Expedition Everest Challenge May 5 @ 9:30 2012

[scion5220]

Found the photos on the Brightroom website.

 

[Cripey]

Cute pic! Was that taken with your own camera or are the photos already online?

And also...has anyone really looked at the compass on the medal? Is mine the only one that has the NE and SE reversed? Is this some sort of intentional quirk or just a printing mistake?

Huh! I didn't even pay attention to that! I'll have to check mine tonight. My teammates "pointer" on the compass doesn't move anymore...it just stopped working the next day. I offered to switch with her since mine is still moving but she didn't want to. Oh well! I know it was just a 5k, but since it was chip timed, I was hoping to see engravers like they have at the half and full races...were they there and I just missed them? I always get mine engraved after the race and really wanted to do that for her too since it was her first event.

 

[PrincessV]

I'll have to take another look at mine - I can say that my pointer didn't work from the get-go, though. Unless you want to go right. All the time. It's very good at pointing to the right.

 

[scion5220]

Huh! I didn't even pay attention to that! I'll have to check mine tonight. My teammates "pointer" on the compass doesn't move anymore...it just stopped working the next day. I offered to switch with her since mine is still moving but she didn't want to. Oh well! I know it was just a 5k, but since it was chip timed, I was hoping to see engravers like they have at the half and full races...were they there and I just missed them? I always get mine engraved after the race and really wanted to do that for her too since it was her first event.

I didn't notice one, but I wasn't looking for it either. I am amazed by how good you guys look in your photo! My face is so red in mine! I wish I had realized the photographers were going to be there for a while and I would've waited til we had a chance to cool off a little. Oh well.

 

[Cripey]

I didn't notice one, but I wasn't looking for it either. I am amazed by how good you guys look in your photo! My face is so red in mine! I wish I had realized the photographers were going to be there for a while and I would've waited til we had a chance to cool off a little. Oh well.

aw thanks we actually had been finished for at least 10-15 minutes before I stumbled upon the photo lines for these...plus, we really just "fast walked" the scavenger hunt, no more running after the 5k portion...our legs and feet had just had enough after park touring since wednesday

 

[boxdoc2]

And also...has anyone really looked at the compass on the medal? Is mine the only one that has the NE and SE reversed? Is this some sort of intentional quirk or just a printing mistake?

I'm guessing they are all messed up! Ours are too. Intentional? Who knows!

 

[disney_runner]

Oh yeah, our compasses are messed up too! That's funny.

 

[adguy98]

I'm guessing they are all messed up! Ours are too. Intentional? Who knows!

Yep, the needles on our medals also stopped rotating, and the NE and SW are in the wrong positions. Just another example (albeit a rather small example) of how this is a third tier race charging a first tier entry fee for an overall sub-par experience (e.g. corral management, baggage pick-up, water stations, congestion, unsafe pathways and routing, medals distribution).

There is no possible way to defend the fiasco at the finish line for those in later stages. "Safety First" as a rule for all participants in an athletic experience was not practiced in this event. No excuses are acceptable.

Whoever is the responsible manager for this year's edition of EEC should not be permitted to lead another one (yes, I've written a letter). This was not a "magical" event.

Still, my sincere congrats to those who had a positive experience. Well done!

 

[mjaclyn]

Hi all! Just checking in after the race. DH and I had a really fun time in our very first runDisney race and first 5k ever! I have to echo a lot of the comments I've read about certain things. For instance, DH and I are also run/walkers. There is no way we could have run the entire 3.1 miles without walking. That being said, when we did walk we tried to keep out of the way of those who wanted to pass us, but sometimes it was too crowded to move fast enough. I remember hearing a runner coming up on us yelling 'come on, man!!' but there was nowhere for us to go. Personally, I think Disney needs to reduce the amount of people they allow to sign up for this race. I was also extremely disappointed in the finish line. I pictured myself and DH running through and people cheering for everyone, etc. When in reality we were herded through at a snails pace like cattle. There wasn't even a sign that said FINISH. At first I wasn't sure we HAD finished. It was very bizarre. In any case, we did have a great time in spite of the crowds, heat and disappointing finish. I'd love to do another runDisney event but I am 100% certain that I will be a run/walker regardless of what race I'm doing. I think it's a great idea to have a separate lane for those who want to run, then if you decide to walk just step out of that lane. Otherwise, it gets too congested and frustrating for both runners and walkers. It's difficult to slow down when you're running at a pace that's good for you and it's also kind of humiliating to be yelled at by a runner coming up on you. It's not good for either party.

