The Ins & Outs of Running Disney

We are back in the land of freezing cold temps after a wonderful (and HOT) couple of days in Orlando! I have a marathon recap cooking and will plan to post that next week. For now, I want to delve into why I enjoy Disney races so much. If you’re not a Disney fan, fear not. There’s something here for everyone, I promise.

A quick lay of the land to start:

There are four RunDisney race weekends in Walt Disney World at this time, and they each have a different theme. January is Marathon Weekend. February is Princess Weekend. April is Star Wars Weekend. November is Wine and Dine Weekend. Each race weekend consists of a 5k, 10k, and half marathon on successive days (usually Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). In January, the 5k starts on Thursday, and there is a marathon on the fourth day (Sunday) of the weekend. There are various challenges involving extra medals for completing multiple races in a row.

These races are super popular, and registration tends to fill up quite quickly, especially for the shorter distance races. If you have a RunDisney race on your radar, it’s best to do some advance planning so that you can sign up when registration opens, rather than deal with the stress of finding a bib at the last minute (though it can be done).

Here are three reasons why I love Disney races (though I could easily list ten!):

*Welcoming to all: You will find every type of runner at these races. There are numerous runners who race the January marathon for a BQ (Boston Qualifying time for the Boston Marathon). There are walkers. There are runners of every shape, size, and speed. I especially love that there are multiple distance options for the whole family, including a race series for kids. 

*Generous pace requirement: The pace requirement for these races is a 16 minute/mile. That time limit does not start until the very last person crosses the start line, so most of the time, if you aren’t starting exactly last out of 20,000 people, you will have an additional buffer of time to complete the race. For many runners, it makes sense to try a new, longer distance race here such as a half marathon or the full marathon, given the pace requirement. 

*Fantastic on course support: The volunteers are amazing, and the aid stops are plentiful. For example, in the marathon this year, there were 19 water/sports drink stops planned, but they threw in some extra ones due to the heat. There were at least two banana stops, two stops for sports beans, and a candy stop. 

If you have not run one of these races before, let me present three key points to remember before heading to the website to sign up for one in the future:

*EARLY start time: These races start around 5:30am. This means that runners generally have to be on a bus from their Disney resort around 3am, or if driving in, that runners must be into the race staging area by 3:30-4am. Basically, there are thousands of runners who need to get to the same place - through a security checkpoint, gear check - at the same time. It is well organized, but the early wake up can be a challenge.

*Proof of time: For the half marathons and for the full marathon, runners can submit a proof of time from another race to get a higher corral placement. In this way, you can start with runners of a similar pace so that you don’t get run over by faster runners, and so that you aren’t trying to get around slower runners. For the handful of Disney races I have run, I have generally started in the middle of the pack corrals, and have never had trouble running my own race - plenty of room out there. 

*Disney magic: The on-course entertainment consists of bands, djs, and also lots of Disney characters who are available for quick photo ops. Runners can queue up on the side of the course, snap a quick pic with the character, and then keep moving. I’m a Disney person, in case you haven’t guessed. But, you can be a non-Disney person and still enjoy the race weekends. Case in point: the husband. He flew in for a quick weekend destination race, ran the marathon, and flew home that night! He did not go to any of the theme parks. You can add as much or as little Disney magic to your trip as you want. There is plenty of flexibility here to make it a race weekend, a family vacation, and/or a trip with friends.

For more information on the Disney races, check out the official RunDisney website. If you have specific questions about the race weekends, I am more than happy to assist and share my experiences as well. 

Lastly, a big shoutout to two of my athletes who smashed some major goals last weekend: my mom, who achieved a new 10k PR, finishing 6th in her age group (top 17%)! And my husband, who became a marathoner!!! 

Mom at the 10k finish!