I walked this year's Princess.
I started at 5:
38 am and finished in 3:40:18. I paid CLOSE attention to trying to take the shortest distances without too much weaving, and I am pretty sure I didn't have to use the bathroom once (thank you Tailwind Endurance "fuel"!), and I did 13.37 miles.
I started as close to the front of my corral as I possibly could. And doing that changed
everything.
I generally don't worry too much about getting up front, but in 2022 I was swept while doing intervals. In 2022 I started at 5:
58 am. I was swept with TONS of other people at the mile 9 marker, and I'd already done 9.3 miles.
(for a variety of reasons, some health-related as I'd JUST had coronavirus, some weather-related because it was hot, some runDisney-related because no bus came to Beach Club for over an hour and the event had already started by the time we had pulled up, and then I
had to use the bathroom before starting. I was panicked and was never able to get my breathing under control, and then there was a medical emergency just beyond the mile 9 marker that they apparently didn't want everyone trundling by to see)
I'd had two bathroom breaks after I started, from what I recall. Looking at the time I'd been on the course when pulled, divided by 9 miles, I was going at a 17-minute 25-second-per-mile pace. My Garmin told me 16 minutes 50 seconds, because it was looking at what my feet were doing, but Disney cares about the measured distance between mile markers. 2 hours 36 minutes 41 seconds divided by 9 is different than divided by 9.3.
The half-hour difference in when I crossed the start line from 2022 to 2023, just by being in the front vs the back of the corral, made a HUGE amount of difference to me.
With Disney runs, the earlier you start the better. It's less crowded, you don't end up with as many very very tired people in front of you (solo people being solo don't make a difference, but groups do, or bunches of solo runners all getting tired at the same time and not realizing they've accidentally made a wall), and it lets you keep a straighter distance between mile markers.
This year was the first year I was ever able, because the later crowds weren't there yet, to actually run (JOG) through the castle. Yes, I said I walked the Half, but I had a bit of gas in the tank and I *could* so I did. It was thrilling. It was also my swan song for the Half distance and I wanted to make the most of it!
Your watch might say that you're a little bit under a 16:00 pace, BUT, that pace guideline assumes that you are running the course perfectly to not tack on any extra distance whatsoever, and being in the back of the pack, that extra distance is inevitable. So even though you might be moving at a 15:57 pace, it IS possible to be swept because you will be covering longer than 13.1 miles. (My watch says I covered 13.72mi for the HM in January this year and 13.69mi in 2022.)
Yep.
I solved that by having a field on my phone for average lap pace. When I got to a mile marker I hit the lap button, and it recalculated to show me what Disney would see; how long it took me to get from one mile marker to the next. It was a more honest time, and it kept me on track. Despite having a Math minor from my original degree and just graduating with an Accounting degree, if I'm on my feet longer than 3 miles I can barely add 2 and 2 together reliably. So I had to let my watch do the math for me. And using average lap pace did it.
I was tempted by corral B for a split second until I thought how it would affect all the runners/walkers behind me.... I knew I wasnt well conditioned so I got at the very end of the last corral as I didn't want to negatively affect fellow racers.
I really really encourage you to not worry so much about that in the future. You are one person, and I'm sure you would hug the right side of the path and I'm sure you made sure you weren't impacting others if you slowed or sped up, or moved out of the way of an obstacle. I'm sure you weren't a hindrance to others.
So please do what's right for YOU in the future, by being in the front of your corral. It made all the difference in the world to me this year. If someone behind me was faster, for a lot of the Half there was a huge wide road for them to maneuver in. If it was narrower, since I turn my head to both sides often I could see when someone was coming up, and I'd squeeze my arms in closer. I am also very aware of arm-swinging, and even when walking I use my arms like when I'm running/jogging, keeping them closer in and bent at the elbows.
You and I deserve to take up our space in the world and in our corral, and if that means starting at the front, on the right side of course, then that's what it means.
And if you have the means to do Club runDisney, start at the right, hug the side for a while, and do your thing. The B people are fast and strong enough to get by you.
I've taken part in Rock and Roll events, and when they were in Vancouver BC in 2015 I believe, I was assigned the last corral. One week or so out, they announced that those with an expected time of X or slower, and who were assigned the last corral, could start before anyone else. We could move up to a waiting area
in front of the elites. We got to start half an hour before anyone else. Oh it was such a good way to start! At the 25-minute mark after we started, trucks came by with people with megaphones, telling us that the race had started and to move to the right. We did so. And zoom zoom zoom the elites went by. Truly awe-inspiring, to see their form, their speed, their just absolute beauty in their sport. Our presence didn't harm them. A bit later when the normal corrals had started and those runners had made their way up, you could tell the people who had paid attention to the runner info (they knew why we were already there) and who hadn't (they *****ed about us verbally). We still didn't impact them. We were still mainly to the right and they could easily move around us. Even with a situation like that, we deserved to take up the space that the event planners allowed us. Same with rundisney.
******
Back to the OP... I don't care about characters, so I really can't speak to that. Seeing them is fun, and seeing the joy others have with them is fun, but I'm happy to snag the occasional picture of them as I'm moving past them. If you're into characters AND will be doing the parks AND want the strongest chance of finishing, think about having your medal in pictures with characters during your park days, and just smile at the characters on the course rather than waiting for them.
Get to the corrals early. Get as far forward as you can. Be on the right so that faster people can pass you on the left, just like when driving. During training, work out the "fuel" that works the best for you. I used Clif Shot Bloks and Jelly Belly Sports Beans for YEARS, until I finally realized that I was using the restroom WAY too often. Each bathroom break slows you down in ways you don't even realize. Just pulling up your unders (if you wear them) and shorts, straightening a skirt or tutu or whatever, is exhausting and time-consuming. So I really looked into the fuels that people have fewer problems with, trained a lot with Tailwind, and it was absolute perfection for me.
Hope all that helps.