 

[disney_runner]

Question for those of you who have run Disney 5K's before:
Do you get a finisher's certificate? I've run half's and the full before and you get to print out a certificate from home after the race. Do they do that for the 5K's? Just curious as my DD would love to have one!

 

[fastergoofy]

Finally got back last night! We had so much fun. We spent a good portion of the day in Animal Kingdom before the race, so by the time we went to bed, we were pretty sick of that park. Haha.

This event was so encouraging for me. My 5k time was terrible but our scavenger hunt time was a respectable 42 minutes. We would have done much better if I hadn't been taking my sweet time by that point. I think we were also expecting the clues to be harder.

Now that I've done my first 5k, I know what I need to work on and what to expect. I'm excited to continue running! Sadly, I'll be overseas beginning next year, so I don't know when I could do this event again. Maybe in five years!


Hey, what was up with those cast members on the Mickey float yelling stuff like, "WOO! 'MERICA!" It almost felt like they were mocking the runners. I thought that was really obnoxious and not really nice for people visiting from other countries. :/

 

[GaRain]

Hey, what was up with those cast members on the Mickey float yelling stuff like, "WOO! 'MERICA!" It almost felt like they were mocking the runners. I thought that was really obnoxious and not really nice for people visiting from other countries. :/

So glad you had fun on your first race!
And yeah, I was not thrilled with the people on the float that yelled "Pick up the pace, ladies" as I went by.....thanks for the, um, encouragement?

 

[sbsmommy]

So glad you had fun on your first race!
And yeah, I was not thrilled with the people on the float that yelled "Pick up the pace, ladies" as I went by.....thanks for the, um, encouragement?

They were making fun of a guy wearing jeans when I went by, which is a bit odd, but still.

 

[PrincessV]

If you'll excuse the shameless self-promotion, my race recap is posted

Expedition Everest Challenge - Race Recap

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Funny - I couldn't tell what they were saying from the float. For all I know, they making fun of me, lol!

 

[NitroStitch]

If you'll excuse the shameless self-promotion, my race recap is posted

Expedition Everest Challenge - Race Recap

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Funny - I couldn't tell what they were saying from the float. For all I know, they making fun of me, lol!

Great blog! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the Powerade was HOT instead of refreshing. I'm REALLY glad I didn't check a bag after hearing the horror stories about everyone who did. I really hope they tune in to all the comments about the race being too crowded for the course, especially with the scavenger hunt crossing the 5K portion at several points.

I really wish I'd brought a flashlight, since that feeble red eye didn't do a thing to help read any of the clues. If I do the race again next year, there's plenty I'll be doing differently. That's definitely one of the things - my old eyes can't do that well even in the light. In the AK dark? Forget it!

Thanks for sharing your story too!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

So glad you had fun on your first race!
And yeah, I was not thrilled with the people on the float that yelled "Pick up the pace, ladies" as I went by.....thanks for the, um, encouragement?

See, I totally would have yelled out "I'm moving faster than you, bleepbutt!"
Some people are jerks.

I hope everyone here is writing up complaints about the race, especially those who have done it in the past. runDisney and WDW need to know the issues or they won't fix it.

 

[fastergoofy]

If you'll excuse the shameless self-promotion, my race recap is posted

Expedition Everest Challenge - Race Recap

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Funny - I couldn't tell what they were saying from the float. For all I know, they making fun of me, lol!

Great blog post! What a fun activity for a mom and son team.

