Marathon Weekend in January is the biggest race weekend at Walt Disney World. There are four races held that weekend: a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and full marathon. In typical Disney fashion, there are also Challenges to earn additional medals. Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge is the half marathon and the full, and the Dopey Challenge is all four races.
Last January, I completed my first full marathon. It was 26.2 miles of magic, and when I finished, I felt more proud and accomplished than I could have imagined. I immediately knew that I wanted to do it again, but this time I was all in. I wanted to be able to say that I was Dopey! One year and countless training miles later, it was go time, and I found myself less terrified than I expected. I knew I was ready, and I was extremely excited for what the weekend would hold. After a trip to opening day of the expo (where I bought everything), I was officially ready!
Day One: 5k
I was really looking forward to the 5k, mainly because at the last minute, I had thrown together a costume that I was very excited to wear: Merida! She is one of my favorites, and I felt that her bravery was an excellent theme to kick off the weekend. I boarded a bus at 4:00am, and my buddy and Mickey Miler/Team Shenanigans teammate Sam was on the same bus. While we were hanging out at the pre-race area, I confided that my biggest concern was that I wouldn’t be able to hold back and I’d go too hard the first two days. Sam invited me to run with him and he’d make sure I didn’t overdo it. I took him up on his offer, and off we went.
This is a fun course, starting in the Epcot parking lot and entering World Showcase in Norway after Mile 1. There’s nothing more breathtaking than entering this area of the park in the dark, with the lanterns around World Showcase Lagoon lit and music playing. Runners exit down the International Gateway and then re-enter in the UK pavilion, run through Future World, past Spaceship Earth, and back out into the parking lot to the finish line.
Characters on the course included Thumper and Miss Bunny, a group of vikings in Norway, Minnie in Italy, Chip & Dale in Morocco, Canadian Donald, and astronaut Goofy by Spaceship Earth.
We stopped for the vikings, Minnie, and Donald. We saw our buddy Laurie while waiting in line for Donald, and convinced her to join us. It’s always fun running into friends on the course! I had a great time running this one, and got several on-course shoutouts for Merida. Running in the wig wasn’t as bad as I had expected – I will definitely be adding wigs to my costumes in the future!
After the race, I spent a few hours at the Magic Kingdom with my family (I obviously had to go meet Merida), but I left them in the late afternoon and went back to rest. I was determined to play it smart and stay off my feet and go to bed early. I grabbed dinner alone at the resort and was asleep before the family got back for the night. It was the right decision – I felt great the next morning!
Day Two: 10k
After another ridiculously early wakeup, I was on a bus at 3:30 and headed back to the Epcot parking lot. When I arrived, the lines for characters were shorter than they’d been the day before. I immediately grabbed a picture with Dopey, and then Minnie. Today’s outfit was in honor of my I Run 4 buddy, who was having surgery that morning. I didn’t have time to meet up with any of my teammates after the pictures, so I headed straight to my corral. I would be running solo today, which is how I run most of my races.
The first three miles of this course are fairly boring, out on the road with not much to see. I was disappointed in the characters during this section, as well, since I’d gotten pictures with two of them at Wine & Dine. Darkwing Duck was up first (although he had Scrooge McDuck with him this morning), followed by Lilo and Stitch and then Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. I skipped all three character stops and was wondering if this race was going to be a bust.
We entered World Showcase and saw the same vikings again (another skip). And then as I ran up to the American pavilion, I saw the holy grail of character stops: Colonial Mickey, Donald, and Goofy! YES! The line was long but moved quickly, and I was able to soak up the wonderful atmosphere while I waited. I skipped vacation Genie in Morocco, since I’d gotten him at the last race, but I stopped for Pluto at the ESPN Zone on the Boardwalk. My teammate Bill was also cheering here, and he was stocked with goodies: donut holes, orange juice, and “adult” orange juice. I stopped to see him and then headed on around the Boardwalk. It was absolutely beautiful! I had so much fun during those last two miles, and I got a finish line picture that makes me smile every time I look at it.
After the race, I met up with teammates for breakfast at Trail’s End (review coming soon – I loved it!), then met the family for a few hours of park time. Once again, I headed back early to be the responsible runner. Unfortunately the weather had become a concern, and it was being rumored online that the race was going to be delayed. After much speculation, we found out that the race was completely canceled. Based on weather reports, I knew that runDisney was making the right call, but I was crushed because I wanted every one of those 48.6 miles of my first Dopey.
Almost immediately, runners began making plans to “unofficially” run the 13.1, and I knew I wanted to do that, too. One of my teammates invited me to run with a group at midnight at the Boardwalk, which sounded like fun. But by the time we arrived, there was crazy rain, thunder, and lightning. We waited awhile to see if it would pass, but I decided I didn’t want to risk slipping on the wet boardwalk and messing up my marathon. The group that was there ended up going out and running a few miles, and my teammate Heather did her entire 13.1 that night. Hats off to you, Heather – you’re a beast! I ended up heading back to my resort with a couple of other people, and I went to bed discouraged at the way my night had ended.
Day Three: The DIY Half Marathon
Saturday morning, I woke up to the sounds of cheering. I looked outside (we were staying in a lake view room at Pop Century) and realized that there were tons of runners on the path around Hourglass Lake! I threw on my Donald costume – complete with race bib – as fast as I could, and ran out to join them. When I got out there, I realized that it wasn’t just runners – there were also families cheering, holding signs, and they had even created water and snack stops!
