Good bye RunDisney Disneyland

Warm Hugs

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 16, 2015
http://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/09/runners-say-goodbye-to-rundisney-in-last-race-for-now/

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/12/runners-say-goodbye-to-rundisney-at-disneyland/

I just don't see it coming back. I know some people indicated they talked to people at Avengers who heard they are designing the new hotel so there will be room for a start and finish line, but I just don't beieve it.

Plenty of good memories that even construction can't takeaway though. I just hope people don't stop running because rundisney on the west coast is gone. There are plenty of great and well organized races throughout the country. So I hope all keep on running for a healthier lifestyle.
 
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I am so glad I got to experience runDisney in the west coast - I do hope it ends up coming back!
 
I really wish I had gotten the chance to run in Disneyland. I'm so disappointed that it's gone for now. I do hope it comes back eventually, even if it's just one or two race weekends a year.
 


I don't see why they wouldn't bring them back though. Maybe different themes & dates & just 1 or 2 weekends. There will always be runners, old & new, wanting races. Running popularity always seems to go up & down so a lull now doesn't mean it will still be low in 5 years.
 
I don't see why they wouldn't bring them back though. Maybe different themes & dates & just 1 or 2 weekends. There will always be runners, old & new, wanting races. Running popularity always seems to go up & down so a lull now doesn't mean it will still be low in 5 years.

I actually did some research on this a year or two ago for one of my MBA classes. We were looking at marketing a running specific product. There was a definite peak in the number of runners a couple of years ago and then there has been a fairly steady decline since that peak. The cycles around running appeared to be pretty long so I wouldn't forsee that trend line changing in the next 5 years.

If you look at west coast races the DL half had 15,000 runners in 2015 (it was an anniversary year), 13,000 in 2016 and 8,000 in 2017. Avengers dropped from 10700 in 2015 to 7700 in 2016 and 6800 in 2017. I hope that runDisney takes a 2-3 year hiatus from West Coast races and then comes back with 2 or maybe even 3 events. It looks like they have enough demand to support that.
 
If DL takes a break and comes back 3 or 4 years (or whatever) down the line, I'd be tempted to sign up no matter the theme just because I really loved my race weekend this spring for Tink. It was my only DL run experience but there was something great about literally walking out my hotel door over to the corrals + the nice time zone change in my favor + the ease of navigating the expo and park in general. I really like WDW but I think DL races just were so much easier (for me) to navigate. Plus running through DL and DCA back to back was fun.

I'm so thankful for everyone who talked me into trying out Tink this year. I was hesitant on if I should wait one more year and I'm now so happy that I didn't wait. Just wish I could already pencil another Tink in my schedule for somewhere down the road and I'm sad I can't :(
 


I actually did some research on this a year or two ago for one of my MBA classes. We were looking at marketing a running specific product. There was a definite peak in the number of runners a couple of years ago and then there has been a fairly steady decline since that peak. The cycles around running appeared to be pretty long so I wouldn't forsee that trend line changing in the next 5 years.

If you look at west coast races the DL half had 15,000 runners in 2015 (it was an anniversary year), 13,000 in 2016 and 8,000 in 2017. Avengers dropped from 10700 in 2015 to 7700 in 2016 and 6800 in 2017. I hope that runDisney takes a 2-3 year hiatus from West Coast races and then comes back with 2 or maybe even 3 events. It looks like they have enough demand to support that.
Did they increase the number of races during those years though? If they added 2 or 3 more events in, it could account for the decline. I felt like rundisney was getting out of control with the number of new races in the past few years.
 
I do see DL races returning, but probably not for another 3-5 years. When they do return, I expect to see only 2-3 race weekends; DL half, Tink, and maybe SW or some new theme.

I do wish it had worked out so I could have run DL and done CTC. If I had run marathon weekend like I have for the last 4 years or so, I probably would have signed up for Avengers.

I actually did some research on this a year or two ago for one of my MBA classes. We were looking at marketing a running specific product. There was a definite peak in the number of runners a couple of years ago and then there has been a fairly steady decline since that peak. The cycles around running appeared to be pretty long so I wouldn't forsee that trend line changing in the next 5 years.

I read the same thing. Road running basically peaked a few years ago 2014/2015. Since then the OCR & Mud runs have taken a big spike in popularity.
 
I actually did some research on this a year or two ago for one of my MBA classes. We were looking at marketing a running specific product. There was a definite peak in the number of runners a couple of years ago and then there has been a fairly steady decline since that peak. The cycles around running appeared to be pretty long so I wouldn't forsee that trend line changing in the next 5 years.

