Marathon Weekend 2025

[Ariel484]

SAFD

I started running to help with losing weight for my wedding in 2009. I used C25K to train for a local 5K. My husband wanted to go to Disney for our honeymoon, and I hadn’t been there in almost 15 years. I joined a different message board to do some research and my favorite section of that board was the trip report section. One of my favorite trip reporters wrote a report about running the 2009 WDW Marathon and I was totally enthralled by it. The idea of running through the parks, stopping for character pictures and getting a sweet medal at the end seemed awesome…I didn’t know such a thing existed (the races were nowhere near as popular then and runDisney wasn’t called runDisney, it was the “Disney Endurance Series”).

Honeymoon was great and made me fall in love with Disney, and I started trying to train for longer races…a 10K, a 10-miler and then my first runDisney race, the 2011 Princess Half. If it weren’t for runDisney, I doubt I would have gone beyond a 10K. Really excited for 2025.

 

[BigEeyore]

SAFD: I'm a lifelong Disney fan - grew up going to DL and worked there 2 summers, transitioned to visiting WDW as an adult since we live in GA. Ran track in HS, but didn't really get into running until I got into doing triathlons in 2009.
We happened to be in WDW in February 2010 for Princess weekend, and I was seeing all these women with the medals and shirts and I was like "WHAT??? Disney does races? Through the PARKS??" So I signed up for Princess 1/2 2011 (this was actually my 1st half!) and I was hooked. I decided to go for my 1st marathon in 2013 lured in by the 20th anniversary. I was also inspired by reading @Ariel484 's trip reports!
I have now done 9 Disney marathons (3 as part of Dopey, 5 as "just" Goofy). These races are just the best in terms of organization, entertainment and support on course, accessability for so many different types of runners, and just overall vibe! Hoping to be back in 2025!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

SAFD: I grew up 15 minutes from the entrance to Disney property, so Disney has been part of my life for a long time. Running has too, as I ran cross country (not well) in high school, but they only converged much later.

After high school, I ran very occasionally for the most part. Every few years I'd get into training more seriously - most notably running my first HM in 2017 - but I never really stuck with it. I don't remember where I first heard of rD, but in another attempt to get back into running again, I signed up for the W&D half in 2020. Well, we know how that one worked out, and the cancellation sapped my motivation again.

As things started to open up post-covid, I got interested in races again and signed up for a few, though I didn't really train for them. (It turns out that you can run a HM on extremely minimal training! It's just not very fun.)

But I still wanted to run at Disney, and somehow I concluded that the solution to my motivation problem was to sign up for a marathon I got into the 2023 WDW marathon on registration day and immediately went, "Wait...what have I done??" Obviously the next step was to frantically google any information about the race I could find, and that's how I ended up here and learned all about training and running at Disney and how to do registration like a pro, and now I run all the time!

While there were parts of that first marathon that I didn't love (highways...into the sun...), there were also some really epic moments like running down Main Street and heading into DHS to the tune of "Go the Distance" And I'll never forget running through World Showcase screaming along to "Wannabe" - thanks, 90s theme Still not doing Dopey though!

 

[azrivest]

SAFD: I'm a Disney fan and a runner, who realized sometime in 2019 that I could combine the two. Do a race and run through the castle? I had struggled through a few 10k's at that point, but resolved to move up to at least the half distance if that would let me do these amazing experiences. And the lockdown let me start running 5 times a week, where at that point I had struggled to do 3-4.

Because of lockdown and international travel restrictions, my first rD race ended up being Princess 2022. Since then, I've run 7 Half's and 2 Full's. I also ran my first trail race in September. runDisney didn't get me into running, but it was my ultimate motivation to move to the half and full distances.

I loved my Dopey experience last week and was overjoyed with my experience. I'm not sure I'll sign up in 2025 though. Both the training and the actual weekend are a huge time commitment. I'll see in April, but if I do come back, I see myself signing up for Goofy or the marathon. Because out of the 4 races, the marathon really was the crown jewel of the weekend. It is in a league of its own. Who would have ever thought that this chubby suburban mom of 2 would ever have the time of her life running 26 miles??

 

[People_Mover]

SAFD

I got into running in my late teens / early twenties but never thought about any races before. When my brothers began running as well we started to participate in 5km’s, 10km’s, etc and always joked that we should all do a marathon together.

We’d been very lucky growing up that our parents were able to take us to WDW serval times. Disney was part of our family’s DNA, we loved the films, we loved the parks, having had many a happy trip there.

Eventually me and my brothers all agreed we’d do a marathon together and what would you know, WDW just happens to do one! This seemed like a no brainer, doing something we all loved at one of our favourite places in the world (also, bonus holiday trip as well!)

January 2019 we all completed the WDW Marathon, dressed as Jungle Cruise Skippers!. We ran separately with different goals in mind and I will never forget hitting Main Street, seeing the castle, and hearing my parents cheer me along, who flew out with us as our cheer squad.

