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May 14, 2024

Disney World Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 4.1

Organization 4.3

Spectators 4.0

Number of comments: 818 [displaying comments 71 to 81]

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M. G. from Scottsdale, AZ (1/17/2013) "Worth every pennyjust have fun with this one!" (about: 2013) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Disney World Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Have run almost 70 marathons - this was the most fun by far. Did the Goofy to make the most of it and it wasn't as daunting as you'd expect. Yesthe crowds are huge and maybe it's not the most serious race you'll run - but you'll smile from start to finishleave your iPod at home - you won't need it. The expo IS cramped but packet pick-up is easy. A lot of MM merchandise to buy. Race L/S tech shirts are high quality (Goofy - you get 3 shirts). For logistics, it is HIGHLY recommended to stay on the Disney property - race morning buses are provided but traffic is thick. Plenty of pre-race portalets and easy bag drop but you must arrive early - there's a good 20+ minute walk to the start line. Races started on time with fireworks, etc. Each miler is well-marked with clocks and characters for picture taking. Consistent water stops (Powerade always first) and an army to serve you. Two banana stops with ripe bananas and two Gu stops. Very well equipped first-aid stops with Biofreeze, Vaseline, Tylenol, etc. and also a sponge stop around mile 18. Course well lit even though first hour is in the dark. Plenty of music piped in or performed and crowds (esp. in parks) cheering you on. Running down Main Street and through castle awesome experience. Ran through all the parks via service roads - not as bad or boring as you'd think - plenty of runners to distract you (many in Disney garb). Was warmer this year - in the 60s to low 80s - so we ran through fog, morning dew, etc. A good portion of the course had downhill stretches and only a few very minor ramps to traverse. Overall - flat start to finish. Finish line area a lot of activity. Easy bag retrieval. Boxes of food given out with tote bags to carry drinks, etc. Also handed out ice bags at Sunday's race. Medals are the highest-quality I've seen - worth the entry fee alone. Disney organization and hospitality top-notch. Treat the weekend as a fun destination; the miles and finish times don't matter - it's not that type of marathon. A zillion runners in the parks Mon and Tues wearing medals and getting kudos from everyone. Gotta do this one at least once!
T. K. from Cincinnati, Ohio (1/17/2013) "Spectacular Race, But ? Too Big" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Disney World Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my 31st marathon and it was certainly one of the best, if not the best, marathon experience I've had. Don't necessarily expect to RUN a good time, but definitely expect to HAVE a good time at Disney! The Good: 1) Disney Organization - 25,000 people for the Half followed by 25,000 more people in the Full the next day. Only Disney can pull off the organization of such a massive crowd with relatively few hassles. Sure there were some glitches - like standing wall to wall for many minutes in the pre-Start area before being allowed to walk to our Starting Corrals making many runners late for the start of the Half on Saturday. But guess what, on Sunday for the Full, problem largely resolved with an earlier release to the Starting Corrals. Staying at a Disney resort made transportation to and from the Start/Finish lines a breeze. Start and Finish areas were crowded but well-organized. 2) The Disney Show - Nobody can entertain like Disney and this was evident throughout the Race Weekend. While waiting in the Starting Corrals we were entertained by racing legends Bill Rodgers, Frank Shorter, Dick Beardsley, Jeff Galloway and Disney legends Donald, Mickey and Goofy! Fireworks went off for the start of every single corral (not just for the first corral). Inspirational music was played throughout the course including Neil Diamond's surprisingly timeless Sweet Caroline which young and old sang together. Disney characters were omnipresent, available for photo ops throughout the entire course. Unusual entertainment like the kites that were waved by cast members above our heads as we ran by giving us (at least me) the illusion that I was almost flying. The spectacular characters and of course Mickey, Donald and Goofy again at Mile 20 in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the marathon. 3) The Course - Wow! Running through 6 Disney attractions - Magic Kingdom, Disney World Speedway, Animal Kingdom, Champion Stadium (spring training home of the Atlanta Braves), Hollywood Studios, and Epcot. First, Magic Kingdom - it's still dark when runners get to this park so the lights of Main Street and Cinderella's castle are spectacular. Combine that with the massive number of spectators lining Main Street and you have an experience rivaling New York City, Boston or Chicago. Speedway - running around a race track has the potential of being boring but all kinds of car enthusiasts brought their vintage cars for us to look at - fascinating. Animal Kingdom - very earth- friendly animal trainers brought out animals onto the course so that they we could gawk at them and they at us. Champion Stadium - running around the race track with your name announced as you ran down the first base line and your image appeared on the centerfield jumbotron! Hollywood Studios - I