This was one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever been a part of. A group of people who were disappointed but determined to make the best of the situation and earn those medals. Runners and spectators both began calling out to me in support as soon as I joined in. I got countless high-fives. We created character stops by taking pictures with anyone in a costume. One family even brought out “baby Stitch” and a line formed for pictures with him!
The energy of the cheer squads kept us going – I can’t put into words how much I appreciated these strangers, who were spending their morning standing out in the mist/drizzle/rain to encourage us, instead of being at a park or in their warm, dry rooms. My family was out there, and they had a blast cheering. Knowing that runs like this were springing up at various resorts all over property was amazing. I felt like I was part of something special, a little piece of runDisney history. This level of dedication and support is what makes me love the running community. If you were out there cheering or running, THANK YOU!
I may not have run the official course for the WDW Half Marathon, but I ran 13.1 miles on Saturday morning in an atmosphere that was more exciting than a lot of local races I’ve done. It felt good to finish and know that when I crossed the finish line on Sunday, I would accept my Dopey medal having completed all the miles. Will I count this as a half marathon when I talk about how many I’ve run? No. But you better believe that I will tell this story, and I’ll tell it with pride.
Day Four: Marathon
The good news: the rain had passed and the skies were clear. The bad news: an unusual cold front had moved in, bringing temps in the 30’s for the start of the marathon. Also good news: at the last minute, I had thrown my cold-weather running gear in my suitcase, so I was prepared. I layered up and boarded a bus at 3:00am. I decided to get a picture with Daisy, since I had done that last year, and I’m all about tradition. After that, I met up with some Mickey Miler teammates and one of them (thank you so much, Michelle!) was kind enough to offer me a trash bag to put over my clothes. Never underestimate the amount of gratitude you’ll feel for a trash bag when you’re shivering in the cold! I headed to my corral early, and attempted to eat a bagel and peanut butter through my shivering while I waited for the race to start.
My strategy for the marathon was thrown off by the cancellation of the half. I had planned to take it easy and stop for lots of characters at the half, but not as much at the full. I decided to just have fun and get the full experience, since just finishing Dopey was my prime objective of the weekend.
Getting a shoutout at the start line for my Mickey Milers jersey was the perfect way to begin the race! The first few miles went by quickly, since I was looking forward to one thing: running down Main Street and seeing the castle! I passed up a character stop for Jack Sparrow and Barbossa, but couldn’t resist stopping for Jack and Sally. My general rule of stopping for characters is that I only stop for rare characters or ones that I can’t see regularly in the parks. Unless lines are really short, then all rules go out the window.
I love this part of the race! You can hear the cheering crowds before you see them. Main Street is lined with people cheering, and it’s always impossible for me not to get a little choked up. I try to soak up every minute in the Magic Kingdom, because how lucky are we to get this experience? We ran through Tomorrowland (Buzz Lightyear character stop), on through New Fanasyland (Beast greeted runners outside of his castle), and then back through the castle with a quick stop for a picture.
After the castle, it was through Frontierland (hey, Country Bears!), past the train, and backstage to exit the park. Here we found what was probably my favorite character stop – the Maleficent float from the Festival of Fantasy parade.
The next 6 or 7 miles would take us toward Animal Kingdom. Another awesome photo op was found on Bear Island Road: classic ride vehicles! And for some reason, the line was extremely short.
Around Mile 11 was an out-and-back that seemed really long, and I spent part of it trying to get around a large run/walk/run group. The only fun part of this was high-fiving runners who were coming the opposite way. We finally entered the backstage area of Animal Kingdom, and saw some performers from the Lion King as well as some animals. The park wasn’t open yet, so I snapped a quick selfie instead of waiting to ride Everest. I love running through Animal Kingdom – it’s absolutely gorgeous! I didn’t stop for any of the characters here, since I knew my family was waiting right outside. Seeing them was a real energy booster, especially since I knew I was halfway done.
After leaving Animal Kingdom, I couldn’t resist stopping for the Haunted Mansion gravediggers. How much fun is this?!
After that, it was about 5 more miles until we hit the dreaded Wide World of Sports Complex. This is a stretch of over 3 miles of running inside the complex and around the track. I was feeling good and this stretch didn’t seem as bad as I was expecting. There are bands playing at a couple of different places, as well as a couple of characters, but I didn’t stop. When we exited, we were past Mile 20 and I knew I was in the home stretch. I got to see a couple of different teammates on the course in the next couple of miles, which was exactly what I needed. It’s always great to see a friendly face and get a hug, a high-five, or even just a shout of encouragement when you’re this far into a race.
Around Mile 23, we entered Hollywood Studios for what seemed like a split second. We were given Dove chocolates, as well as bite-size Snickers and packs of M&M’s. I was so looking forward to that little piece of chocolate! It’s amazing how much you appreciate small things like a piece of chocolate or a handful of pretzels when you’re running a marathon. The spectators who are handing out snacks are lifesavers! My family was cheering at the Studios, so I got some extra special high-fives and hugs on my way out. There was also a character stop here for Oswald, and I really regret not stopping.
From here, we ran over to Epcot and around World Showcase. I saw my friends Dale and Kristen in Mexico (they were doing Margarita duty for teammates who wanted to cross the finish line with one), and stopped for a quick hug. Then it was off to finish this thing and officially earn my Dopey status! The gospel choir sang me home and I got another Miler shoutout at the finish line.
I finished this marathon about 5 minutes slower than my first one. Considering that I had added the challenge this year, and I stopped for more characters (as well as 2 lengthy waits to get into a bathroom), I was okay with that. This was an incredible, unforgettable, completely exhilarating experience that I cannot wait to do again! I’ll see you again in 2018, Dopey!