We all said we’d never do it again, and one year later we were all toeing the line to run the Dopey in 2020.

I’ve wanted to go back every race weekend since, and so excited that 2025 might finally be the year.

 

[Barca33Runner]

SAFD: A slightly longer explanation, maybe? I haven’t looked at it in a while, is in my long hibernating training journal (thinking I might try to resuscitate it this year).

My sister was looking to lose weight after having my niece and nephew. A friend of hers did a rD race a couple years prior and she thought that idea seemed like good motivation. She brought up the idea of getting someone to join her on a Marathon Weekend Half. To the shock of my family, I volunteered.

I have always been overweight, have never been a runner or athlete, and, while we did two trips in the early- mid-90’s, was never a huge Disney fan. My first half was 2012 and we have been back for Marathon Weekend every year since. While my love of running and my fitness have ebbed and flowed (to my continued mortification), my newfound appreciation for Disney and love of the rD community (if not always rD itself) have kept me coming back.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Oops wrong board.. lol

 

[marty3d]

SAFD: I’ve been a Disney fan my whole life - I lived in SoCal as a young kid and some of my earliest memories are of going to DL. I was never a distance runner - I did 100 and 200m sprints in HS.

In the mid-2000s I started traveling extensively for work. The combination of business meals, drinks and difficulty finding time to exercise started to play havoc on my waistline and overall health. I wanted to start running because it’s easy to pack a pair of shoes and find time to go for a run or hit the treadmill even when I’m away but I needed the motivation to run. Somehow I heard about runDisney and signed up for the 2009 half - having never run more than 5k before. Immediately after finishing it I set a goal to run the full marathon within 5 years Which I did in 2014. I had plans to run Dopey in 2021 but COVID pushed that to 2022. Up until then I’d been doing a rD race every 3 or 4 years but if there’s one thing the pandemic taught me (other than the importance of washing your hands!) is not to take things for granted. That led to my second Dopey and W&D in 2023 and now the C2C in 2024. Also in this time, by son has been bitten by the rD bug and has has run 5 races himself and will hopefully run the half with me next year when I am planning to run my third Dopey.

 

[Scootin'By]

SAFD: Ditto

 

[steph0808]

SAFD (well, MAFD since I'm behind!):

I ran a year of track in high school and trained sometimes with the cross country team. I always wanted to run a 5k but only continued to run 2-3 miles on the treadmill throughout high school and college. Finally, in 2012, several years post-college, I dilligently followed Couch to 5k, repeating weeks if necessary, and bought a running book and completed a 10k and several 5ks.

That summer, I stumbled across an article about the best marathons and it mentioned WDW and the upcoming 20th anniversary. I hadn't been to Disney in a decade and decided to jump in!

And I haven't stopped running since! I've done six Marathon Weekends (four marathons, one half, and one Dopey) and eight total marathons since then.

 

[PrincessV]

SAFD: my rD origin story isn’t very exciting…

I became a WDW regular in the early 90s, after moving to FL.

By 2012, I’d been run-walking regularly for general fitness for a couple decades - only ever a couple miles at a time. I certainly never thought of myself as a “runner.” And I had no idea very average people like me did races. But in 2012, a friend was doing the WDW Half and I went to visit with her at DHS the next day - we happened to arrive as the WDW Marathon was going through and caught the last maybe 1/4 of runners.

THAT was the a-ha moment of realizing “normal” people ran these things, followed by hearing from my friend about her experience running the half and learning about the special touches that Disney brings to road racing.

When I got home that night, I did some searching online and saw that PHM weekend was the next month and included a 5K. 3ish miles seemed do able in 6 weeks… so I registered myself and my son (yes a month out - things didn’t sell out so early like they do now!), we found a Mayo Clinic 5K training plan, and run-walked it. The rest is history! I’ll have to post and circle back to see my signature to count how many rD races it’s been since that, but it’s been… a lot lol! ETA: 61, if I’ve counted right. 61 rD races since Feb. 2012!

 

[superchime]

SAFD: I've always been a Disney fan and started taking my kids to WDW when they were little, which led me to these boards. Run Disney is my way of squeezing in more trips and knowing I have a race coming up motivates me to train.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I’ll have to post and circle back to see my signature to count how many rD races it’s been since that, but it’s been… a lot lol! ETA: 61, if I’ve counted right. 61 rD races since Feb. 2012!

Wow! That is a lot of time and money spent running at WDW.
I approve.

 

[jmasgat]

Wow! That is a lot of time and money spent running at WDW.
I approve.

One thing I have determined not to do.....add up the money I have spent at Disney over the years (why torture myself), or on our now "in his 18th year" dog.

