Marathon Weekend 2025

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I’ve never been that into traditional gender roles. I just thought there’d be a lot more compromise. Turns out I was lucky to find a partner with aligned life goals.

Very good to hear.

In my first marriage, we actually agreed on "boy jobs" and "girl jobs". For instance, my jobs were things like taking care of the cars, mowing, taking out garbage, killing spiders and any rodents, etc. I also did most of the cooking and about half the laundry.

In current marriage, it's more unspoken than spoken, but still certain things that fall to me, like the yardwork, vehicle maintenance, going to the grocery store, and still a lot of the cooking/food prep, and I do my own laundry.
It is what works, and DW said it is OK to say so....
;-)

 

[Jason Bryer]

Jumping in on the 2025 thread! I would love to do Dopey again but I think that will only happen if my son expresses interest. He turns 18 on January 7th (day before the expo) so this is the first marathon he is old enough to participate. He did the 5k, 10k, and half (well 7 miler) with me this year. He has done halfs before so there is no doubt he could do it. My priorities right now on getting a six star. I did Berlin last September and Tokyo will be #4 in March.

SAFD: My first runDIsney marathon was a coincidence. As I was approaching 40 I finally got the knack of running after trying many times. I did my first half in September 2017 and looked for a marathon that would time well. MW fit perfectly. I thought it was going to be a one and done but it got me hooked. 6 MWs, 4 Dopeys, and 11 marathons since 2018 and I'm ready for many more.

Anyone know about the age requirements? I assume it is 18 at the time of the race, not registration. Given how crazy registration has been the last few years if my DS decides to do the marathon I want to make sure I can get him registered.

 

[Ariel484]

Jumping in on the 2025 thread! I would love to do Dopey again but I think that will only happen if my son expresses interest. He turns 18 on January 7th (day before the expo) so this is the first marathon he is old enough to participate. He did the 5k, 10k, and half (well 7 miler) with me this year. He has done halfs before so there is no doubt he could do it. My priorities right now on getting a six star. I did Berlin last September and Tokyo will be #4 in March.

SAFD: My first runDIsney marathon was a coincidence. As I was approaching 40 I finally got the knack of running after trying many times. I did my first half in September 2017 and looked for a marathon that would time well. MW fit perfectly. I thought it was going to be a one and done but it got me hooked. 6 MWs, 4 Dopeys, and 11 marathons since 2018 and I'm ready for many more.

Anyone know about the age requirements? I assume it is 18 at the time of the race, not registration. Given how crazy registration has been the last few years if my DS decides to do the marathon I want to make sure I can get him registered.

I think you're right that it's at the time of the race, but probably not a bad idea to email runDisney to confirm. You're right that it's 18 for the marathon.

https://www.rundisney.com/events/disneyworld/disneyworld-marathon-weekend/race-policies/

It says "on race day" for the 5K only so maybe you assume that carries over to the other events as well?

• All participants for a 5K distance must be at least 5 years of age or older on race day to participate and must be able to complete the 5K on their own.
• Participants for a 10K distance must be 10 years of age or older.
• Participants for a half marathon must be 14 years of age or older.
• Participants for a marathon must be 18 years of age or older.
• Participants for the Goofy's Race and Dopey Challenge must be 18 years of age or older.

 

[Bree]

This is on the FAQ page and looks like you need two races at DL and two races at WDW? Clear as mud



Seems like a lot for RD to track.

 

[Herding_Cats]

This is on the FAQ page and looks like you need two races at DL and two races at WDW? Clear as mud

View attachment 826369

Seems like a lot for RD to track.

Yeah good luck to rD keeping that organized. This would be possible if you ran Princess/SS/W&D and the Halloween weekend at DL.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Well after the logistic issues at Disneyland I will be soo more great full for WDW runs and there well oiled machine... Dopey 2025 for my 40th here I come!

 

[JulieODC]

SAFD (a few days late): I’ve been a runner since elementary school, and a lifelong Disney fan! I said that if I were to ever run a marathon, it would be Disney - but wasn’t ever serious about that, or maybe didn’t think it was possible.

