Official Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend - The Dark Side 2017

[bcarey2k]

The 501st will probably be out at one of the theme parks we run through - until the course map comes out we can't tell where exactly it most likely will be!

Which was very cool!

 

[ryanj36]

The 501st will probably be out at one of the theme parks we run through - until the course map comes out we can't tell where exactly it most likely will be!

Sorry, since I'm new who is 501st?

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Sorry, since I'm new who is 501st?

501st is a volunteer organization that does really detailed costumes for Star Wars - pretty close to authentic! I have some photos of them from my Light Side reports in my signature. I haven't posted 2017's Half yet (still playing catch up since getting home on Wednesday)

 

[PrincessV]

Star Wars Half Marathon - The Dark Side
Sunday, April 23, 2017
5:30 a.m.

Oh noooo! I sure hope they bump that back to 5am. It's bad enough the race is later in April this year - that sun is going to be HOT when it comes up!

My wife and I are excited to be doing our first RunDisney 5k at Star Wars Dark Side, and I have a question for you run vets out there, if I could? My wife and I are staying in Caribbean Beach and we will have use of a vehicle, if it will help. We are daily rope droppers and know our way around "The World" very well, but don't have ANY reference for RunDisney timing. If the race starts at 6, what would be everyone's recommendation for timing that morning? Should we drive or bus (we figured drive is always better on a normal day to epcot, but does it change with RunDisney)? Any other pointers? Thanks everyone!

I drive everywhere at WDW, including to races; it's very easy. But what you need to look at isn't the race start time, but the time buses start running: you don't want to wait too much after that to get on the road. That info will become available when the race guide is released, probably about a week out.

For folks who did the race last year, how were the character stops during the 10k and the half? Hoping for some good options on the course.

Depends on what you're looking for... as a SW geek, I was thrilled that it was totally SW themed and had very few traditional Disney characters out. Loved the movie props and sets! And as others have mentioned, the 501st was an awesome addition. But I know some folks were disappointed by the dearth of non-SW Disney characters.

 

[Mulan2]

I registered for the Dark Side Challenge!! I am so excited. My Disney Half was cancelled in January so now I will get another chance to come down and run!!

 

[ryanj36]

501st is a volunteer organization that does really detailed costumes for Star Wars - pretty close to authentic! I have some photos of them from my Light Side reports in my signature. I haven't posted 2017's Half yet (still playing catch up since getting home on Wednesday)

Oh, cool...thanks for the heads up.

 

[croach]

Depends on what you're looking for... as a SW geek, I was thrilled that it was totally SW themed and had very few traditional Disney characters out. Loved the movie props and sets! And as others have mentioned, the 501st was an awesome addition. But I know some folks were disappointed by the dearth of non-SW Disney characters.

I'm good with just Star Wars characters. Would be surprised to see just regular Disney characters on the course. Now I would like too see the Disney characters in Stars Wars costumes but I think I read here or somewhere that they can't do them anymore. Which makes little sense to me but also isn't surprising.

 

[camaker]

501st is a volunteer organization that does really detailed costumes for Star Wars - pretty close to authentic! I have some photos of them from my Light Side reports in my signature. I haven't posted 2017's Half yet (still playing catch up since getting home on Wednesday)

The 501st Legion was one of the absolute highlights of last year's events for me. I remember them being just outside the entrance to DHS, inside AK and just prior to the finishing stretch in WWOS. It was such a lift to be cheered on and get high fives from Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, Tie Pilots, Sand People, Mandalorian Warriors and many others during the runs!

 

[bcarey2k]

The 501st Legion was one of the absolute highlights of last year's events for me. I remember them being just outside the entrance to DHS, inside AK and just prior to the finishing stretch in WWOS. It was such a lift to be cheered on and get high fives from Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, Tie Pilots, Sand People, Mandalorian Warriors and many others during the runs!

And they love the photo ops!!!

(With your camera ... it's not exactly a rD thing)

Brian

 

[Darkwing_Duck_CJ]

Oh noooo! I sure hope they bump that back to 5am. It's bad enough the race is later in April this year - that sun is going to be HOT when it
I drive everywhere at WDW, including to races; it's very easy. But what you need to look at isn't the race start time, but the time buses start running: you don't want to wait too much after that to get on the road. That info will become available when the race guide is released, probably about a week out.


Depends on what you're looking for... as a SW geek, I was thrilled that it was totally SW themed and had very few traditional Disney characters out. Loved the movie props and sets! And as others have mentioned, the 501st was an awesome addition. But I know some folks were disappointed by the dearth of non-SW Disney characters.

