Official 2018 Star Wars Dark Side Weekend

Ugh thanks. I get a jacket from every race I go to. I would’ve gotten the 1/4 zip long sleeve, but I don’t like women’s cut shirts and they didn’t make any for men. I felt that Disney was really slacking on the SWDS related merch this year

I was surprised too ... they always have race weekend visors, and I was surprised that they didn’t even offer those, or race-specific (not weekend specific) Sweaty Bands.
 
I was surprised too ... they always have race weekend visors, and I was surprised that they didn’t even offer those, or race-specific (not weekend specific) Sweaty Bands.

It did seem like they are trying to get to more generic merchandise that can end up being sold at the running store at Disney Springs.

While I didn't go to the finish line store for the half marathon today - I did go to the merchandise store at Marathon Weekend and Princess when I saw my husband off at those races and there were a lot of sweaty bands and shirts left and some other things.

(I was happy to sleep this morning though rather than go hang out at the start line)
 


Hey Dark Side survivors AK Lodge Lounge At 7:45? I may be there earlier. Have to finish my small Earth Day bite at Nomad and hit up a Dinosaur fastpass for nostalgia. But 7:45 feels right. I’ll be there for probs an hour if no one shows up.
 
Hey Dark Side survivors AK Lodge Lounge At 7:45? I may be there earlier. Have to finish my small Earth Day bite at Nomad and hit up a Dinosaur fastpass for nostalgia. But 7:45 feels right. I’ll be there for probs an hour if no one shows up.

I’ll do my best to get over there!
 
Hey Dark Side survivors AK Lodge Lounge At 7:45? I may be there earlier. Have to finish my small Earth Day bite at Nomad and hit up a Dinosaur fastpass for nostalgia. But 7:45 feels right. I’ll be there for probs an hour if no one shows up.

Have fun! We’re already back at home, unpacked, and getting ready for the real world tomorrow :(
 


I was surprised too ... they always have race weekend visors, and I was surprised that they didn’t even offer those, or race-specific (not weekend specific) Sweaty Bands.
Yea I was upset about that one oh well saved me money
 
Hey I have a first order medal that’s flicking off paint left and right. Who do I email about that? Anyone know?
 
Sorry I missed the meetup, but family demands and all that. My mom, stepdad, aunt, mother in law and nephew all traveled over from the west coast of Florida to visit for the weekend! My stepdad successfully completed his first 5K and 10K, and despite injury and getting swept at the 10K, my aunt did all three races and finished her first Half!
 
This was my first Star Wars race weekend. I was pumped to complete the Kessel Run Challenge and First Order Challenge this weekend, but was I the only one a little disappointed in the on-course character opportunities? There were quite a few characters on the course to get pics with; however they weren't official Disney characters and no photopass photographers to capture the moment. Unless you had an easily accessible camera or cell, you were out of luck. Other than that, I had a great time this weekend and thought the event was great altogether. So glad the rain didn't affect the races like it initially appeared it would do.
 
Looking at the half marathon shirt: with the dots and stars behind the helmet along with the slightly downward head tilt does it look like Captain Phasma was out too late at the Creature Cantina the night before?
 
I guess being on a bus that gets lost is becoming a rite of passage...was on the 1st bus Sunday morning to leave POT South depot. I didn't pay attention to the route until I saw us going down a road that was pretty narrow - too narrow for regular bus traffic - with a 25 MPH sign. I switched on my phone GPS and we had traveled east instead of northwest. By that time, though, we were headed in the right direction. A few minutes later he made a turn when he should've gone straight and we were at the entrance of POFQ. He made a (legal) u-turn and we made it to the race.

I guess I can tick that one off of the checklist!
 
First WDW race and first half marathon in the books! Woohoo! Many lessons learned!

I did the last few DL 10k races (because I live in the shadow of DL) and figured that if I wanted to travel to WDW I might as well make it for my first half. I have a couple of comments. The race organization was nice, but wow those corrals were huge! Also, the course stayed way more crowded through the whole thing than the 10k's I've done, which was pretty awful every time the course significantly narrowed (and it felt like it did that a LOT!). I don't know why this hasn't been a thing to me before, but I tell you what: I'm glad the Galloway plan gets people running and it was interesting to see SO many pace groups, but when you're running through the narrow part of Pandora and a pace group from the corral behind you catches up to you it's really disconcerting to have them swarm around you, then stop to walk when you're trying to keep your own pace because now all of a sudden you have to weave and adjust and there's no side to move to because the path is narrow. Then they start to run and you have this horrible cycle for several minutes..... But really, with the course crowded there's no way to avoid stuff like that it seems.

Overall, it was a great experience and I'm glad I did it! We'll see what the next one will be!
 
The hard switchbacks and narrow portions of the course were a little challenging at times. Seems like it was worse this weekend than MW. I did love them including Pandora in the HM course though. Running through there in the dark was a nice pump me up at that part of the race. Unfortunately it's followed by my least favorite portion of any Disney race, the AK parking lot and proceeding road to nowhere. lol.
 
Congratulations everyone on finishing! Just reading all of these comments and it sounds like, for the most part, everyone had enjoyable experiences this weekend.

Lessons learned for me: I probably won't be doing any more challenges or multiple races in a weekend. Even though I went very easy on Friday and Saturday, right around mile 9 yesterday I was in excruciating pain because of the added mileage. The heat really got to me as well. My goal entering the weekend was under 2 hours for the half given good weather conditions. However, with the heat and humidity, I ended up running a 2:07. I think adding more mileage in training could have helped with that.

Overall it was a great race weekend and I really enjoyed it. I won't miss waking up at 2:30 though!
 
Congratulations everyone on finishing! Just reading all of these comments and it sounds like, for the most part, everyone had enjoyable experiences this weekend.

Lessons learned for me: I probably won't be doing any more challenges or multiple races in a weekend. Even though I went very easy on Friday and Saturday, right around mile 9 yesterday I was in excruciating pain because of the added mileage. The heat really got to me as well. My goal entering the weekend was under 2 hours for the half given good weather conditions. However, with the heat and humidity, I ended up running a 2:07. I think adding more mileage in training could have helped with that.

Overall it was a great race weekend and I really enjoyed it. I won't miss waking up at 2:30 though!

I live in Alabama so I'm "used to the humidity" but yesterday I was soaked with sweat and getting a little overheated. I had to pour an entire cup of water over my head and was fine after that, but it was pretty sticky out there early on. My wife even commented in one of the pics I got on the race course how my arms were glistening with sweat. lol.
 
I live in Alabama so I'm "used to the humidity" but yesterday I was soaked with sweat and getting a little overheated. I had to pour an entire cup of water over my head and was fine after that, but it was pretty sticky out there early on. My wife even commented in one of the pics I got on the race course how my arms were glistening with sweat. lol.
Completely agree! I have lived in Orlando for almost 2 years now but you never get used to it. You can run better in the heat but that kind of humidity will always affect you. I was taking salt/electrolyte tablets and I was still miserable. It's late April in Florida though, so I guess what did I expect. Hopefully, next year since they're moving Dark side weekend a few weeks earlier it will help with the temps.
 
I'm guessing my husband was the only one the humidity didn't affect or he is used to it.

He was slower than usual but he also hasn't trained much since Princess.
 

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