Official 2018 Star Wars - Light Side Half Marathon Weekend - Cancelled

[rteetz]

In the 2017 Dark Side Event Guide they released today, the 2018 Dark Side weekend is scheduled and on the calendar. And given that it looks like 20,000 runners are signed up for Dark Side 2017, I think the lack of a sellout has more to do with plenty of room for anyone who wants to run instead of not enough people interested in the theme.

However it doesn't appear it was updated before the change. It lists light side 2018 as going on sale on March 14th which isn't the case.

 

[Kathymford]

We were planning on doing Kessel 2018 too; I hope they still manage to call it that. I totally get re-theming the races to tie into the new movies.

 

[Cali Cat]

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/03/welcome-to-our-world-what-is-rundisney/

The Disney parks blog posted a runDisney blog with a picture of the Kessle run medal right on the top. That's an encouraging sign, right?!

 

[Kathymford]

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/03/welcome-to-our-world-what-is-rundisney/

The Disney parks blog posted a runDisney blog with a picture of the Kessle run medal right on the top. That's an encouraging sign, right?!

Well, not to be Negative Nancy, but that's because for 2017, the Kessel medal is still a thing.

 

[derekleigh]

Does anyone know if they are just simply re-theming it for Star Wars or completely changing the theme to something non-Star Wars?

If rD is staying with Star Wars, I don't see why they couldn't have people register.

 

[courtneybeth]

The already registered people are doing the Resistance Run - so it appears to align with the new movies. It's still Star Wars.

There may be more involved to get the sites updated, such as photography. They could be retheming the dark side to match the new movies and could be waiting on the current event to conclude. We don't know and it's all speculation.

 

[D-Trick]

Does anyone know if they are just simply re-theming it for Star Wars or completely changing the theme to something non-Star Wars?

If rD is staying with Star Wars, I don't see why they couldn't have people register.

It's better for them to close registration, make all the changes and retheming they want to do, then open to the public. Otherwise they will get the same backlash they received after retheming the Disneyland Half to Pixar and renaming the Dumbo Double Dare.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Honestly, I think Kessel Run is just the beginning. I think we are likely to see more specific multi race multi coast challenge medals. Such as Dopey Rebel, Rebel Princess, Dark Side Pixie, Avenge the Wine & Dine, etc. People like runDisney medals. They want more of them. They sign up for challenges because of the extra medal. Throwing in a new coast to coast variant only encourages that.

And as long as there is a Star Wars race on both coasts, there will be a Kessel Run. The actual numbers of registered and therefore paying runners supports this. If a race with 20,000 runners that has capacity of 20,000+ isn't sold out , that really means the capacity is sufficient to meet demand. It does not mean that no demand is there.

 

[rteetz]

Honestly, I think Kessel Run is just the beginning. I think we are likely to see more specific multi race multi coast challenge medals. Such as Dopey Rebel, Rebel Princess, Dark Side Pixie, Avenge the Wine & Dine, etc. People like runDisney medals. They want more of them. They sign up for challenges because of the extra medal. Throwing in a new coast to coast variant only encourages that.

And as long as there is a Star Wars race on both coasts, there will be a Kessel Run. The actual numbers of registered and therefore paying runners supports this. If a race with 20,000 runners that has capacity of 20,000+ isn't sold out , that really means the capacity is sufficient to meet demand. It does not mean that no demand is there.

I don't see them cross branding with Disney characters and Star Wars. They stopped that in the parks with Mickey dressing as Luke and stuff. Kathleen Kennedy head of Lucasfilm did not like that.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I don't see them cross branding with Disney characters and Star Wars. They stopped that in the parks with Mickey dressing as Luke and stuff. Kathleen Kennedy head of Lucasfilm did not like that.

I should clarify that I don't believe they would specifically dress any Disney character as a Marvel or Star Wars character. But I would not be surprised to see some sort of additional challenge medal tied to the two race weekends where it's possible to earn Coast to Coast in 8 days. For years, those who ran the 5K and the Goofy called that the Dopey before runDisney formalized the Dopey. I wouldn't rule out some sort of Grumpy Challenge tied to marathon weekend (5K, 10K, Half) or even a 5K,10K, Half challenge tied to the other race weekends.

Based on the recent medal changes runDisney has made I think we're seeing a shift to unique medals each year instead of the slight variations every year. There are only so many ways a regular runDisney participant can display those medals. And it can get, well, boring if they always receive essentially the same one. This year alone, Princess, Disneyland Half, Dark Side, and Tinker Bell all received new medals that are very different from the previous years design with no anniversary race. And in the case of the older races, the new medals are substantially different from the medal they've used for years.

As people have begun to complain about the same medal every year, we see new medals. Disneyland Half may well be going with a different theme each year. When I first started, there was only one challenge event for one race weekend and that was Goofy. Since then they've added an official multi race challenge to every race weekend and have introduced two new Coast to Coast challenges tied to specific race weekends and the Castle to Chateau.

 

[rteetz]

I should clarify that I don't believe they would specifically dress any Disney character as a Marvel or Star Wars character. But I would not be surprised to see some sort of additional challenge medal tied to the two race weekends where it's possible to earn Coast to Coast in 8 days. For years, those who ran the 5K and the Goofy called that the Dopey before runDisney formalized the Dopey. I wouldn't rule out some sort of Grumpy Challenge tied to marathon weekend (5K, 10K, Half) or even a 5K,10K, Half challenge tied to the other race weekends.

