Marathon Weekend 2018

[rteetz]

AS PART OF THE DOPEY CHALLENGE!! What?!?! Who does that for their first marathon?!? That's just crazy (and very, very impressive). I love telling people about those Disney runners who'd never done a marathon but ran Goofy or Dopey as their first. That's a little crazy but a lot courageous and inspirational. Tip of the cap to all of you folks.

A lot of people do that. I did. Even if people do just the marathon as their first they are still amazing. I may be crazy but I love it lol.

 

[DopeyBadger]

So that's where you were! I looked for you guys all over that place the morning of the full and couldn't find you! I finally gave up and found a place to huddle myself. Mylar rescue blankets are normally great pre-race warmers but in last year's winds it was more like a Mylar flowing cape!

Yea, same place as this year's meet in the "L". But I'm sure I wasn't very visible huddled on the ground. I did have the sign out, but I had a hard time staying warm and staying visible.

Hi to my new DIS strava friends.

What motivates you to run and why runDisney?

The motivation has changed over the years. At first it was to lose weight (lost 100 lbs), then it was to run a marathon because I was told I couldn't ("should not" should have been the right term since it was 8 weeks out and I had only done 3 miles max), then it was never again to the marathon, then it was "hey, look at this Dopey thing", then it was someday maybe I could BQ. I set the goal of a BQ back in August 2012 before my first marathon. Slowly but surely I've chipped away from a 4:50 down to 3:14. So that allure of a sub-3 marathon keeps me motivated on a daily basis.

Why runDisney? Well I had swore off marathons after my first in 2012. My wife LOVES Disney. I'm indifferent. So she tried to rope me into Goofy after the marathon and I didn't bite. But when runDisney announced Dopey, I was like sure. I was enticed by the challenge of running 3 other events before the marathon. After my first Dopey I kept coming back because my wife loves Disney, my kiddo loves Disney, and I love the opportunity to run 4 very different races. It's been a perfect mesh of my love of running and hers of Disney.

I remember seeing something, I think from @DopeyBadger, to help determine your corral for the 10k, but can’t find it again. Any guesses where 604xx would land? If all the 10k only people start with 60xxx, then it seems farther up than I should be. So I thought maybe it starts at 50xxx, but then I feel like I’d be further back than expected. My pace is probably going to be 10:15 - 10:30. I was in a less injured and stronger state at registration time, so I think I put in 9-10 min/mi expected pace concurrent with my 10k PR. Just trying to determine if I’ll finish before the buses start and therefore drive instead.

Look at your Active registration and see what you put as an expected finish. My guess is a 9-10 (like you think it says) is likely a B corral for the 10k. No guarantee as this is just an educated guess. B corral is estimated start of 5:38am. Based on the info you submitted, I had slotted you into C on the sheet. With the pace you submitted (10:22) you were estimated to finish at 6:50am, just right before the bus starts at 7am (hence green highlight on the sheet). Given the post-race finish, I'd say you're likely to walk right on the bus post finish.

 

[BikeFan]

A lot of people do that. I did. Even if people do just the marathon as their first they are still amazing. I may be crazy but I love it lol.

I'd forgotten you were one of the crazies too! to you too! I admire any runner going outside their comfort zone like that. Like Tom Hanks said in "A League of Their Own":

 

[rteetz]

I'd forgotten you were one of the crazies too! to you too! I admire any runner going outside their comfort zone like that. Like Tom Hanks said in "A League of Their Own":

It's funny I was thinking that when I was running today. I thought to myself if this was easy everyone would do it but its not.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Good morning, runDisney all-stars!

I’m not seeing @rteetz around yet today, so I’m going to hop in with a Sundays are for Disney question based on a question I get from people a lot when I talk around running:

What motivates you to run and why runDisney?

Disney is the only thing that motivates me to run. Three years ago I decided to buy "real" running shoes and do the Wine & Dine Half. The thought of running through the parks sounded amazing. Marathon Weekend will be my 3rd runDisney event (did Dark Side Challenge in April 2016). Local races, the goal is always a PR for the purpose of better corral placement at Disney. We are starting to enjoy destination races too, did a half out in Vegas and the Rock 'n Roll half in Chicago.

I now live a much healthier life. DH & I like visiting the national parks and hiking and it's amazing how much my endurance has improved since running.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

I, like most of you, finished up the last weekend of major running. Whew! I've been following Jeff Galloway plan and he called for 45 mins Thurs, 5 mile walk Fri, 12 miles walk Sat and 26 mile run/walk today. I can't do his with solely walking.

