Disneyland Half Marathon 2024

[Novatrix]

Is this how RunDisney works? I run the 5k, barely survive the 10k (which was my first 10k ever) and then have massive FOMO for the half marathon which I absolutely would not have been able to finish (this year)?!

Was able to watch the top 2 finish from my hotel room. Interesting that they had them running up clementine and then taking a left on to Disney way (like up the road that we went through security) instead of taking Disney way the whole time like I saw later runners doing when we left the hotel around 7.

Yup. Pretty much. Start stretching your wallet now.

 

[The Expert]

OK the car club was awesome!

 

[The Expert]

Mile 11 has overtaken the DPM lead!

 

[fatmanatee]

Is this how RunDisney works? I run the 5k, barely survive the 10k (which was my first 10k ever) and then have massive FOMO for the half marathon which I absolutely would not have been able to finish (this year)?!

Was able to watch the top 2 finish from my hotel room. Interesting that they had them running up clementine and then taking a left on to Disney way (like up the road that we went through security) instead of taking Disney way the whole time like I saw later runners doing when we left the hotel around 7.

 

[Kender]

Come on. You could literally put anything against the Blizzard Beach parking lot and it would win. Muddy field full of rusty barbed wire? Still better than BB. Water stop replaced by IRS tax documents that require you to audit the last 10 years of finances? Still better than BB.

I'll take BB parking over WWoS any day

With the 3 hour pace group coming into Honda.

You definitely passed me at some point . Decided to take it easy the last few miles after keeping pace with 2:45 for awhile. I need the potty but too stubborn to stop . Also porta potties are gross

Just passed the 12 marker

 

[nancipants]

Is this how RunDisney works? I run the 5k, barely survive the 10k (which was my first 10k ever) and then have massive FOMO for the half marathon which I absolutely would not have been able to finish (this year)?!

Was able to watch the top 2 finish from my hotel room. Interesting that they had them running up clementine and then taking a left on to Disney way (like up the road that we went through security) instead of taking Disney way the whole time like I saw later runners doing when we left the hotel around 7.

That was me, tracking runners during the Princess half last year and the marathon this year.

 

[SarahDisney]

So I guess nobody thought about the logistics of having park guests and post-race runners going back to their hotels all going through security at the same time...

 

[jrsharp21]

Did they mess up corral placing for people? My friend who is there running the half said he was in corral D. He was in A for the marathon last weekend. He sent me a text that he has no idea why he was in D.

 

[jrsharp21]

So I guess nobody thought about the logistics of having park guests and post-race runners going back to their hotels all going through security at the same time...

My friend also mentioned this. He is staying at the GC and said it was a mess to get back through security.

 

[Disneyhanna]

Got to Dumbo 27 minutes after B started and the line was closed—it wasn’t even long!

We were in B and ran maybe a 10:30 pace and it was already cut off. Not that I would have waited that long but still. Never saw any photopass for stationary castle shots but they did have some as we ran through it today, at least. Felt like a few more photopass on course than yesterday but still minimal maybe like 2 per park instead of 1. No photopass by Pixar Pier though, which they had cut off very early yesterday. Seems like they’re trying but afraid of lines which doesn’t make sense with how much roped off park space there is?!

Bummed out by all the characters, those dark selfies never turn out for me and the couple out were so generic, not even cool costumes! I would have waited if Pirate Goofy was meeting instead of far away. The only short line was in Toon Town (last picture) so that’s all we did. I get that a lot of people are probably happy since it’s their first runDisney race and any characters are exciting but let’s be real, I imagine a majority of runners are return runDisney runners with how difficult it is to register.

I will never do a DL half again in this format. Just do the 10k and save money and boring miles, they didn’t really do anything different other than adding that castle exit photopass they should have had in the 10k anyways. Felt like a normal race after mile 5. Except even less support than I get at local races. I’m thankful for the people out but there weren’t many except at the end. I just ran the rest of the course and so it was uncrowded but there were so many one lane sections I can only imagine how congested it got later. I thought water stations did better about picking up cups from the ground than WDW but again I imagine that went south as the course got crowded.

Trying not to be negative but this was a really poorly organized experience for the cost and it felt like they cut so many corners and that feels so unprofessional. If you’re gonna charge people $400 take a dang picture of them in front of the castle? I know growing pains are real but I just expected them to be more ready. It sounds like minor things improved overall every day (for the most part) so at least they’re learning, but yeah.

 

[Grabnar]

We were in B and ran maybe a 10:30 pace and it was already cut off. Not that I would have waited that long but still. Never saw any photopass for stationary castle shots but they did have some as we ran through it today, at least. Felt like a few more photopass on course than yesterday but still minimal maybe like 2 per park instead of 1. No photopass by Pixar Pier though, which they had cut off very early yesterday. Seems like they’re trying but afraid of lines which doesn’t make sense with how much roped off park space there is?!