Fast forward to having my 2nd baby, and I was feeling like I needed something for ME. And pretty much registered for the 2017 Princess half on the spot. I ran that race, swore I’d never do it again, and 2 weeks later registered for the 2017 Tinkerbell half. And the rest is history….including my first (and only) marathon at WDW in 2020!!

I never even considered Dopey - but the inkling was growing in the back of my head, and after this past race weekend, I decided to go for it.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

SAFD
In 2015 I was focusing on getting healthy because I wanted to try having a baby. I am a Disney crazy person and one of my friends said u could run at Disney... so I looked into and I signed up for Disneyland 10k. I was not a runner at all. Infact when I was in shape as a ski racer and competing swimmer and we had to do running I was always the last person... I hated running. But I needed to have some sort of goal and something to get me fit again. I wanted to be healthy for the baby and I was very overweight and unhealthy. So I figured Disney is the only thing that could get me to run... I signed up for 10k cause the 5k had plastic medals and I wanted a real one. Also it was so easy to sign up back then... I used a Disneyland travel agent that guaranteed entry as long as you are buying the package... which we needed. I looved the Disneyland 10k... still my fav race. I ended up running pregnant so helped me stay nice and healthy through my pregnancy. Here is a pic from that race!
I took a break from rundisney.... baby sucks up soo much money... then by the time I wanted to start back up Disneyland stopped running... bah... it took a while for me to convince my partner in crime (my mom) to try out WDW rundisney ( we live in Colorado and running in FL humidity sounded horrible, still is... lol) ... so then had to wait till after covid to do my first WDW rundisney and it was princess! Rundisney helps keep me healthy and active. Only disney could get me running.

 

[GreatLakes]

SAFD: I was living in FL with an AP when I started doing 5Ks. I had always played sports and was a fast sprinter but had never run just to run. About 6 months later I moved back to Ohio but had my AP until February of the following year. I knew there was a WDW marathon weekend and decided I'd train to do a half the following January before my AP expired.

I love the parks and it is nice running through them but I don't really love RunDisney as an organization. I like my races to be not for profit and focus more on the running experience and training than trying to make money for a corporation. Frankly I've found other races to have much better experiences for runners at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

This is on the FAQ page and looks like you need two races at DL and two races at WDW? Clear as mud

[FAQ image]

Seems like a lot for RD to track.

Sounds a lot like: "You may already be a winner!"

 

[The Expert]

For C2C, I think it will come down to how they do the wristbands. Knowing Disney IT, I can see the system just looking for a race -- any race -- on the other coast and giving a wristband to you if you have one. Wristband at expo = C2C medal at Half finish. Again, I think we'll see at Princess how it works.

And if you get one at Princess, shhhh! Don't blow it for us SS racers!

 

[pluto377]

SAFD- I was never a runner as a kid, but did other sports and dance. I got into running in 2001 training with a charity for the Marine Corps Marathon as a way to meet new people. I'm not sure how I found out about RunDisney- google? Runner's World? But in any case, as a lifelong Disney fan I finally did hear about it and knew I had to do it! I ran the marathon in 2009 and 2010. I think I only heard about Goofy challenge after running it and knew I wanted to come back and do it. Well, I ended up having my kids in 2011, 2013 and 2016 so running took a backseat for a few years. I finally came back for the Princess 5K in 2017, did the Princess Challenge in 2018 and then decided I was ready for Goofy. But then I found out they had since added a Dopey so of course I had to do that! I completed Dopey in 2019, ran the 5 and 10 in 2020, ran the 5 and 10 virtually in 2021, attempted Dopey in 2022 (pulled myself from the marathon at mile 20), ran 5, 10 and Half in 2023, and ran 10 and Half in 2024. Whew, that was a long story. Not sure where I'm going from here. I'm a little burnt on racing right now (although I'm signed up for the NYC Half on March 17). I really enjoy Marathon Weekend and want to go back in 2025, but we'll see. I'm getting kind of tired of doing it solo so maybe it'll be a family trip for Princess next year.