 

[mtnmjd]

SAFD (MAFD?): I was always a casual Disney fan growing up but it increased when my kids were born when we started watching more of the movies together and then my fandom increased to obsession levels after our first visit with the kids.
As for running. I have Adult On-set Running Disease. I never ran when I was younger and only picked up the sport after being forced to run a 5k to be our departments representative at the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge. As it turned out, I LOVED running races and that race atmosphere and like most of my hobbies, nothing is done casually. I went all in after that. Naturally, 5ks turned to 10ks and obstacle races. I did my first half in NYC at age 44 and couldn't imagine running a step beyond that 13.1 miles but I sill had a thirst for 1/2 marathons and discovered RunDisney while searching "Best 1/2 Marathons" on the internet. Seemed like a match made in heaven for me.
My DW and I signed up for 2013 W&D 1/2 and had the most amazing time at the race and post race party and I knew at that moment that if I were to ever run a full, it would be at WDW.
Well, two years later I took my first solo trip to Disney for my very first 26.2. I absolutely loved the experience. It was scary and challenging, yet comfortably doable. Very little pressure, all fun.
But wait why where other runners "clinking" as they walked after the race?
They had multiple medals? Huh? Goofy? Dopey? Wait.....you can run more than one race? Would I be able to do that?
Well, after much pressure at Dark Side Challenge I convinced a friend of mine to get Dopey with me and we did our first Dopey in 2019. That 1st 48.6 went on to fuel a couple 50 milers as well as my obsession with RunDisney.
At the moment I try and get down to WDW for at least one event each season. Next up for me is Spring Surprise and then another Dopey in 2025. Coast to Coast after that and then one year I hope to run all the races of a RunDisney race season.

 

[PrincessV]

Wow! That is a lot of time and money spent running at WDW.
I approve.

Yeah, I don’t ever, EVER add up the cost lol! In all honesty, the only reason I can run Disney as much as I have is that I have no travel costs being 90 miles away, and can stay offsite at budget rates as needed to make it work. That said, I’ve cut back in recent years because registration costs have gone up so much.

 

[camaker]

One thing I have determined not to do.....add up the money I have spent at Disney over the years (why torture myself), or on our now "in his 18th year" dog.

Yeah, I don’t ever, EVER add up the cost lol! In all honesty, the only reason I can run Disney as much as I have is that I have no travel costs being 90 miles away, and can stay offsite at budget rates as needed to make it work. That said, I’ve cut back in recent years because registration costs have gone up so much.

Much like calories at Disney, costs at Disney are better left abstracted and unexamined.

 

[Fischstick]

SAFD:

I, like many others, came to running in middle age—though I’ve always been an active adult. My first rD event was the 2011 Princess half marathon and I used it as motivation to complete the distance before I turned 40. That race started a whole bunch of others, including introducing my daughters to distance running.

Over the next ten years we did a bunch of local races and peppered in a few other rD events including some Disneyland races. The rD races were always a good time. It only seemed fitting that I set a big goal for turning 50......so my eldest daughter and I did Dopey in 2022. As we crossed the finish line I looked at her said, “Man, that was fun! Should we do it again?!” So we did it again in 2023.

For 2024, we knew if I did MW at all it would be solo due to grad school, so I reluctantly decided on doing Goofy... and registered for that. I immediately had FOMO about not choosing Dopey again and got lucky with an upgrade when they dropped a couple bibs a few months later.

All that to say, I am DEFINITELY trying for Dopey again at MW 2025. There is something pretty awesome about starting the year off with such a huge accomplishment. I can do NOTHING for the rest of the year and still consider it a success!

These boards have been a treasure trove of info....and meeting people in person was so fun this year. Can’t wait to be less of a lurker this go around and hopefully contribute something worthwhile too.

 

[marty3d]

and then one year I hope to run all the races of a RunDisney race season.

please don’t give me - or worse - runDisney ideas. I can see them creating a Coast to Coast to Coast challenge medal.

Is it bad that I’m already wondering if I could do that in the 2025-2026 season……?

 

[garneska]

SAFD: I am going with runner first, but a disney fan my whole life. I ran in school and then did so after to keep my weight in check. I did my first marathon in 1999, while my first trip to disney world was in 1996 as an adult. DH was my fiancée for my first marathon. Both of us were big disney fans, so he was all in for a WDW honeymoon in feb 2001. We stayed at the Yacht Club in Concierge. I was still running, but casually not training, and the concierge asked me if i ran the disney world marathon. I went, "Wait, what?" I had no idea there was a marathon at disney and the nice concierge told me. I looked it up late in 2001 and the 2002 was all sold out. Plus i was not sure i was ready to commit to marathon training. In 2002, my work was not great and i just needed something exciting for me. Bert was on board and I signed up for the Jan 2003 Marathon. It was the 10 year anniversary and was still run with both the half and full on Sunday. At that time we lived in PA so getting to disney was difficult as was training in the winter. We moved to Atlanta in the summer of 2005. I started MW weekend in 2007 and did them all, except covid 2021, and 2024 :-(. I will let you know tomorrow what i will be doing in 2025, after i see the doctor.