If you look at west coast races the DL half had 15,000 runners in 2015 (it was an anniversary year), 13,000 in 2016 and 8,000 in 2017. Avengers dropped from 10700 in 2015 to 7700 in 2016 and 6800 in 2017. I hope that runDisney takes a 2-3 year hiatus from West Coast races and then comes back with 2 or maybe even 3 events. It looks like they have enough demand to support that.
I think that it might be too early to determine whether there will be a continued decline and what the floor might be. Seems to have leveled off 2015-2016.

RunningEventFinishers_2016.png
http://www.runningusa.org/2017-us-road-race-trends


Regardless, I would think that DL could support a few races a year. I don't understand why anyone would assume that they won't come back... has that been suggested by Disney?
 
Nice to see the OC Register photographer was in perfect position to get a nice shot of my bloody mess of a foot after the finish line. At least I'll have a nice pair of bloody shoes as a souvenir to remember my last race at Disneyland.
 
There was a definite peak in the number of runners a couple of years ago and then there has been a fairly steady decline since that peak.

Of course, in that time some races have put out bad “product”. rock and roll has broken my heart with how they put on Seattle and how they cancelled Vancouver. Disney isn’t always great. Etc. The blame keeps being put on people but I think organizers need to take some blame.

I don't understand why anyone would assume that they won't come back... has that been suggested by Disney?

This is what Disney does to get rid of things. Apart from the electrical parade they don’t really bring things back.

Nice to see the OC Register photographer was in perfect position to get a nice shot of my bloody mess of a foot after the finish line. At least I'll have a nice pair of bloody shoes as a souvenir to remember my last race at Disneyland.

Ouch, what happened there?

And as the mom of a dancer, bloody shoes are gross. I wouldn’t keep those shoes as-is. :)
 
If DL takes a break and comes back 3 or 4 years (or whatever) down the line, I'd be tempted to sign up no matter the theme just because I really loved my race weekend this spring for Tink. It was my only DL run experience but there was something great about literally walking out my hotel door over to the corrals + the nice time zone change in my favor + the ease of navigating the expo and park in general. I really like WDW but I think DL races just were so much easier (for me) to navigate. Plus running through DL and DCA back to back was fun.

I'm so thankful for everyone who talked me into trying out Tink this year. I was hesitant on if I should wait one more year and I'm now so happy that I didn't wait. Just wish I could already pencil another Tink in my schedule for somewhere down the road and I'm sad I can't :(
That's saying something since Tink was a mess and easily the worst of the 4 races this year at DLR.
 
This is what Disney does to get rid of things. Apart from the electrical parade they don’t really bring things back.

While I'm acting as if the DL races aren't coming back (because after all, there's no point in training for a race that might happen 4 years from now), I DO believe that there's a lot of good intention to bring them back. There's a difference between getting rid of a Thing (like an attraction or a parade with physical assets) and an Event, so there's no reason to believe that the runs are in Yesterland yet. I do believe that there are people within the Disney organization who want the races here to return (and I'm certain runDisney wants the revenue back), but it's way too soon to know how it will all wash out.
 
It was my only DL run experience but there was something great about literally walking out my hotel door over to the corrals + the nice time zone change in my favor + the ease of navigating the expo and park in general. I really like WDW but I think DL races just were so much easier (for me) to navigate. Plus running through DL and DCA back to back was fun.
This plus weather are reasons I would love to go back and run in DL if they had another event. I'm hoping they'll at least bring back DL half since that kind of makes sense to have and seems supportable.
 
This race seemed on its last legs. The expo was sparse, they were selling the usually preorder only jackets at the expo (maybe lack of interest?), the half course was a ghost town...
 
This was my first Avengers weekend and 6th Disneyland race weekend overall. I ran Disneyland Half in 2011 and 2012 and Star Wars Rebel Challenges in 2015-2017.

I found the character stops much less crowded for Avengers than any of the Star Wars races I've ran at Disneyland and I'm always in the back of the pack.

I don't know if this is the final runDisney race weekend ever in Disneyland. There is certainly revenue on the table and the popularity of the Coast to Coast especially since it's probably easier than the Castle to Chateau. If runDisney returns to Anaheim, I believe that Star Wars and Disneyland are likely to keep their themes. I think a women's race will also return, but given the popularity of the Kessel Run, I could potentially see runDisney choosing to have a Princess race on the west coast with some sort of Princess medal replacing the pink Coast to Coast.

I wouldn't be surprised if this wound up being the final Avengers race, but not the final runDisney race on the west coast.
 

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