 

[KigerKat]

We got back late last night after spending about 1/2 a day at MK. Sorry I didn't post on this thread during our trip. I hate pulling up Disboards on my iphone, and anytime we were in the room, I was usually sleeping.

So, my first RunDisney race has passed, and I am super proud of myself!! DH was super sweet to run with me (well, were a team, after all!) and our 5K time was 44:20 and our search time was 33:13 for a combined time of 1:17:32. So we came in 807th place, we still had a great time!!

I've read through and caught up on this page, and I totally agree with you guys on the execution of the event. We started late, and no one seemed to know where to go for corral placement before the race. We figured it out when wave 3 was taking off (we were in wave 5), so that didn't cost us any time. The narrow paths in the park made things difficult because there were so many runners. I'm fairly laid back, so I didn't mind people passing me on the right or the occasional bump, but I can totally see how that would upset others.

DH and did a walk :45/run :30, and we had to pass several groups along the way. I tried to call out if I needed someone to move over, but there were some hard headed people that wanted to walk side by side with 3-4 other people and it didn't really give us much of a choice but to pass on the right. I wasn't irritated by those people, since I was able to easily pass them, but most people moved aside when they heard us coming.

I was upset by the warm water - yuck! I was sweating so bad and overheated since all of my training was on an indoor treadmill with ac and fans going, so I really needed a cool drink! I thought for sure the water bottles at the end would have been cold, but they weren't!

The bag check did upset me a bit, but I was able to get around the line because I needed my inhaler. I learned my lesson and will carry it with me for the ToT!

We didn't really get to enjoy the party at all. DH wanted to go back to the car to get his camera (that took a while), then our friends headed back to their room because they had 8AM ADRs at Tusker House and wanted to get some rest. I just kind of hung out with DH while he took pictures. We did ride EE twice, but it was about 1:30AM at the time. We didn't get a chance to eat or finally get a cool drink after the race. I think for ToT, I will have to ditch DH and meet up with some of you guys!!

And I am sooooo happy that we started our vacation with the race. I ended up with about 5 blisters on my right foot (weird - it's always my right foot!) and I know there's no way I could have run with my foot the way it was.

I would love to do this again next year, but I'm pretty sure it will be on the same day as my graduation. Also, I'm planning on being very pregnant at that time, and it may not be a good idea for me. But I'll pop into the thread next year and wish everyone luck!!!

BTW...DH and I were able to go to the back porch of Flame Tree. A CM that was cleaning up had to keep an eye on us because the ground was wet and he didn't want us to fall down. Another CM was very nice and walked us over to the bridge to Africa so DH could get some great night shots of EE. So if you saw a guy with a camera and dragging a very tired, sweaty girl in a purple top and black shorts around, that was us!!

 

[Motomiker]

Well it was my fifth one and I had a great time! I had no issues and thought it was a smoother race than in years past. The compass directions have been messed up for all the years!

 

[jeanigor]

I enjoyed myself. My teammate didn't stretch her calves long enough and ended up needing to walk the last 2.5 miles. But we were doing it for fun, not time.

I do feel that runDisney dropped the ball with a few things:
1) Bag check - both pre and post race. Nearly as big of a cluster as the first Wine and Dine. But since this was the 5th running of this race, I cannot accept ignorance as an excuse.

2) Pre-race 'entertainment'/corral placement. I was nearly ready to leave with the tone and attitude of the pre-race hosts. And what the heck was with that woman's voice? Could they have found anyone more shrill? I wanted to stuff my socks in my ears so I wouldn't have to hear her any longer. Corralling at the last minute made it look less professional than local 5K's put on by high schools--that don't charge exorbitant entry fees.

3) Water temperature. Yes it is May. Yes it is sunny and hot during the day. Please don't keep the pallets of water outside under black tarps before the race. Drinking hot bathwater was not refreshing.

4) Finish lines. What the heck was that? I knew to look for the timing mat, but my teammate (who is legally blind) couldn't see it. She was like "We're done?" And then it was a jam packed time at the medal distribution point. C-R-A-Z-Y!