Marathon Weekend 2026

[nekonekoneko]

I considered Philly, but ran the Harrisburg Marathon. It was a good experience. Two laps of the half course. Very flat, near the river.

My DW liked Harrisburg, and she really did like the Philly Marathon. She hated Washington Crossing in Bucks County.

 

[SheHulk]

My DW liked Harrisburg, and she really did like the Philly Marathon. She hated Washington Crossing in Bucks County.

I ran a the Mother's Day 10 miler in that same park at Washington Crossing I bet. It was perfect for a 10 miler but I can imagine a full marathon there is very quiet, and portions of the course might be challenging too. It's a towpath on a canal right?

 

[nekonekoneko]

It's a towpath on a canal right?

I think so. I believe most of the Washington Crossing races use a lot of the same area. Their marathon was 2 halfs on a trail. My DW doesn't do trail running.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I did my first marathon after years of multiple halfs each year. And because I was doing multiple halfs each year, my base longest long runs were 10 miles for long periods of time. That base mileage gave me a LOT to work with going into a first marathon: experience with how my body felt with various distances/weather/fuel; a solid base of endurance and strength, which meant that big mileage build in marathon training took less of a toll; a good understanding of time commitments and how life outside of running would need to be managed.

Assuming your longest long runs have never been more than 5 miles yet, I’d strongly recommend starting a mileage build now. You can use a Galloway half plan, but the basic is: 2-3 short runs per week, and once you get to 8 or 9 miles, adding a mile to your long run every other week, and a cut-back to half that distance on the opposite week. So your weekly long runs might look like this:
Week 1 - 5 miles
Week 2 - 6 miles
Week 3 - 7 miles
Week 4 - 8 miles
Week 5 - 4miles
Week 6 - 9 miles
Week 7 - 4.5 miles
Week 8 - 10 miles
Week 9 - 5 miles

And then you can play with that a bit, keeping your longest runs in the 8-10 range by repeating the long-cut back-long of weeks 4-9 until you get to that point of the marathon plan. Or go all the way up to 13.1 and schedule a race to get experience with that in the process.

As I and a lot of others will attest, you do not need to hit 26.2 in training to have a good marathon race. So IMO a great thing about Galloway’s plans going so high in mileage is that it leaves room for life to happen. Can’t do that 18 miler in its scheduled week because of weather? No problem: reschedule it for what would have been 20 and go from there. I created my own plans, but I plan for one more really long run than I actually need, just to create some wiggle room.

One other thing I’ll comment on is pace. I am MUCH faster at shorter distances than I ever was at 26.2. I think the majority of us are. Don’t try to hang on to your short distance pace as you go up in mileage - it’s normal and expected that long distances will require a slower pace. You may like slowing down by simply running slower, or you may prefer shortening your run intervals and walking longer: this is the kind of thing you can experiment with while building that base.

Dittos, dittos, dittos to everything PrincessV said.
If I may add a couple of other points to back up all that was said:
1. My longest runs for Dopey and Goofy training were around 9 or 10 miles, mostly because I didn't make the time for longer runs on the weekend. That said, I was doing 3-5 miles 3x week, and leading up to Dopey, more than once I did the 3-5 mile maintenance runs back-to-back-to-back instead of a day off in-between like I usually do. That helped give me some data for the consecutive days thing and what it felt like.
2. I would adhere to a Galloway/Hansen/DBadger or other plan more closely if I were training for a non-Disney marathon and a PR. But I know that at a rD event I'm trying for a fun-quotient PR, not a time PR. I also know that I'll stop for some of the character photos (less than half) or backdrop selfies and those will be defacto rest breaks that I would not have in a non-rD setting.

So 10 mile runs cover the 5K and the 10K, and gets you most of the Half, but the race day energy plus the photo stops will take you that last 3 miles of the Half. That only leaves the full, for which I do a fair amount of walking, but all those 5-mile maintenance runs (or even walks, according to Galloway) will build up the necessary stamina.
YMMV.

 

[KCO5988]

So, what is this DopeyBadger Plan everyone keeps referencing? I'm newish here haha. And trying to decide on a training plan to follow for dopey.

 

[camaker]

So, what is this DopeyBadger Plan everyone keeps referencing? I'm newish here haha. And trying to decide on a training plan to follow for dopey.

@DopeyBadger is a fellow board member who works with folks to provide custom training plans and approaches. Plus, he's a super nice guy! A lot of us have plans that he's put together for us over the years.

 

[jmasgat]

So, what is this DopeyBadger Plan everyone keeps referencing? I'm newish here haha. And trying to decide on a training plan to follow for dopey.

@DopeyBadger is a knowledgeable, incredibly kind fellow forum member who has generated custom training plans for people based on comprehensive questions he will provide. He has gone above and beyond to help people reach their goals.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

SAFD: my goal for MW2026 is to not do any races that weekend, as I’ll be turning 50 soon after MW2027. Instead, I am listening to my body, doing physical therapy, and gradually building a running base this year so by MW2026 I am feeling healthy enough to confidently register for MW2027.

 

[DopeyBadger]

So, what is this DopeyBadger Plan everyone keeps referencing? I'm newish here haha. And trying to decide on a training plan to follow for dopey.

As @camaker and @jmasgat said, I write custom training plans and coach other DIS users to help them hit their goals. I started writing plans for others in 2015, and have helped 200+ different people and just wrote plan #713. I wrote a post several years ago that kind of details the process.