 

[fatmanatee]

SAFD: I was a pretty casual runner starting in college, came in and out of it over the years. Randomly decided to sign up for my first half marathon in 2015 (Atlantic City), did that, then discovered that they hold Star Wars themed races at Disneyland in 2016. I have friends out there so I decided to make a trip out of it, did it again in 2017 and also decided to give the WDW version a try. Was going to do it again in 2020 but COVID happened and between this forum and RunArnoRun I was convinced that Dopey in 2022 would be a good idea. I've managed to convince myself to do a race weekend every year since then.

 

[Stitch&Co.]

Remember that C2C was announced well before they announced the Halloween DL race. So at that point everyone was basing their C2C plan around DL HM and a WDW weekend. I imagine that anyone who did the DL half and does either Princess, SS, or W&D will get the other C2C medal regardless of whether they got the one for MW.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I'm seeing a common theme of Adult Onset Running Affliction.

Not a bad thing, just noticing....

 

[cburnett11]

SAFD:
For me, the Disney love was first… but the running pushed me into run Disney. I honestly don’t know how many trips my wife and I have taken to WDW since first going in 1989. Prior to that I went to WDW as a youngster in 1972 and DL in 1975.

My kids ran in middle and high school. The varsity coach loved running so much that I wanted to run. So I lost about 60 pounds in 2011 (before running) and decided to give it a go. Started running in Spring of 2012 by doing couch25k on my phone. Within 18 months I had run my first half and was seemingly content to doing halves. Never even considered a full even though friends asked me when/if I'd ever do one. I just couldn't get my head around running that far.

Fast forward to January 2015. My DD had a long break between semesters in college and we decided to do a January trip to celebrate how well school was going. We were standing at the HS entrance for rope drop and I could see some of the marathon leaders running through and out of the park. I get the idea.... "If I was ever going to do ONE marathon, I guess this would be the place to do it". So I signed up and did my first marathon January 2016. I've now done 20 fulls, with 7 of them being WDW (4 “just the”, 2 Dopeys, and 1 Goofy). They are always fun and I’ll probably try to do always Dopey moving forward.

So in summary, I’ve always loved Disney. Someone else got me into running, but it was runDisney that pushed me into the marathon distance.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Let's go back to the beginning, the chicken and egg question, if you will. How did you find and get involved in RunDisney? Were you a runner who came across RunDisney looking for cool races? Were you a Disney fan who got drawn into running by the siren song of running through the parks? Were you both runner and Disney fan with RunDisney providing the chocolate and peanut butter combination of your two hobbies? Everyone loves an origin story, so what's yours?

Belated SAFD - I’m a Disney parks and resorts fan first, runD came second as a way to expand our enjoyment of WDW (and ‘justify’ more trips!) plus with the added benefit of being able to keep in better shape, which as I get older is sorely needed. I can’t say I’m some lifelong Disney fan though - my parents took us a few times growing up, but nothing substantial. I was an 80’s kid and 90’s teen so the Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Aladdin era were ever present in pop culture, but I had no real connection to Disney or the parks - for me that all came later in life as an adult.

My running history was on/off casual running… would do the Peachtree Road Race from time to time, Turkey trots, local 5k and 10k’s, etc. But I wasn’t really racing, just casually running as a precursor to beers. The thought of a half marathon seemed crazy to me, let alone a marathon - those people were really nuts.

My wife (more of the consistent athlete between the two of us) was the first to get into runD - she did a few girls trips to run with friends, I think in the 2015-17 range. Our youngest was born in 2014 and she really wanted to train to get back in shape and the trips away were a great mental break. The thought of running myself never really crossed my mind - it was her thing plus with young kids and life commitments it’s sort of hard for us to both train/run events (which is slowly getting better as our kids get older). Until one Princess Half, her training partner had to bail at the last minute so I joined for the weekend for support. We were staying at Boardwalk and the room overlooked the runners going by one morning - that was around when the itch started - I was jealous and frankly felt pretty lazy sitting there not running. By that point WDW was becoming a consistent family favorite destination for us for a variety of reasons - what could be cooler than running around the parks, right?

