Well, other than the hassles that come with a large race (e.g., had to be there by 4 AM for a 6 AM start time), it was a very nice experience. I thought they might have 'cheated' us a little bit by having us spend very little time actually in each of the theme parks & a lot of time of the roads between the parks. However, the time we did spend in each of those parks was pretty cool (& the scenery on the roads wasn't all that bad, either). I particularly liked running through Cinderella's castle in the Magic Kingdom!

For some reason, there were a lot of things that made me emotional during the race - from singing 'Amazing Grace' & 'God Bless America' at a 4:45 AM pre-race worship service, to the fireworks at the start of the race, to seeing a couple running in honor of their child who had a life threatening illness (which is tough to think of when you are a parent) and a man running in memory of his brother who was a fireman at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11th (made me think of my brother who died 7 years ago), to the spectator holding the sign that read 'I can do all things through Him who gives me strength' - there were just a lot of times that I got 'choked up'.

I'll admit that shoveling 12' inches of snow the day before driving down and having an infant who developed an ear infection during our trip only compounded the exhaustion I felt when my alarm went off at 3 AM on race day. The weather was good at the start (56 degrees, though it was quite humid) & I felt surprisingly well - since it WAS an early morning! But I really had a hard time when the downpour started at about mile 20, but it felt great to come back into Epcot & cross that finish line!

There was one thing they did during the race that I thought was in bad taste. At each park, there would be a series of signs (perhaps 10 - 12) set up along the course that said things like 'Give up', 'Wouldn't you rather be in bed?', 'What's the point to this madness', etc., with the final sign 'signed' by a Disney villain (e.g., Captain Hook). Passing these type of signs once was surprising; passing them 5 separate times during the race was terrible.

The race support was phenomenal & the spectator turnout was pretty darn good! And,let's not forget that really cool finisher's medal!

Oh, speaking of stress, when I went to check in on Saturday & they couldn't find my name in the system...!

Is it too much for Disney to allow marathon participants into their theme parks following the race? Or at least a discounted ticket? Otherwise, outstanding volunteers and support groups, a litter-free course, a walk-to-your-car finish line, plenty of aid stations, the best medals in the country and a great starting time -- since you're finished by mid-morning. I'll be back. But when I do I hope they change the course to allow for more time inside the theme parks. Have doubts about this marathon after reading comments? Just do it and enjoy the time in Florida.

This was my first marathon as it was for many of the runners on the January 6th morning. I was running on behalf of the Arthritis Society and the Joints in Motion program from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. Not knowing what to expect I was very nervous but everyone from the runners to spectators and of course the many volunteers were great. The course was awesome, very flat and could be very fast. I personally ran a 3:04:12 and could have done betteer had I ran a smarter race. This palced me 5th in my age category and 73 overall. I could not believe how great the race was organized and I have already started to plan a return trip. The water stops were well manned and except for a strong wind for about 8 miles after the half finish. I don't think anything could have been better. Well done to everyone involved and hope to enjoy your race again.

Our family has been to Disney World 5 times in the past 12 years. I thought running the Disney Marathon would involve excitement and entertainment. I found the very short time running in the parks entertaining, but the repetition on the highways was horrible. I don't need bands at every mile, but some entertainment along the course highways would have been nice. The volunteers were excellent and the transportation was very good. I think it's crazy to arrive at the start 2 1/2 hours early. I ran a much larger marathon in San Diego and was able to arrive at the start 35 minutes before the gun with NO problem. I'll leave my space open for someone else.

It was as though they read a book on how to put on a Marathon, without actually understanding how a Marathon works.

Most is run outside the parks, in desolate areas, with no spectator access. The worst part were the signs they had approaching each park... Trying to be 'cute' and in Disney theme, they had signs like:
'Abandon Hope', 'Stop your quest', 'Give up', 'You could be home sleeping', 'Pain ahead'... As if the wicked witch were speaking. Lovely.

Not to be totally negative:
1st aid was first-rate; water and replenisher were plentiful; The medal is awesome.

Until they get a race director that has run a marathon, I would not recommend running this.

Let's start with the good.
* Medical tent at the end: The weather wasn't good and my race management matched the weather so I got some first hand experience. Top notch.
* The finishers medal: Of the four major marathons I've run, this medal easily tops them all.
* Volunteers: Cups were gone as soon as they hit the ground. Plenty of liquids/gels/gu. They also had double-duty as spectators since it was difficult for any non-Disney person to watch this event.