This is what I ended up doing -
Thurs - Snowed Weds night, so instead of grabbing snowblower, I shoved snow for 45 mins Thurs morning. Figured that was a good cardio workout.
Fri - 5 miles on the treadmill (didn't want to be outside at 4:45 in the dark with 7 degree temps)
Sat - 12 mile run. Pace at 45 secs per mile slower then what I'm hoping for with Disney half
Sun - Decided before today didn't really need to go 26 and went for 23. Only got in 22.05 miles and pace was 1 min slower then what I'm hope for with Disney full. Our streets are covered in snow but it is a slushy mess, so about 80% of the run it was feeling like you were running through sand. I was in front of my house at 22.05 miles and called it good, figuring it's not like I'm getting a good "run" movement in with feeling like I'm in sand.

Even though the 22 miles I ran today is the furthest I have run, I feel confident going into Dopey. My legs feel decent (it's been 3 hours since I finished the race) and I'm not overly tired. I am hoping the excitement of Disney is going to carry me through the last 4+ miles. This weekend both my runs were through my subdivision on a 4.3 mile loop so all I'm looking at is the same houses numbers times.

 

[rteetz]

So... it looks like there will be characters at the expo. I am not sure if it will be the same character there every day but Mickey will be on hand on January 5th at the expo for sure.

 

[Disney at Heart]

Well, DH has been running since i met him in 1977 right out of Basic Training. Back then I would ride a bike along side of him while he ran! In 1995, we went to Disney World for his and Disney's first Marathon. And marathon weekend became regular thing. After retiring from school teaching in 2013, I decided that I would give it a try, so I trained for TOT 10 miler. It was a good hobby to keep me busy, help me keep healthy, and spend couples time with DH. And this:

I run because I am lucky enough to be able to and it provides me with an outlet from stress, an opportunity to challenge myself and because I love the outdoors. I am not fast, but I am tenacious and running gives me the chance to sink my teeth into something and see it through. This morning during my long run I was listening to some podcasts and one of the hosts quoted a runner who said something like " running for me is the opportunity to bite off more than I can chew, but that is ok because I can chew like hell". That is running for me and why I love it. I began running runDisney because I love Disney and I love running, it was a perfect fit and is a fantastic vacation. An added bonus has been the runDisney Threads and getting to be a part of this community!

And now I am about to start my 6th year of being addicted!

@Keels Nice Pedicure! And you are an inspiration, not only as a runner, but for your knowledge of Disney, computers, sports, and your ability to motivate others, make cute costumes, and more (except math).

 

[Keels]

@Keels Nice Pedicure! And you are an inspiration, not only as a runner, but for your knowledge of Disney, computers, sports, and your ability to motivate others, make cute costumes, and more (except math).

Well, now. You’re just gonna make me cry and I don’t like crying in (non-race) public!!

Thank you for the sweet words.

I try my best. We were ALL newbies at some point - I was just a newbie with a LOT of free time!

 

[Z-Knight]

So - I’m working on a longer post for my PTR ... but since you asked!

I was born with a clubfoot, so physical activity wasn’t something I was supposed to be able to do real well. But my parents were committed to finding any solution to the problem, so after a dozen or so surgical procedures and such, I look like this:

View attachment 289178

So, for those keeping track at home ... I’m about two inches shorter on the left side than the right. I’m a 4.5/8 in shoe sizes - and yeah, I don’t really have much of a calf muscle on the left.

I run Disney because the thought of doing a half marathon at Disneyland was exciting to me ... and it got me off the couch and out the door. It got me to run not just one, but TWO marathons. And the people I’ve met in the process have inspired and encouraged me to do much more (triathlons, Ragnar, etc.).

I bag on RunDisney a lot, but the reason I am who I am now and why I have the goals I have is because I saw the finish of the WDW Marathon in 2013 and thought it might be cool to run a race at Disney sometime.

You know you are an inspiration, right? Not just because of some physical limit that you have overcome, but because of your attitude about it and your drive for doing challenges. After your goals of doing ultras, I too have shifted my view and would like to pursue them too - I suspect you have similary inspired others just to run a 5K!

 

[John VN]

I DON'T RUN because I can't run. Bowed legs since birth have always caused knee issues, now bone on bone inner half, so I never did anything. Leaving Fort Wilderness in our motorhome in 2009 on Marathon Sunday we saw the thousands of marathoners so I said to wife we will do something the next year. At 64.5yo, 2010 was our first 5K and we enjoyed the AWESOME ENERGY of the crowd and HAD TONS OF FUN. Returning in 2011 we walked the 5K and 1/2 marathon together then I CHI WALKED the marathon in 4:56:28. First marathon and a Non-Official Dopey Weekend. Walked the first official 5K, 10K, 1/2marathon, marathon Dopey Challenge in 2014. For 2015 I decided to palindrome the weekend because someone threw the CHALLENGE OUT.