So I trained and ran Princess one year (2018 I think?), did one of the Stars Wars weekends (that light saber thing they did in the forest off Bear Island road the year I ran is to this date the coolest thing I’ve ever seen), one or two W&Ds. Loved, loved, loved everything about those weekends.

My wife did two Dopeys along the way (I stayed home to take care of the kids), but that always seemed like such a big distance change I felt it was unobtainable. Plus it’s a hard time of year to train and take so much time off for me professionally. But my wife kept pestering me “that I have to do it” - and I finally got over my fears/myself and did Dopey in 2023. Definitely my favorite race weekend of the ones I’ve done so far.

Thank you @camaker for taking over SAFD, given the depth of responses I think you nailed topic #1!

 

[DianaMB333]

Belated SAFD as well..

Following along this and other RunDisney threads.. filling my soul up with your energy and motivation!

I’m in the path of do my best from here to April and there evaluate where I am to sign up or not for the full in 2025.

Long story short… 48 years old, never exercised … I just loved watching sports on tv but not doing it myself … super Disney fan, and one day I read a list of the 20 things that lifetime fans have done in Disney and one of those was running… then I saw a photo of the marathon medals last year, and I thought the 50th celebration were a good excuse to cross that of my Disney fan-things to do …. while being better at how to follow a healthy longevity plan

I signed up for the Princess challenge, trained with the help of DopeyBadger, and loved it!.. I kept the minimum pace required but was consistent and felt good. Then I sort of stopped training again, too many travels, different time zones and many other excuses etc. I started training again around mid year with W&D challenge in sight, but this time around got injured.. different types of knee pain.. and after going to the orthopedist (s) their recommendation was that I shouldn’t be running, it is too much impact for the knees, even with the run walk approach. They recommend stick with strength training, physical therapy, swimming, walking…

I went to the MM and did the 5k and 10k, in theory was signed up for Dumbo challenge at DL, but got covid, vertigo and didn’t feel capable of going.

All and all, I’m feeling reasonably good, not feeling any major pain. Doing the strength and walking and low impact as recommended, still doing run/walk but very slow. So I’ll continue building more “base condition” from here to April and then figure it out if 2025 is the year I can do the full… because one day I will do it!

(I’m signed up for Princess and Springtime, probably will do it walking.. but will be there )

I just love Disney, loved the running events, and while I have been too shy to go to the meet ups, I find all your stories too inspiring and would love to keep doing it. Thank you!

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

As I read these posts, I'm noticing all of the Adult Onset Running victims runners and laughing and nodding because it hits so close to home. In particular the recurring theme of "and I never imagined running a half/full and now I've don't xx of them".

The DW gave me a medal hangar for Christmas a couple of years ago and much to my surprise, as of this month's Goofy.... it is full.
I so did not see that happening. Not in 2009 when I did my first half, and not a few years ago when I resumed running. Totally unexpected.
And that is with the 2022 Dopey Instant Medal Collection getting its own board.....

So for anyone ordering a medal hanger, order a size larger than you think. You have been warned advised.
And for everyone else with AOR, welcome to the affliction.

 

[The Expert]

As I read these posts, I'm noticing all of the Adult Onset Running victims runners and laughing and nodding because it hits so close to home. In particular the recurring theme of "and I never imagined running a half/full and now I've don't xx of them".

The DW gave me a medal hangar for Christmas a couple of years ago and much to my surprise, as of this month's Goofy.... it is full.
I so did not see that happening. Not in 2009 when I did my first half, and not a few years ago when I resumed running. Totally unexpected.
And that is with the 2022 Dopey Instant Medal Collection getting its own board.....

So for anyone ordering a medal hanger, order a size larger than you think. You have been warned advised.
And for everyone else with AOR, welcome to the affliction.

I've added on to mine with an additional rack, added a Dopey-specific hanger, and need to add on again! Definitely good advice.