Marathon Weekend 2022

[ValW]

Finally DOPEY! Woohoo!

My Journey to Dopey: Signed up for 2014 Dopey. The week after my last long run I was in a pretty significant training accident at work. Spent 3 days in the hospital and left with new metal in my foot/ankle (off work for a year). Will never PR again and that’s okay. I pretty much had met my athletic goals: Boston, Ironman X 3, etc…. Now I run for fitness and fun.

2017 Dopey: Ran the 5K, 10K, Marathon. Half cancelled due to weather. No, I was not motivated to run laps around my hotel.

2021 Dopey: Cancelled due to pandemic.

2022 Dopey: Finally!!! My sister ran her first 5K (after bilateral knee replacements)! So proud of herself, now she wants to attempt a 10K. I had a lot of fun running all the races - nothing hurts today. Took my time, stopped for pics and potty breaks. Running from S2 was awesome - the Club has been well worth the $$ and I will be renewing my membership (early access to the expo can’t be beat!). 2013 Princess was the last time I’ve started at the front.

Spending the rest of the week here to PLAY!!!

Congrats to everyone that started - whether you finished or not. BE PROUD!!

 

[camaker]

Did others have their watch distance at 26.4-26.5. Everyone I spoke to was consistently about a quarter mile longer than stated. Does running nonapex really add that much distance? The other thing that was weird was the overage seemed to be consistent and not expanding as the race went on.

I was at 26.84 miles by the end, thanks to a detour into the restrooms at MK and a tendency to run where openings presented themselves rather than stick strictly to tangents. On a course with wide open road stretches and significant crowding it's pretty easy to get off-tangent and rack up a significant overage.

 

[jrsharp21]

When I was getting my knee wrapped with an ice bag yesterday, the trainer asked if I was going to do it again next year. I told him I didn’t know and was happy to do my first Dopey. But I really wanted to say is “are you crazy?”. But this morning I am already plotting and planning on what I could do better next year for full marathon part.

 

[Kitty-chan]

Garmin has 26.85 for me yesterday. I didn't even do any character stops or bathroom breaks. I did stop for ice and water, and I did a lot of zig-zag on the course when it was crowded. I know it's better strategy to run the tangents, but my brain just wanted to stay at a reasonably steady pace for as long as possible.

 

[EDS19]

Congrats to everyone who participated this past weekend and thanks again to each of you on this board! I had a wonderful time running the Half. I was more then a little nervous going into it but a lot of the posts and ideas on here helped calm my fears. I thought runDisney did a great job with the course for the half. I felt safe overall and got LOTS of good character photos hahaha. And the weather was wonderful too.

If any of you are wanting to relive the half again I strapped a camera to the side of my head during the race and put together some of the highlights of the course here:

Once again thanks to everyone in the group. I'm already starting to think about Marathon weekend 2023

 

[GreatLakes]

My Garmin has 26.34. On a side note I shattered my previous most steps in a day record. 77,415 and a total of 36.28 miles.

All that walking paid off because my legs feel better than they ever have the day after a full marathon.

If anyone is flying out this morning out of MCO, the line for security in the A/B gate is backed up all the way to the C gate. I have never seen it like this before.

I couldn't believe how long that line was. I couldn't sleep so I got here super early and I'm glad. I'm sitting at my gate and almost every flight has people running up just as the doors are closing so I'm guessing it hasn't gotten better.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Despite how sad it is, this is a pretty cool picture of the balloons going into the castle.

 

[1GoldenSun]

Where were these magical bags of ice, all I got was a stinking sponge

I think they must have brought out the ice for us late runners who were still running in the worst of the heat. I think there were 3-4 ice stations where volunteers were handing out bags of ice to runners. There were also several times that medics on bicycles rode alongside the runners telling them to put the bags of ice on our heads, not our necks. They told is that we needed to cool our brains down.

I saw a medic tell one very red woman who looked to be in a bit of distress that she needed to take the ice. She seemed to not have noticed it and was walking by without taking any. The medic made sure she got some and put it on her head.

The medics and volunteers were all incredible, I thought. So much kindness, help, and encouragement. I saw one person faint, one person just collapse, and one person kind of throw themselves onto the grass at the side of the road and start sobbing. Those of us around would kind of look at each other like "what should we do?" but almost immediately a helpful medic on a bicycle would show up to take charge of the situation. For those of us who ran around a 7 hour marathon, those last couple hours were pretty rough. Honestly that ice probably got me through. When I crossed the finish line, they were bringing wheelchairs to "catch" runners who were collapsing at the finish. The runner next to me was helped into a wheelchair and I saw one of the volunteers who was assisting her look behind her and yell "we need another one" and run to help another runner who was about to collapse.

