Marathon Weekend 2024

[jennysdcc]

don’t shoot the messenger if this isn’t accurate

View attachment 823124

You don’t happen to have any info on the full do you? Heheh

 

[PrincessV]

Sorry to have missed the meetup - again. Had a hard time finding the friends I was running with and had to head to corrals upon arrival.

+1 for LOVING the entertainment direction lately! That 10K soundtrack was absolute fire. Amazing.

But I’d like a word with whoever’s in charge of deciding to make drivers walk allll the way back to the EP entrance plaza (just about) before circling back to their cars. Previous years were bad enough, but this extra walk was especially egregious. For what purpose?!

My friend spoke with some official rD Info people after the race about the half… thy advised strongly that we all keep an eye on the race guide this evening. A parking lot attendant told us we who should all “prepare for torrential rain, high winds, and lightning!” which was cute: like there’s a chance they’d go forward with a race in those conditions lol! The latest models have rain early, but the worst of it hitting around 9-10am, which feels… problematic. We shall see.

For posterity, this Floridian (with Raynaud’s, to be fair) was COLD. Wore thermal tights, long sleeve under my costume‘s cotton vest, 2 pair of knit gloves with hand warmers sandwiched between, winter hat, and toe warmers the whole race. Had a pair of throwaway PJ bottoms on until I started, and a throwaway fleece jacket (not zipped) until about mile 2. Finally had feeling in my legs and extremities again around mile 4.

 

[The Expert]

Sorry to have missed the meetup - again. Had a hard time finding the friends I was running with and had to head to corrals upon arrival.

+1 for LOVING the entertainment direction lately! That 10K soundtrack was absolute fire. Amazing.

But I’d like a word with whoever’s in charge of deciding to make drivers walk allll the way back to the EP entrance plaza (just about) before circling back to their cars. Previous years were bad enough, but this extra walk was especially egregious. For what purpose?!

My friend spoke with some official rD Info people after the race about the half… thy advised strongly that we all keep an eye on the race guide this evening. A parking lot attendant told us we who should all “prepare for torrential rain, high winds, and lightning!” which was cute: like there’s a chance they’d go forward with a race in those conditions lol! The latest models have rain early, but the worst of it hitting around 9-10am, which feels… problematic. We shall see.

For posterity, this Floridian (with Raynaud’s, to be fair) was COLD. Wore thermal tights, long sleeve under my costume‘s cotton vest, 2 pair of knit gloves with hand warmers sandwiched between, winter hat, and toe warmers the whole race. Had a pair of throwaway PJ bottoms on until I started, and a throwaway fleece jacket (not zipped) until about mile 2. Finally had feeling in my legs and extremities again around mile 4.

I agree about the parking! My guess is fewer exit points means fewer staff needed.

On the weather, I think it all depends on how much tear down and reconfiguring they can do later, vs right after the race. If that can be pushed, they might try and run it.

It was cold today! I wore gloves, arm warmers, a thin thermal layer under my top and full leggings. I dumped the mylar at the start and the gloves about mile 2, but kept the rest the whole race. I have a stash of hand warmers I can bring tomorrow if anyone needs. I'm using a gear bag for dry socks and shoes, so may as well toss those in.

 

[camaker]

My friend spoke with some official rD Info people after the race about the half… thy advised strongly that we all keep an eye on the race guide this evening. A parking lot attendant told us we who should all “prepare for torrential rain, high winds, and lightning!” which was cute: like there’s a chance they’d go forward with a race in those conditions lol! The latest models have rain early, but the worst of it hitting around 9-10am, which feels… problematic. We shall see.

For posterity, this Floridian (with Raynaud’s, to be fair) was COLD. Wore thermal tights, long sleeve under my costume‘s cotton vest, 2 pair of knit gloves with hand warmers sandwiched between, winter hat, and toe warmers the whole race. Had a pair of throwaway PJ bottoms on until I started, and a throwaway fleece jacket (not zipped) until about mile 2. Finally had feeling in my legs and extremities again around mile 4.

I was definitely very cold this morning and chilly throughout the race. The long corral waits are making me stiffen up and take extra time to get rolling.