Now the bad and there's plenty
* Course: Absolutly stunk. Nuff said by others here.
* Early start: Unbearable if you aren't from the East Coast. No sleep the night before. The fireworks were nice at the start though.
* Unpredictable Weather: Obviously not Disney's fault, but it was hot, humid, windy, and horizontal in-your-face rain is not conducive to a PR. I'll go somewhere with more predictable weather.
* Expo: Pretty lame. I'm not too into Expos so it didn't really bother me, but others live for them. Don't get your hopes up.
* Expensive: Remember, Disney is a money machine. This isn't a charity event.
* Intangibles: There was just no emotion or energy or excitement that I've felt at other marathons. Can't describe it other than it felt plastic and artificial.

Summary: The only people I would recommend this race to will already be there for a vacation and need a running diversion from the kids for a day.

I have come to all 9 marathons and have done 6 of them and each year the merchandise gets less and the entertainment along the way has lessened. I love doing this marathon but would like to see more of an effort in the marketing/entertainment area. The volunteers are tremendous!

Disney is not for everyone, but it sure is for a lot of people considering how early every year it fills up. No amount of complaining in previous comments about how it is not a great race is going to diminish the excitement and joy that so many people get out of the race. Run it once and enjoy it, and maybe even join the hundreds who return year after year for the sake of running in a race that seeks nothing more than to allow people to enjoy racing through Cinderella's Castle like they've always wanted to since they were kids. Running is meant to be enjoyable; if you don't think you'll enjoy it or are cynical about the 'Disney influence' then simply don't sign up and leave the entries available for those of us who want to run it. That's fair warning, right? More specific comments:
--- Course: How can anyone complain about the course when the course map is available online for pre-race perusal?! It's not a 'secret' that much of the race is on 6-lane highways and backroads on the Disney property! Anyone who's been to Disney or checked the course map can see that the parks are spread out, so without Aladdin's magic carpet obviously you're going to need to run long distances between the parks. The scenery on the highways is trees and beautiful Disney landscaping in the early morning sunrise over central Florida; that beats any urban-based industrial race scenery any day. Granted it's no Big Sur or Central Park, but it's peaceful and a respite from the overload of excitement in the parks.
--- Specatators: If you are only capable of running with spectators 5-deep along the entire course, run Chicago or New York, but if you would like to enjoy the camaraderie of thousands (in 2001 and 2002, about 18,000 registered for marathon and half, and about 13,000 showed up) along with thousands of families, Disney cast members, dozens of Disney characters, and enthusiastic water stop supportors, this race is fine for you.
--- Organization: The event is staged well by the Event Marketing and Management (EMMI) team based in Orlando in conjunction with Disney. The expo is limited as a result of EMMI (which is a related entity to the Track Shack running store) and vendor tie-ins with Disney, but the EMMI team does a great job with the race itself. This is not just Disney trying to 'put on a race.'
--- Cost: Disney is a company that has a bottom line. Travelling to the race and staying on site can be expensive and not much at the resort is cheap. Just understand that going in or plan to attend another race where costs can be controlled better so you won't be disappointed.

The Disney Marathon may not be for everyone, but it's a great race for a lot of people! Enjoy!

This was definitely a dream come true experience for me as a first-time Marathoner. I'd do it again even though I ended up in the medical tent after hitting the wall at 22 miles. By the way, the care I got in the medical tent was excellent. I needed IV fluids and they got them going right away.
The entertainment, the crowds, the characters - everything was great. I can't believe so many people complain about this race. Twenty miles went by so fast, with all the great distractions going on. The Disney Staff stood outside in the rain and cheered us on.They were also wonderful.
My only complaint was no medical personnel at the finish line. It was tough for my friends to get me to the medical tent, which seemed to me to be miles away at the time.
Other than that, I thought it was great. The Team in Training support was unbelievable. I was a Team in Training member. I'd run this race again, even though I hit the wall really hard.
Everyone wants to run New York, but I'm a New Yorker and I'm glad I ran Disney first. I really don't see how anything can measure up to this.

The very short amount of time you spend actually running through the parks was exciting for my first marathon, but too much of the race is run on back roads and four lane highways without spectators. Not enough time is spent running through the parks. Running Main Street with the line of fans was great! The spectators were controlled and restricted to certain areas by Disney. Water stops and medical personnel were plentiful and the volunteers manning these stations did a wonderful job. The finish line in the Epcot parking lot was anti-climactic. I would like to have spent more time running and finishing inside of the actual parks.