Based on the recent medal changes runDisney has made I think we're seeing a shift to unique medals each year instead of the slight variations every year. There are only so many ways a regular runDisney participant can display those medals. And it can get, well, boring if they always receive essentially the same one. This year alone, Princess, Disneyland Half, Dark Side, and Tinker Bell all received new medals that are very different from the previous years design with no anniversary race. And in the case of the older races, the new medals are substantially different from the medal they've used for years.

As people have begun to complain about the same medal every year, we see new medals. Disneyland Half may well be going with a different theme each year. When I first started, there was only one challenge event for one race weekend and that was Goofy. Since then they've added an official multi race challenge to every race weekend and have introduced two new Coast to Coast challenges tied to specific race weekends and the Castle to Chateau.

Okay I'll agree with you there. I just didn't think we would see any sort of cross brand Challenge like Dopey Rebel. Sure they very well could offer a special medal for doing both weekends.

With that said I don't know if I'd like this idea as I've always wanted that coast to coast medal.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Okay I'll agree with you there. I just didn't think we would see any sort of cross brand Challenge like Dopey Rebel. Sure they very well could offer a special medal for doing both weekends.

With that said I don't know if I'd like this idea as I've always wanted that coast to coast medal.

I know how you feel. I would not want to have to choose between Kessel Run and the 10th anniversary Coast to Coast.

 

[alisigns]

The suspense is killing me.......!!!!!!!!!! It's worse than waiting for Luke to listen to Obi-Wan's spirit and use the Force to shoot the Death Star....

 

[mbrittb00]

My wife and I are planning to do the Kessel Run in 2019. Hope that is still a thing. Might be the only thing that gets me to a West coast race.

 

[Figment1990]

I'm starting to think that this has to do with construction and course and possibly something going on in the surrounding Anaheim area that is out of Disney's control. If it was just a challenge name change, they would have completed that by now. If it was related to something revealed at the Star Wars Celebration or in the trailer, we would see something by now. I know run Disney notoriously gets busy right around their races (and this weekend is DarkSide) but I still think if it was just a name change, they would have had that all ready to go and it would be up. IF nothing is said about this during this weekend's star wars race, then my money is on something more than a name change. Such as course changes (a fairly dramatic one), or distance change (like maybe they can't do all three 5k, 10k, and half this year for some reason), date change, or some legal/employee thing (total speculation based on the whole "no more volunteers" discussion in another thread). It just doesn't make sense that they would be holding up the registration this much just to retheme the challenge. Could they be dropping the Light Side in 2018 to push people into the WDW Dark Side for some reason? ALL speculation but man the suspense is killing me.

 

[rteetz]

I'm starting to think that this has to do with construction and course and possibly something going on in the surrounding Anaheim area that is out of Disney's control. If it was just a challenge name change, they would have completed that by now. If it was related to something revealed at the Star Wars Celebration or in the trailer, we would see something by now. I know run Disney notoriously gets busy right around their races (and this weekend is DarkSide) but I still think if it was just a name change, they would have had that all ready to go and it would be up. IF nothing is said about this during this weekend's star wars race, then my money is on something more than a name change. Such as course changes (a fairly dramatic one), or distance change (like maybe they can't do all three 5k, 10k, and half this year for some reason), date change, or some legal/employee thing (total speculation based on the whole "no more volunteers" discussion in another thread). It just doesn't make sense that they would be holding up the registration this much just to retheme the challenge. Could they be dropping the Light Side in 2018 to push people into the WDW Dark Side for some reason? ALL speculation but man the suspense is killing me.

Then they would have to refund those already registered for light side.

 

[Figment1990]

Then they would have to refund those already registered for light side.

I'm not sure that would surprise me too much. But I didn't say I thought it was likely they would cancel it, just, that there is some hang up - maybe they are trying NOT to have to change something and it's taking a while to sort it out. who knows.... I'm purely speculating.

 

[alisigns]

We should start a pool... everyone pick a date that you think general registration will open and the winner gets bragging rights!!

 

[Meggsfication]

I'm not sure that would surprise me too much. But I didn't say I thought it was likely they would cancel it, just, that there is some hang up - maybe they are trying NOT to have to change something and it's taking a while to sort it out. who knows.... I'm purely speculating.

My bf and I think it ties into release for The Last Jedi. We /just/ got our first teaser for it right? So maybe there's something else ad-wise that hasn't been released to the public that ties in with the race so they have to wait before us crazy Disney fans delve into all the minute details to see what's up. I bet they didn't think the pre-registered runners would notice the name change right away either. But we're crazy fans who notice everything.

OR, they've realized the CRAZY early registration was too much for the system. Literally who drops over $1K in a weekend, and is financially able to drop another $300+ PER PERSON, less than ten days later on another race??? I looked at my early link and thought about it, but ultimately didn't have the money because I literally just spent it. And I live in SoCal, I can't imagine anyone's thoughts about it who lives out of state!

Anyway. I could be totally wrong, but I'm neurotically checking that damn registration page at least 3x a day!

 

[Meggsfication]

Has anyone heard any rumors on when registration might be? Trying to figure out finances!

I'm guessing they're gonna push it back to June again, how it used to be. Fingers crossed!