Awesome! Thanks for the input. Driving seems the way to go

 

[WhereInFlorida]

I drive everywhere at WDW, including to races; it's very easy. But what you need to look at isn't the race start time, but the time buses start running: you don't want to wait too much after that to get on the road. That info will become available when the race guide is released, probably about a week out.

+1 to this. No matter where you are staying, leaving at 5:00 is very late as another had mentioned. If you are in the last corral it might be ok but if you are in the first corrals I would say you will miss the start. Last year the walk from the buses to the staging area was a good distance and then to the start line was even longer. We don't know about this year but would guess it will still be quite a bit of walking.

 

[maw]

Not anymore. They only look at Proof of Time if you put an estimated finish time of 2:45 or under. If you put say a 3:00 estimated finish they won't even look at the proof of time. Or say you put estimated 2:45 and a proof of time that equates to 3:00 they will put you in one of the last corrals since your proof isn't 2:45. So if your proof isn't 2:45 or under you don't need to put it. This is how I've read it working since they changed it to the 2:45 half time needed. You are better off just picking the correct estimated finish time & putting no proof if you don't have proof to back up an under 2:45 half.

Thank you - I don't know why this is so confusing to me. Thanks for explaining it!

 

[lovingeire]

I've been slacking on some planning for this race, but finally booked a preferred room at CBR (with the AP rate) for this weekend. I completed Rebel Challenge a week ago so the first half of the Kessel Run is done! Now I just need flights and then I'll be good to go!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I've been slacking on some planning for this race, but finally booked a preferred room at CBR (with the AP rate) for this weekend. I completed Rebel Challenge a week ago so the first half of the Kessel Run is done! Now I just need flights and then I'll be good to go!

Now with Light Side in the past, I need to start figuring out FastPass+ and so forth since that window opens up next month.

I ran today at 14:16 per mile, my fastest training run ever. We'll see how my body likes that pace tomorrow though. I want to get faster for Dark Side, but not at the expense of injury risk. I know what works so I'll monitor pain and soreness closely. My slow pace works to finish, but if it's feasible to safely get faster without substantially increasing injury risk, I'd like to go for that. Maybe someday I'll brave the 20 minute wait for BB-8. But not at the expense of the Kessel Run.

 

[lovingeire]

Maybe someday I'll brave the 20 minute wait for BB-8. But not at the expense of the Kessel Run.

My BFF and I were undertrained for Light Side. I strangely seem to handle this better than she does. But we chose not to stop for BB-8 even though we did do a few character stops. We are also hoping to be a little faster, back to our normal pace, for Dark Side. We are also playing with POT and trying to figure that out. We have pretty consistently been in H, but were in I for GSC, but there were more corrals at WDW than DLR for Light Side, where we were also in I. Instead of putting in my POT I just put in 2:46-2:50 or whatever the next option is. Just to see if that got me a higher corral than my POT as I know others who that worked for. We figure we'd rather start higher up, but since the system changed we'll try it and see how it goes.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Until I can run faster than my 3:06 range, I don't dare put a sub 3 hour time. Admittedly, the Star Wars race makes it easier to skip character photos in the parks because cosplay mile is coming. And this year someone did have a BB-8 on cosplay mile so I did get that photo. Maybe without the cool Jakku backdrop Disneyland has, but I've come to peace that my speed is good enough to finish and keep me out of the last corral next year if I am careful with my playtime. Interestingly enough I also find that my last 4 miles feel like my fastest. Maybe because the distractions start to lessen at that point.

 

[ryanj36]

Kinda wish I would have had a proof of time. Tested myself yesterday and ran a 1:58 13.1. So now I know I can do it. How is everyone else's training going?

 

[bcarey2k]

Kinda wish I would have had a proof of time. Tested myself yesterday and ran a 1:58 13.1. So now I know I can do it. How is everyone else's training going?

Good job! Just plan on starting towards the front of whatever corral you draw ... it will make things a little easier for your pace!

My miles 4-6, there are always fast folks cutting through .... those pesky photo ops call to us all! Then we rush to the next one!

Brian

 

[mbwhitti]

Kinda wish I would have had a proof of time. Tested myself yesterday and ran a 1:58 13.1. So now I know I can do it. How is everyone else's training going?

Still recovering from Marathon weekend. I ran my 13.1 the following weekend to 'earn' my half medal. I did a fast 5 at 9:08 this past weekend. Will probably do 7 this weekend. I've got a potential 20k in early March and maybe a half in late March.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Kinda wish I would have had a proof of time. Tested myself yesterday and ran a 1:58 13.1. So now I know I can do it. How is everyone else's training going?

After cutting back some on my running for the week immediately after the Rebel Challenge, I'm back to normal now and am even experimenting with increasing my training speed in the hopes of getting faster.