2015 MARATHON WEEKEND 5K, 10K, 1/2 marathon, marathon, 1/2 marathon at Fort Wilderness on Monday morning at 3:30AM before ME Bus to Port Canaveral for a Dream cruise then 10K on deck Tuesday morning at 4AM and finally RD Castaway Cay DCL 5K on Wednesday.

Due to furthering knee issues I walked only the Marathon in 2016 and 2017 and still kept my ongoing challenge of exiting the course at mile 15 for my M&M McFlurry and then re-entering the race. Most likely will not be at next month's Marathon, bib 5551, so I will need to cancel our FW reservation and this will be the first missed January WDW stay in 20+ years.

Need to see my ortho about appointment for tibial osteotomy for both legs and then new knees. Hopefully without pain issues and buckling knees I can get back to having fun. With new knees and the recent total right shoulder replacement I can go for my 3rd IRONMAN triathlon.

ENJOY MARATHON WEEKEND you-all!!!!!!

McFlurry John

 

[TCB in FLA]

QOTD: I've been running off and on since high school. I'm not particularly good at it, but I enjoy it and I love the fun of running events. I also like the structure of a training schedule, crossing off each workout. These days I have two good friends I run with, and solving the world's problems with them is way cheaper than therapy. I would not see either of them much without our runs. I also have friends scattered throughout the world (we are a military family), so racations give us a chance to meet up.

Why RD? I used to joke that if I ever ran a marathon, I would need "marching bands and Mickey Mouse." Then back in the summer of 2013, they announced my 20th high school reunion (SIDE NOTE LIFE ADVICE -- DO NOT MAKE ANY DECISIONS THE MONTH AFTER A MILESTONE REUNION IS ANNOUNCED!). I wanted to write a best selling novel, lose 20 pounds and run a marathon beforehand, so I figured that marathon training would do for the last two. Well the full for 2014 was still open (this was the first year of Dopey, so no one was signing up for anything else) ... and I loved it! Well, not the 26 miles, but Run Disney. I've done one race weekend every year since.

I started crossfit about 18 months ago, got serious about it about a year ago trying to improve my lifting. I had the goal of doing a pull-up by my birthday in March, couldn't do it, kept trying, although a nagging elbow tendinitis issue started to really flare up (and has gotten worse, finally under dr's care). Irritated over not being able to do a single pull-up, I convinced myself that running a third marathon and my first marathon challenge would be easier. And I'm way closer to completing Goofy than I am doing a pull-up!

 

[lhermiston]

You know you are an inspiration, right? Not just because of some physical limit that you have overcome, but because of your attitude about it and your drive for doing challenges. After your goals of doing ultras, I too have shifted my view and would like to pursue them too - I suspect you have similary inspired others just to run a 5K!

That’s what this little community is all about, right? Helping each other, inspiring each other, lifting each other up.

You’re all awesome.

 

[michigandergirl]

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

Peak week complete! I was very happy to see that someone had plowed about an 8 mile stretch of my favorite trail, just not the section in the pic above, but this was such a blessing after my long treadmill run yesterday. I was debating whether to go outside or treadmill it today...so glad I decided to go outside. The scenery was beautiful after all of the snow from this week.
Yay for taper time!

 

[roxymama]

You know you are an inspiration, right? Not just because of some physical limit that you have overcome, but because of your attitude about it and your drive for doing challenges. After your goals of doing ultras, I too have shifted my view and would like to pursue them too - I suspect you have similary inspired others just to run a 5K!

Truth. She inspired me to run twelve 5ks.
@Keels send me your address in Florida for marathon weekend when you get the chance. I found more special peanut butter cup chocolate stout .

 

[Simba's Girl]

What motivates me to run? IDK...I started running in my early 30s, on a whim and found that I enjoyed it. I'm not particularly great at it but running makes me happy. And I mean that.

Why Disney? Anyone needs a goal-right?

 

[jmasgat]

@Keels Wow. I already thought your accomplishments were impressive. But now.....this is turned up to 11!

 

[TeeterTots]

QOTD: I was celebrating my 35 birthday and girls weekend at Marathon 2016 (didn’t know this existed) and everyone seemed so happy! Spoke to some runners in the airport and they insisted I could run never having done so. So, march 1, I bought a pair of running shoes and a treadmill and set 2016 W&D HM as my goal! Thankfully it was going to be a night run and I’d already be there....4 HM, 4 10K, 4 5K I’m running my first marathon in 3 weeks!

 

[RENThead09]

So... it looks like there will be characters at the expo. I am not sure if it will be the same character there every day but Mickey will be on hand on January 5th at the expo for sure.

didn't they do that a couple years ago. it was in the tent outside of the J center? maybe?

 

[rteetz]

didn't they do that a couple years ago. it was in the tent outside of the J center? maybe?

I know they have done characters at other race weekend expos but I don't remember them having them at marathon weekend.