 

[AJruns]

Writing this from the hot tub pre- massage and pedicure appt, which after sunrise breakfast at Sanaa, is my favorite day-after-marathon treat. I had a great race yesterday (just the 10k and full for me), and hit my goal of not stopping- though much harder mentally this year bc it seemed all my favorite characters were out My training was horrible so I’m surprised/shocked with how good this felt, especially in comparison to 2020 when my training was ideal. I think the weather and earlier start made a huge difference for me over that last one, but I was in a funny mental state yesterday. I’m not really a time person, so PRing by 15 minutes hasn’t meant as much to me as the achievement of finishing 2020. I’ll take an easier feeling run and better weather any day over the misery I felt 2 years ago, but I’ll always remember that run as one of the proudest physical achievements of my life, even though it was slower than 2019. Still thrilled with the day, though I was also frustrated with the extra mileage (26.56 for me). I expect it, but it was just demoralizing to have my watch beep when the mile marker wasn’t even in sight. Walking has always helped me recover, so my park time yesterday was great for a couple reasons. Off to DHS this afternoon, have a great time at Epcot!

 

[Kitty-chan]

I think they must have brought out the ice for us late runners who were still running in the worst of the heat. I think there were 3-4 ice stations where volunteers were handing out bags of ice to runners. There were also several times that medics on bicycles rode alongside the runners telling them to put the bags of ice on our heads, not our necks. They told is that we needed to cool our brains down.

I saw a medic tell one very red woman who looked to be in a bit of distress that she needed to take the ice. She seemed to not have noticed it and was walking by without taking any. The medic made sure she got some and put it on her head.

The medics and volunteers were all incredible, I thought. So much kindness, help, and encouragement. I saw one person faint, one person just collapse, and one person kind of throw themselves onto the grass at the side of the road and start sobbing. Those of us around would kind of look at each other like "what should we do?" but almost immediately a helpful medic on a bicycle would show up to take charge of the situation. For those of us who ran around a 7 hour marathon, those last couple hours were pretty rough. Honestly that ice probably got me through. When I crossed the finish line, they were bringing wheelchairs to "catch" runners who were collapsing at the finish. The runner next to me was helped into a wheelchair and I saw one of the volunteers who was assisting her look behind her and yell "we need another one" and run to help another runner who was about to collapse.

That's a good point; I was in S5 and ran a 6:11 marathon, so while I wasn't out in the absolute worst of it, I'm sure that we 6+ hour runners had a much rougher time in the heat and humidity. All of my clothing was soaked, and my bib kept tearing from the safety pins, because of how much ice I'd been applying for hours, and how heavily I was sweating.

 

[furiated]

Unfortunately, they're required to check the rooms periodically whether you want/need them to or not. It's a safety measure implemented after the events in Las Vegas. It's also why all the "Do Not Disturb" signs were replaced with "Room Occupied" signs.

Had a ridiculously bad experience with this at Boardwalk after the Marathon. I was wiped and needed a long nap. Pre-emptively called housekeeping, asked them not to do the safety check until much later, like 5 or later. Around 2:45 I get a call waking me up "We noticed you have your Room Occupied sign up and we need to check your room". Ugh. Repeat my request to come after 5. Around 3:45, I get a knock on the door waking me up again. Guy is there to do the safety check. I rant at him a bit but I'm awake so just come in and do it. Then much later after 6pm (I'm awake this time) I get ANOTHER knock on the door. Safety check. I'm pretty pissed at this point and let this guy know it, though I know it's not his fault. He even said he's not sure why this request went to him. He also tried to pretend the safety check was to look for hair dryers left plugged in

 

[SheHulk]

Well, I flew home last night and it wasn't as bad as I expected. It was only a 2.5 hour flight though and my butt was definitely not enjoying sitting still for so long by the end. I can see how a longer flight might be really miserable.

It was a good weekend. I'm pretty sure this will have been my last marathon, and that actually made the experience better! I ran Goofy in 2020 also, and I had the same feeling after running the half: This is stupid, why did I ever sign up to run a marathon the next day, I'm tired already. So I started the marathon with more grim determination than you should for a fun run. But by the time we got to the Magic Kingdom area, it started to hit me that this is going to be the last time I am running this marathon (forget for a moment that I'm running Princess in a few weeks and will be running down Main Street again). The crowds of spectators were just amazing and really made it special. I started to cry a little which I never expected! Once I got in that mindset, that this is it, I should really soak it in, it was more meaningful and I had more fun.