never thought I would run to New York New York again after the NYC Marathon but got the opportunity once more as I ran in a mock version of NYC. Epcot - where else will you get to run in France, Morocco, Japan, Italy, Germany, China, Norway and Mexico in less than a mile?! AND it happens to be the LAST mile of the race! In the past, a lot has been said about all the service roads that have to be run to get to the various parks but there is plenty of entertainment there as well. And an occasional quiet break from all the bedlam in the parks is sometimes good for us and allows us to remind ourselves what running is all about. The Bad: Not much at all except unfortunately the etiquette of fellow runners. The race is big and maybe too big. The field never really thins out either. Sometimes the course just cannot accommodate all the runners. Running etiquette is of prime importance. Disney realizes this and distributes running manners in the official race handbook, but unfortunately many of our colleagues don't read them or read them and ignore them. There are some examples of excellent etiquette like the runner who was immediately ahead of me on a narrow stretch who signaled with an upward motion of her arm that she was about to stop allowing me to adjust. But this was the exception. Newbies (and there are a lot of newbies at Disney) and unfortunately even grizzled veterans (read Marathon Maniacs) would occasionally exhibit bad behavior by cutting runners off around corners, squeezing into spaces which were not meant to be squeezed into, stopping suddenly without warning, shouting and cursing (dropping the F-bomb even!). But besides these isolated individuals, the field is largely well behaved, excited, pumped up and friendly. Overall, the Disney marathon is simply spectacular and an experience that will be a life-long memory!
R. T. from Pensacola, Florida (1/17/2013) "Run Disney is Amazing" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Disney World Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 After completing my Second Goofy and my 10th RUN DISNEY Event. The race has doubled in size and has become a slow run event with characters. Unless you are an elite or CORRAL A Runner) Quite a few Bottlenecks during the marathon which the runners had to all walk together in a group. (Castle in Magic Kingdom, Main Street in Magic Kingdom and a few others) New changes were nice (Race Track and WWOS)I run 10-15 marathons a year and this one allows me to take my family on vacation to WDW. Its getting pricer year after year but somehow I keep going back for me. The 20th ANNIVERSARY medal was awesome and the GOOFY 10th Anniversary will be 2015
J. L. from Ohio (1/16/2013) "Magical ... but not as much as in years past" (about: 2013) 50+ previous marathons \| 6+ Disney World Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I have ran this race more than 10 times and have always loved it. This was my first time back in five years and I must say, that while I still find it magical, it has lost much of its appeal to me. This year's course was disappointing. There were a number of spots where the runners/walkers were so congested that you had to adjust pace and path to even keep moving and we started in C corral. My friends who started later had even more issues with this than we did. This year's course had us actually running less in the parks than in years past (ex: why take out the EPCOT loop early in the race). The other disappointment and frustration was the expo. Too many people for space and not enough 'stuff' by vendors. Many of them seemed to run out of stuff early, coming across as unprepared for the size of event. Just too many people for the current course and expo layout. The medal was great! The volunteers were great! The organization was good and staff were helpful. Disney knows how to move people better than anyone, so it is surprising that they have a course that doesn't flow smoothly with the current size of the race. Either decrease the number of particpants or change the course. Overall, I love Disney World and these issues can be fixed. Actually, it now feels more like a party in motion than a distance race.
L. S. from Fallston, MD (1/16/2013) "Way too crowded!" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 Disney World Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I also did Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge and both races are extremely crowded but the 1/2 marathon crowd was insane! From the time you pick up your packet to the finish line you stand shoulder to shoulder in line after line after line. Half marathoners were walking from the beginning and were more than 8 people abreast at times. Runner etiquette was just not there. It was impossible to pass on the left. I am not a fast marathoner but would like to have the choice to run. I did Goofy's Challenge in 2009 and the 1/2 was crowded but nothing like this year. Running through the parks and having pictures taken with the characters is great but the 1/2 marathon sours the experience. The marathon Sunday seemed tame compared to the 1/2. Still, there were too many walkers on the far left of the course when no one was walking to their right. Gel stations are advertised however beware two gel stations had run out during the marathon. I didn't even see a gel station for the half so bring your own! I left the expo without looking at the vendor's tables because it was over crowded. I had planned to buy a Goofy's Challenge shirt and a marathon t-shirt but by Friday at noon the entire Goofey's challenge section was picked clean and they were out of marathon cotton t-shirts! Very disappointing after waiting in the 'Mickey Mile' line to get into the expo.