How I write a custom running training plan​

The process is still very nearly the same, but I've incorporated quite a few new types of training runs since then. I think I'm at 50+ different types these days. I draw from several different sources: Hansons, Daniels, Fitzgerald, Galloway, McMillan, Canova, and Schwartz to name a few. My runners span the entire pace spectrum with brand new runners, speedy ones running sub-3 marathons, back of the packers (with a 3:45 HM PR runner finishing Dopey in 2024) and everything in between. So my plans are very versatile and align well with the individual user. At their core, they're built on the fundamental principles of effort and duration versus worrying about miles (although the user sees miles written out). So the end user sees a plan made for them, but in writing I see a lot more similarities in the capabilities of a 4hr marathon runner vs a 6hr one than most. There's quite a few that can attest to how well the plans have worked for them, and occasionally ones that didn't go as well as I had planned.

I just started a new job after 19 years at my last one. So I haven't been posting as much, but I'm still around when I can catch a breath. So if you don't @ me, then I probably won't see it. But most just send me a DM to get my attention when needed. Despite my reduced time, I'm still helping those that reach out via DM. I rarely write plans longer than 18 weeks, so I'm not writing anything for MW 2026 at the moment per se. But I am helping some plan out their 2025 year, and plan out the 2-3 training cycles leading into Sept 2025 when MW training begins.

I advocate for custom training, but here are some example Dopey trainings I've written.

 

[KCO5988]

View attachment 934065

As @camaker and @jmasgat said, I write custom training plans and coach other DIS users to help them hit their goals. I started writing plans for others in 2015, and have helped 200+ different people and just wrote plan #713. I wrote a post several years ago that kind of details the process.

How I write a custom running training plan​

The process is still very nearly the same, but I've incorporated quite a few new types of training runs since then. I think I'm at 50+ different types these days. I draw from several different sources: Hansons, Daniels, Fitzgerald, Galloway, McMillan, Canova, and Schwartz to name a few. My runners span the entire pace spectrum with brand new runners, speedy ones running sub-3 marathons, back of the packers (with a 3:45 HM PR runner finishing Dopey in 2024) and everything in between. So my plans are very versatile and align well with the individual user. At their core, they're built on the fundamental principles of effort and duration versus worrying about miles (although the user sees miles written out). So the end user sees a plan made for them, but in writing I see a lot more similarities in the capabilities of a 4hr marathon runner vs a 6hr one than most. There's quite a few that can attest to how well the plans have worked for them, and occasionally ones that didn't go as well as I had planned.

I just started a new job after 19 years at my last one. So I haven't been posting as much, but I'm still around when I can catch a breath. So if you don't @ me, then I probably won't see it. But most just send me a DM to get my attention when needed. Despite my reduced time, I'm still helping those that reach out via DM. I rarely write plans longer than 18 weeks, so I'm not writing anything for MW 2026 at the moment per se. But I am helping some plan out their 2025 year, and plan out the 2-3 training cycles leading into Sept 2025 when MW training begins.

I advocate for custom training, but here are some example Dopey trainings I've written.

Wow this is so amazing of you! I knew who you were, in respect to this forum and all the helpful posts you make. But wow those plans are so in depth!

 

[Erika10021]

@DopeyBadger - thank you for including examples of plans! In light of the "master" runner discussion in the running thread, do you make any changes to your plans for those who are over 50 or are the plans the same?

And thanks for all your insights! I have read so many of your posts and have been inspired!

 

[TeeKo]

@DopeyBadger - thank you for including examples of plans! In light of the "master" runner discussion in the running thread, do you make any changes to your plans for those who are over 50 or are the plans the same?

@DopeyBadger can certainly answer this for himself
But as a now over 50 runner who has been getting plans from DB for 5 years
Each of my plans is customized based on my current fitness, running goals, and time I have available to commit to training. For all the in depth questions he asks me, I don’t think my age or sex was ever one of them.
DB makes plans for my 25 year old niece and my 53 yo SIL and 54 yo sister and each is highly personalized.
Like others have said, DB is so knowledgeable, he always has a good reason for anything he suggests. He is realistic. And he is SO KIND. I feel like he always is on my side, rooting for me to succeed.

 

[DopeyBadger]

@DopeyBadger - thank you for including examples of plans! In light of the "master" runner discussion in the running thread, do you make any changes to your plans for those who are over 50 or are the plans the same?

And thanks for all your insights! I have read so many of your posts and have been inspired!

Not unless the data points me in that direction. But I have done 9-day week plans instead of 7-day week plans for a few people. Essentially more easy days between hard bouts. I remember working with a master runner a few years ago where he had done Hansons but didn't hit expectations. So we actually reduced from 6 days per week of running to 5 days, and moved the SOS runs a little further apart. He was able to achieve his goal of a sub-4. Memory says it was a pretty significant PR too. So the short of it is, I let the data drive the decision making process.

 

[AZMermaid]

Late but SAFD- planning on my first marathon- eek! I ran Princess challenge in 2019, Dumbo last year and a few Avengers 10Ks back in the day.

I was talking to some swim mom friends and now there are three of us planning on it! One run Disney veteran but also new marathoner. One who did the HI marathon long ago but is a Run Disney newbie. I’m very excited at the prospect of running with friends but nervous because Im doubting myself that they are (probably) fitter and faster than me. And I also literally though “they probably won’t want to meet up with internet strangers at 3:30AM”

 

[AZMermaid]

DVCers. So I own at VGC and AUL. Do I have any shot at MW reservation at 7 months. I’m totally fine with SSR or OKW with OKW actually being my #1 choice.