again. Too much hassle and too much lost park time. But I'm glad we tried it once. We left at about 12:00 and went over to AKL to have lunch at Sanaa. We arrived around 12:30 and had a 1:00 ADR.

Half- I also had a great experience at this race. I was in corral E. I had been hoping to get a PoT that would put me in C or D, but it just didn't happen. Turned out OK though because I lost so much training due to being sick that I was slower than I had been planning anyway. Again, security and gear check were super easy. The walk to the corral was of course ridiculous but I left really early so I could get a spot and sit. I was able to relax in the corral for about 30 minutes. My fueling was a little better this morning so I didn't have to make any pit stops the whole race. I again didn't do any characters because I think had I stopped I wouldn't have finished. If I were to do this again I would take my cell phone so I could at least do selfies. I was back in my room about 9:30am and managed to make a 4:10 ADR at Cinderella's castle (for those wondering about logistics for next year.)

I doubt I will be doing another runDisney race for a long time because it's just not financially feasible for me unless it's in combination with a family vacation again. I'm planning to stick to local 10K and 5K races from now on. I would love some day to do Dopey though...