On the weather front, my current totally uneducated guess is that they may accelerate the start of the race tomorrow with less time between the waves. If they can get everyone on course tomorrow by 5:30 and be a little more aggressive with the sweeping, the course should be about clear of runners by 9:00, before the storms are supposed to arrive. One unfortunate byproduct of the half course design, though, is that there isn’t a convenient way to cut the course short if the weather arrives early, so I’m sure they’ll keep that in mind.

Ideally, I think if they could move the start of the race up by an hour, it would help immensely, but I’m afraid there are just too many moving parts for that to happen.

 

[nancipants]

I was cold before hand but dumped all my layers before mile 1 and still sweat like a pig with only short sleeves and shorts. And then once in my car I blasted the heat and berated myself for not bringing a post race jacket.

 

[DisneyParrothead]

don’t shoot the messenger if this isn’t accurate

View attachment 823124

That looks like an amazing list! I'm assuming Goody formal is Goofy formal? Autocorrect?

 

[DopeyBadger]

On the weather front, my current totally uneducated guess is that they may accelerate the start of the race tomorrow with less time between the waves. If they can get everyone in course tomorrow by 5:30 and be a little more aggressive with the sweeping, the course should be about clear of runners by 9:00, before the storms are supposed to arrive. One unfortunate byproduct of the half course design, though, is that there isn’t a convenient way to cut the course short if the weather arrives early, so I’m sure they’ll keep that in mind.

I'm with @camaker. Speeding up the corrals release rate seems like a good bet at this moment.

 

[marty3d]

For anyone who’s making backup plans to run the full if the half were cancelled (and it was offered as an option), I’ll answer my own question from a couple of days ago. I was able to get late check out at Pop (noon Sunday) when I checked in last night. YMMV but I suspect they may have a lot of people leaving Sunday for them to confirm late check out on the spot.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Not sure if we will be at the meetup in the morning. Back when I made ADRs I tried to get Epcot fireworks package for a non-race night and was only able to get tonight’s booked. Which means we might get 4 hours of sleep. The good thing is that we napped and hydrated today, and mostly took it easy around MK for a couple of hours this morning and Epcot tonight. Be on the lookout on the course (and maybe for a hot minute at the meetup) for Rapunzel and Flynn who are just trying to survive the race

I may have seen you in corral D this morning. I know I saw Rapunzel and Flynn.

Hope the 10k is going well for everyone!

QQ - is there times displayed for the character meet and greets at Expo?

I know you asked about the expo. However, in case it helps, the cast members at race character stops have an estimated wait. But in the case of Sleeping Beauty this morning, the 30-40 minute wait was closer to 10-15.

i was mostly joking...its all good.

on the plus side we are 50% done right? or is it too soon for Dopey jokes? hehehe

We're 50% done with the waking up part. Which is now harder.

You don’t happen to have any info on the full do you? Heheh

This is a complete guess on my part, but after yesterday and this morning, I expect characters tied to the decades they're covering tomorrow.

My guess is 70s through 80s, maybe 90s.

 

[Grabnar]

I'm with @camaker. Speeding up the corrals release rate seems like a good bet at this moment.

Timing would line up well especially if you shove everyone onto buses or the monorail asap after the race.

Here’s what the high res rapid refresh model has going on tomorrow at ~~9a ~~ [edit: 3a, mixed up the zulu and ET zones]

Should know more by late this afternoon, this model is very accurate predicting <10hrs or so and it refreshes with new data every hour.

 

[DisneyParrothead]

I'm with @camaker. Speeding up the corrals release rate seems like a good bet at this moment.

Get rid of the mini-waves and just let the corrals go? Or maybe let a third go each time? Yes it'll be congested for a bit, but get everyone going.

 

[RunWI1265]

On the weather front, my current totally uneducated guess is that they may accelerate the start of the race tomorrow with less time between the waves. If they can get everyone on course tomorrow by 5:30 and be a little more aggressive with the sweeping, the course should be about clear of runners by 9:00, before the storms are supposed to arrive. One unfortunate byproduct of the half course design, though, is that there isn’t a convenient way to cut the course short if the weather arrives early, so I’m sure they’ll keep that in mind.