Bummed out by all the characters, those dark selfies never turn out for me and the couple out were so generic, not even cool costumes! I would have waited if Pirate Goofy was meeting instead of far away. The only short line was in Toon Town (last picture) so that’s all we did. I get that a lot of people are probably happy since it’s their first runDisney race and any characters are exciting but let’s be real, I imagine a majority of runners are return runDisney runners with how difficult it is to register.

I will never do a DL half again in this format. Just do the 10k and save money and boring miles, they didn’t really do anything different other than adding that castle exit photopass they should have had in the 10k anyways. Felt like a normal race after mile 5. Except even less support than I get at local races. I’m thankful for the people out but there weren’t many except at the end. I just ran the rest of the course and so it was uncrowded but there were so many one lane sections I can only imagine how congested it got later. I thought water stations did better about picking up cups from the ground than WDW but again I imagine that went south as the course got crowded.

Trying not to be negative but this was a really poorly organized experience for the cost and it felt like they cut so many corners and that feels so unprofessional. If you’re gonna charge people $400 take a dang picture of them in front of the castle? I know growing pains are real but I just expected them to be more ready. It sounds like minor things improved overall every day (for the most part) so at least they’re learning, but yeah.

You summed up my feelings exactly. I’m also judging this from the later corrals which were very crowded and really needed waves to prevent some of the issues like the mile 3 crowd crush. Just generally not a great experience for the money compared to MW which is a shame because the theme park time I had after the races was indescribably better.

 

[AZMermaid]

Watch the reflectors in the road. Have seen several runners catch them and almost wipe out

I wiped pretty hard right before the medical tent around 9. Finished though. And kind people are amazing! So many stopped for me

 

[Kender]

So I guess nobody thought about the logistics of having park guests and post-race runners going back to their hotels all going through security at the same time...

Going back to my hotel my first Tink took an extremely long time to get through security after the half . Garage was no better. From what I was told it took forever to exit.

Did they mess up corral placing for people? My friend who is there running the half said he was in corral D. He was in A for the marathon last weekend. He sent me a text that he has no idea why he was in D.

I've been hearing a lot of oddball placements. Some make sense. But a lot don't. It's like they went down the list of names and threw darts to decide who got which corral.

 

[marty3d]

I wiped pretty hard right before the medical tent around 9. Finished though. And kind people are amazing! So many stopped for me

I hope you were ok! Good meeting you this morning!

 

[AmericanItGirl]

I was in corral F for the 10k, and was shocked that people were still getting in line for photos. I did stop for a photo at the trolley, but it was only a handful of people. Didn’t Disney use a third party for race photos back in the day? If they did, then that would account for the difference in photo opportunities between this year and previous years. I got one okay photopass photo coming out of Carsland, one not so great one on Main Street, a blocked finish photo, and other people’s photos (where they only had part of the bib number showing, so they added it to everyone’s accounts matching those numbers). Running through the castle the other direction makes for much better castle photos IMO.

I was also bummed at the lack of fireworks. One would think they could have at least done confetti cannons or shown fireworks on the screen.

I’m glad that runDisney races are back, but there is room for improvement (least of all security…they should have had clearly marked no bag lines). I’m willing to give Disney a little bit of grace because it’s their first weekend in a long time.

 

[Grabnar]

Side note I hope whoever ate pavement at the bump coming out of Disneyland was ok, that was a lot of blood on the ground. Mile 6ish

 

[Herding_Cats]

Is this how RunDisney works? I run the 5k, barely survive the 10k (which was my first 10k ever) and then have massive FOMO for the half marathon which I absolutely would not have been able to finish (this year)?!

Was able to watch the top 2 finish from my hotel room. Interesting that they had them running up clementine and then taking a left on to Disney way (like up the road that we went through security) instead of taking Disney way the whole time like I saw later runners doing when we left the hotel around 7.

Yes.

Did they mess up corral placing for people? My friend who is there running the half said he was in corral D. He was in A for the marathon last weekend. He sent me a text that he has no idea why he was in D.

If he was in A for MW, he should have had a POT. Probably needed to make a stop at runner relations when he was at the expo. But yeah...I've seen a lot of people confused by their corral placement.

 

[AZMermaid]

Got to Dumbo 27 minutes after B started and the line was closed—it wasn’t even long!

I was In D and didn’t even see this!

 

[AZMermaid]

So I guess nobody thought about the logistics of having park guests and post-race runners going back to their hotels all going through security at the same time...

I did! But I also thought that Disneyland did not lol!

 

[AZMermaid]

I would have waited if Pirate Goofy was meeting instead of far away. The only short line was in Toon Town (last picture) so that’s all we did. I get that a lot of people are probably happy since it’s their first runDisney race and any characters are exciting but let’s be real, I imagine a majority of runners are return runDisney runners with how difficult it is to register.

Agreed! I was So bummed Pirate goofy was a selfie. I wasn't Stopping because the lines were long and I was like Ive seem all these people in the park. I dod Stop for Pete because my kids were Mickey Mouse Clubhouse kids and I suspected it was the last character stop.