C. F. from New England (1/16/2013) "Return To Original Marathon Course!" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Disney World Marathons COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 This was my 7th Disney Marathon and 25th overall. The 'new' course for the 20th Anniversary was underwhelming. The 4+ mile 'detour' into the Wide World of Sports could not have been 'imagined' by a marathon-running Disney Imagineer. There were too many silly twists and turns that were seemingly slapped together to get the required 26.2 miles under our belts. I also missed the time in Epoct right after the start, before heading to the Magic Kingdom. It is a hidden gem in the race and should be reinstated. Lastly, taking a lap around the Petty race track was 'goofy,' but not in a good WDW way. Please return the runners in 2014 to the original course! Course issues aside, this is still a great destination marathon. It is well organized (except the placement of the porta-johns on the feeder ramp to the corrals caused an epic traffic jam) and I have always enjoyed the early start.
C. O. from Louisiana (1/16/2013) "Needs Some Improvements" (about: 2013) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Disney World Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This is my second marathon. The course itself is fantastic - but there is a need for improvement. To start of the Expo is great. Well organized, we did go right when it was about to close, but still got in and out. Fast forward to race morning. We had to catch a bus a 3:30 AM!!! They wanted you in your corral no later than 4:00am. With the amount of people, I understand this, but the race itself didn't start until 5:30. The last corrals didn't leave until 6:30am!! So we were standing around for 2+ hours. What's worse, is there were no porter potties at the corrals. there were some at the beginning like at corral A, but us slow folks in G and H had NONE. but since no one knew when their corral was leaving, we were scared to go back to the potties. everyone had to pee in the woods...a little ridiculous considering how much money we paid. I figured for sure there would be porter potties on the course. There were literally TWO at every other mile and lines were very long. Truly obsurd!!!! Come on Disney..we paid over $180.00 and you can't manage to have restrooms? The course was pretty magical. Except for the ESPN center. AND that 5 mile stretch on some highway. We were on about mile 16. They made us run around a TRACK - yep 400 meters around a track. The speedway lap wasn't bad because that was entertaining, but the track was ridiculous. the 20th anniversary at mile 20 was really really cool. They had all the disney characters and playing my favorite Lion King theme!!! All in all, it was a good marathon...but I have to say the bathroom situation was stupid. I lost 20 min on my time just wating for a bathroom.
T. S. from Fort Benning, Columbus, GA (1/16/2013) "Solid Marathon (New Course Over Rated)" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Disney World Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Greetings. This is my 6th Disney and first Goofy. I've run 20 marathons (5 International) but have not seen any place that does it better than Disney. From start to finish, this is a world class event. The word is getting out and runners are coming but the event it getting overcrowded-the new course is overrated. Too many bottle necks and you still run by the sewage plan. This year the wind was blowing the other way - thank God. Please Disney, if you are listening, please change the course to fit what Disney can really provide. On a special note 'HOW ABOUT THOSE VOLUNTEERS - THEY ARE BETTER THAN WORLD CLASS!!! Yes, I will do the Goofy next year.
N. S. from US (1/15/2013) "Disney was my first, an experience of the lifetime" (about: 2013) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Disney World Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Just completed the 20th anniversary run. Overall it was fantastic and highly recommend it as the first race. I did a 1/2 in Oct. You are going to be hurting, might as well be at the happiest place on earth, no? The walk to start line and lack of port-a-potty in corrals could have been better managed. There has to be a better way to get started and finish. Why not start in a park and finish at the same place? A lot easier for runners, family members, and commuting/travel. The stretches of the route that are industrial are just not fun. Is this the best way through the parks? Expo was great. There was a lot of energy everywhere and every moment of it. Post race recovery/chute area was great. A lot of medical help and camaraderie. I will do it again...and it will be Goofy!
T. P. from Syracuse,NY (1/15/2013) "Just got too big" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Disney World Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This was my seventh WDW race, with fulls, half, and two Goofys in the mix. This year I just ran the full for the new medal, which was a great medal. There were way too many runners. The buses could not get spectators around, the expo was so crowded I did not stop at one vendor, as it took too long to get in, it was like the line to the Toy Story ride, you needed a fast pass because I stood in line for almost one hour just to get in! I wish they had kept the limit at 15000.

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