I agree. What is the cutoff? 3:30? If the forecast holds as is I think they can squeeze everyone in by 9. Hard cutoffs. Those finishing towards the end may get a bit wet.

 

[1GoldenSun]

What happens with Dopey runners (and Goofy too I guess) if they cancel tomorrow? Do we not get the Challenge medal, assuming we complete the marathon?

I really want to complete the Dopey Challenge but I'm worried about the possibility of a crowded course and more aggressive sweeping. I am not good AT ALL at weaving around other runners so I tend to get stuck, which means I go very slow in any congested areas. I would NOT be happy about the course being even more congested. This would make my finish even slower and make me more likely to end up hanging out with the balloon ladies, which is already a distinct possibility.

 

[fatmanatee]

They've pushed corrals out faster when they've had heat advisories, so this wouldn't be new for them.

 

[camaker]

Get rid of the mini-waves and just let the corrals go? Or maybe let a third go each time? Yes it'll be congested for a bit, but get everyone going.

I don’t think they’ll get rid of the mini-waves, they’ll likely just reduce the intervals at which they’re released. Let them go every 60 seconds or so, instead of 2-3 minutes between them.

What happens with Dopey runners (and Goofy too I guess) if they cancel tomorrow? Do we not get the Challenge medal, assuming we complete the marathon?

I really want to complete the Dopey Challenge but I'm worried about the possibility of a crowded course and more aggressive sweeping. I am not good AT ALL at weaving around other runners so I tend to get stuck, which means I go very slow in any congested areas. I would NOT be happy about the course being even more congested. This would make my finish even slower and make me more likely to end up hanging out with the balloon ladies, which is already a distinct possibility.

When they cancelled the half in 2017, all challenge runners got their medals, including the medal for the cancelled half itself.

I don’t have an answer for your concern about crowding, other than that we’re all going to have to adapt to the changing conditions, so look at it as an opportunity to work on your ability to maneuver through crowds. We all had to develop our techniques for dealing with crowds at some time!

 

[cburnett11]

For those that have run Disney races with rain (not storms), will they still have character stops or do those go away?

 

[PrincessV]

What happens with Dopey runners (and Goofy too I guess) if they cancel tomorrow? Do we not get the Challenge medal, assuming we complete the marathon?

In 2017 hen the half was canceled I did Dopey: they gave us all 4 medals - half, full, Goofy & Dopey - at the end of the marathon.

For those that have Disney races with rain (not storms), will they still have character stops or do those go away?

Most go away - with just a light rain, some are able to either relocate a smidge under shelter or are willing and able to get wet, but it’s very few.

 

[Naomeri]

For those that have Disney races with rain (not storms), will they still have character stops or do those go away?

I know they had stops at W&D 2022, even though it was raining. You can see the raindrops in my picture with Hook and Smee

 

[1GoldenSun]

I don’t think they’ll get rid of the mini-waves, they’ll likely just reduce the intervals at which they’re released. Let them go every 60 seconds or so, instead of 2-3 minutes between them.



When they cancelled the half in 2017, all challenge runners got their medals, including the medal for the cancelled half itself.

I don’t have an answer for your concern about crowding, other than that we’re all going to have to adapt to the changing conditions, so look at it as an opportunity to work on your ability to maneuver through crowds. We all had to develop our techniques for dealing with crowds at some time!

Good point. And I guess that when it comes down to it I'd rather get swept this year and try again next year than to be "given" the Dopey. If that happened I'd still have to come back next year to try to actually earn it.

I do need to learn some weaving and passing techniques. My problem is that I'm too worried about inconveniencing other runners and am too afraid to dash out there to get around people slower than me, so I just stay behind them until a nice clearing opens up. And I'm already pretty slow myself so I tend to stay to the right where I'm out of the way of the fast runners, and that's also where the other slow people usually are. Often I'm pretty happy to be over there going slow, but I'll never finish on time if I don't get out there in the mainstream more!

 

[john7994]

congrats all runners!