I don't think anybody mentioned the Harmonious barges (I don't know what they are really called) and the Marathon Weekend projections in the early miles of Epcot? I loved that! I tried to take video but I am an idiot with my iPhone camera and it came out all blurry. There must be a setting to take pictures in low light with bright targets like that.

I think I hit all my stated goals: Located the picture spot in front of the castle and got my picture both days. Costumes came out as I wanted them. Met a few DIS-ers which is always a treat, you all are a pleasure. My time was about 5 hours 53 minutes, maybe? And for the first time ever, I negative split a marathon! Of course it was because of 2 bathroom stops in the first half, and stopping to take bad video in Epcot, and being trapped behind rows of walkers at some spots. So, not exactly a triumph of pacing or anything like that. But still a negative split.

It's hard mentally to move on from the marathon distance but I think it's the right decision for me. I am 100% positive I will never run Goofy again. I'll kind of keep my fitness up for the challenge at Princess, then I have to really think about what my next goals will be. I'm so thankful for this community, and especially Billy @DopeyBadger , I would never have gotten so far in my marathon journey without this group.

Edited to add: My half distance on my Garmin was 13.65, and my full was 26.89! Miles lined up with mile markers pretty well until the 5th or 6th mile in both races.

 

[SheHulk]

Had a ridiculously bad experience with this at Boardwalk after the Marathon. I was wiped and needed a long nap. Pre-emptively called housekeeping, asked them not to do the safety check until much later, like 5 or later. Around 2:45 I get a call waking me up "We noticed you have your Room Occupied sign up and we need to check your room". Ugh. Repeat my request to come after 5. Around 3:45, I get a knock on the door waking me up again. Guy is there to do the safety check. I rant at him a bit but I'm awake so just come in and do it. Then much later after 6pm (I'm awake this time) I get ANOTHER knock on the door. Safety check. I'm pretty pissed at this point and let this guy know it, though I know it's not his fault. He even said he's not sure why this request went to him. He also tried to pretend the safety check was to look for hair dryers left plugged in

Boy you must have seemed pretty suspicious when you checked in!

 

[kps7795]

I agree about being on the left for the highest probability of a good shot. We were there at about 6:50 am and it was wall to wall people and impossible to get left for a shot. So, plan ahead!


Wow!!! What an awesome shot!



The character shots we've gotten this week in the dark have been awful 75% of the time. Because of the barriers, the characters are not well lit at all. Our strategy for tomorrow is to not stop for characters until it is light outside unless it's Darkwing Duck, of course. Have fun!

I must have lucked out. The only picture in the dark that didn't come out looking good was for Frozone. Truth be told, it is not perfect but even that picture still looks pretty good. At the end of the day, I ended up taking pictures with 22 characters. Regarding the castle, I had it in the back of my mind to be on the left side for the shot and was able to slow myself down to but some space between myself and the group in front of me. Thank you for your feedback prior to the marathon. It really helped a lot!

 

[Jason Bryer]

Skylines from pop is down. On a bus to Epcot. Hope to catch-up to datw soon.

 

[cburnett11]

Question for people that know a lot of rD stuff. My daughter ran the marathon and is wearing her shirt today. It already had 3 bad pull places on the sleeves. Does anyone have an email address or somewhere to reach out to in order to maybe get it replaced. She “only” ran the full so this shirt means quite a bit. Thanks

 

[kps7795]

I wanted to thank everyone, especially @DopeyBadger, who I have communicated with leading up to my first marathon this past weekend. It was such a fun and great experience. I am sincerely appreciative of all of the guidance that you provided. While walking very gingerly and slowly yesterday afternoon in Epcot (I can't believe that I had to stand in line for Ratatouille for 45 minutes!), I was already contemplating next year's marathon but possibly going for the Goofy challenge.

 

[Jason Bryer]

DATW!

 

[Motorhead9999]

Random question: Does anyone not get hungry when doing all these runs? I wasn't terribly interested in eating the night after running the half, and didn't even want to eat after the marathon. I did eat anyways, and the food went down fine, but even today I'm not terribly famished.

 

[AJruns]

never hungry after anything 13+, it’s a real battle to wrap my head around that vs how important proper refueling is long term.