Marathon Weekend 2023

[jpeterson]

Update. The folks at AK guest services took it from me for an hour to hot glue it back together to at least get me through today’s photos. I’ve contacted RD for a replacement.

My W&D challenge medal was in pieces when I got it home in November. It took 2 months but they finally sent out a replacement this week.

 

[kps7795]

My W&D challenge medal was in pieces when I got it home in November. It took 2 months but they finally sent out a replacement this week.

How did that work? Did you have to send them your damaged medal in order to have it replaced?

 

[jpeterson]

How did that work? Did you have to send them your damaged medal in order to have it replaced?

I sent them pictures. Eventually they responded and said a new one was being sent out.

 

[kps7795]

I sent them pictures. Eventually they responded and said a new one was being sent out.

My half marathon medal is scratched and I’m hoping to get it replaced. I sent a message through the website and I suppose that I have to wait for them to initially respond so that I can reply to their email with pictures.

 

[Livelovedance]

Did anyone buy the Dopey Challenge ears? I’ve been trying to figure out why there’s a loop on the gold ear…

 

[The Expert]

Did anyone buy the Dopey Challenge ears? I’ve been trying to figure out why there’s a loop on the gold ear…

I did, and this also puzzled me. I think it's because it's supposed to be a medal and the loop is like the start of the ribbon? Maybe??

 

[jpeterson]

My half marathon medal is scratched and I’m hoping to get it replaced. I sent a message through the website and I suppose that I have to wait for them to initially respond so that I can reply to their email with pictures.

Yes. That's exactly what I did

 

[softballpooh]

I did, and this also puzzled me. I think it's because it's supposed to be a medal and the loop is like the start of the ribbon? Maybe??

Yep! I bought them and it’s the “ribbon” to the medal ear.

 

[surfde22]

For anyone looking for a way to display their medals my wife found this for me on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1370165244/. This one is specific to Dopey, but he also sells individual medal mounts for one off races. I really like the look of it.

 

[jpeterson]

For anyone looking for a way to display their medals my wife found this for me on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1370165244/. This one is specific to Dopey, but he also sells individual medal mounts for one off races. I really like the look of it.

I really love the look of that one. I have mine with the rest of my medals for now. But that wouldn't be a bad keepsake.

 

[surfde22]

I really love the look of that one. I have mine with the rest of my medals for now. But that wouldn't be a bad keepsake.

I just ordered it. I can share pics and thoughts when I get it. But I do really love the look of it too and love that he designed the center plate to go with the theme of the weekend.

 

[cburnett11]

ETA: After Hours into a 7:30 AM flight wasn’t the optimal plan but sometimes you have to burn the candle at both ends at WDW.

We did after hours too and really enjoyed it. It was the only park time for us this trip. We had an 8:40a flight after shutting down MK. I was dragging yesterday.

 

[BigEeyore]

Random thoughts about MW 2023:
- Weather was awesome! Other than Thursday that was a bit muggy (and then rain later), it really doesn't get much better
- Race merch being mostly gone by lunchtime on Wednesday is frustrating but not unexpected - I really wish they would just let us pre-order!
- 5k/10K starts felt like a cluster- I don't remember it being that way but haven't done Dopey in 5 years.
- I kinda like Carrissa now....
- The 90's vibe was really fun - I appreciate how they went all in with it. But I heard "DuckTales" one too many times!
- The national anthem performers were amazing
- Had to start the half from corral F since my DH and DD did not submit times and I don't know how y'all do it - that was awful! SO crowded, forced to walk multiple times because the roads were so crowded, and going through the castle we all came to a stop and it was a slow shuffle. No character photos as the lines were insane.
- Dear rD - please don't put a character 0.3 miles into the race - after standing around waiting to start for so long, I really don't want to stop that soon.
-Ran the full from my assigned corral B and the difference was night and day, able to get lots of character photos. Already looking for a race to get a new PoT - makes the whole experience much better!
- I wasn't able to make meet ups due to being with family, and had to drive home on Monday but all of you people are awesome
- I ran the full with my good friend, who was running with TnT and the support he got from them on course was phenomenal. Several people ran with him, and he was getting shout outs and cheers the whole way.
- It's probably going to take me two weeks to recover from the sleep deprivation but SO worth it!

I know we like to complain a lot, but Disney really puts on a great race weekend, and this past weekend only reminded me why I keep coming back year after year!

 

[GollyGadget]

- 5k/10K starts felt like a cluster- I don't remember it being that way but haven't done Dopey in 5 years.

I didn’t run the shorter distances this past weekend but I did run the 10K at W&D and had very similar thoughts. It felt like people were pushing to the front of A just so they could be the ones to hold the tape or get on camera. It was a very frustrating 1/4 mi until I got through all of those folks.

going through the castle we all came to a stop and it was a slow shuffle.

Oh my word! I had no idea that’s what the experience was like until this weekend. I was awake early on Saturday so put on a livestream of the race and I couldn’t believe the chaos in the castle and how slow everyone was moving. I would be so frustrated by that. Kudos to everyone who puts up with it and still has a fun race!

 

[jpeterson]

The 90's vibe was really fun - I appreciate how they went all in with it. But I heard "DuckTales" one too many times!

It was Darkwing Duck that I heard too many times.

I kinda like Carrissa now....

I've always thought she did a good job.

 

[Herding_Cats]

The castle slowed down a bit last year, but NOTHING like it did this year, (I was in D corral, and @The Expert had the same experience out of B corral.) I'm not sure what happened earlier on, or if it was just too many people trying to record with their phones. It was NOT that way for the full this year.....yes, it slowed down a little like a bottleneck will, but not the almost-stopped, barely moving speed of the half.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

- The national anthem performers were amazing

I almost forgot about this! Whoever sang it on Sunday was fantastic, which is especially impressive at 4:50 in the morning!

 

[Herding_Cats]

Also, having now run both a 5k AND 2 10ks at Disney, I kind of don't get why people get so excited for them. I'm assuming that it's a lot of peoples' first race, first disney race, etc., and that's a big part of it (and rightfully so!) but the course is sooooo crowded.

 

[PrincessV]

I really think the castle experience is totally hit or miss: I’ve started from a variety of corrals over the years and sometimes had plenty of room, and other times it was a standstill, with no relation to when I started or my pace. Started from the back of C for the full this time and it was smooth running through, and literally no wait for a castle pic.

I meant to mention, too, that I was passed by 6 pace groups that I noticed (but there had to have been a 7th I didn’t notice), and only once was I “swallowed” up by one. I ran with it for a bit, but it was just too tightly bunched for my comfort and I stopped for a pic to let it pass by.

 

[Jason Bryer]

All of this, and while I sympathize with people who get sick or injured, we accept their no refunds/no transfers/no deferrals policy when we hit that register button. Since they sell out, they aren't being held to the fire to offer race insurance or deferrals. They may have been generous during the pandemic, but it's also their prerogative to hold to their policy once again.

Yes, but I wonder how many people ran this weekend with mild Covid or some other illness because they didn't want to loose their registration. They put everyone else at risk.