Marathon Weekend 2026

[marty3d]

Aww now I'm feeling the pressure to sign up for Dopey again!

There must be something wrong with us!

Got home an hour ago and one of the first things I did was block my work calendar the entire day March 11......

 

[The Expert]

I’m “supposed to” be taking that weekend off next year! Maaaaybe goofy. Gotta talk to DH and possibly DS2.

Princess next year is a better bet for me.

Okay so maybe I stick to my plan but also add Princess?? I DID say with my mom living local now, it opens up all the weekends. Running a half together sounds like a pretty easy assignment after what we just did. Now let's manifest a Merida race!

 

[Naomeri]

This is probably only helpful to fellow coastal folks in the south who need to talk themselves down, but I just took a minute to plot out long runs for a theoretical WDW Marathon/Goofy/Dopey and… yeah. I swore off W&D because the stress of long runs in the heat of summer + hurricanes was too, too much for me last year: this would be just as bad. Minus the hard deadline of a race weekend in the middle of it all, but still - off-putting for sure.

I had my whole Dopey training plan plotted out, and it seemed doable. ::narrator: it was not, in fact, doable:: Out of the 434 miles in the plan, I completed about 175 of them.

I will admit to curiosity as to what I could do with Dopey if I actually did the training, but I don't foresee November/December getting any easier to train in anytime soon, so I have to swear off Marathon Weekend--against my will. Plus, I probably shouldn't commit to any more runDisney races until I have a job to pay for them

 

[Naomeri]

Okay so maybe I stick to my plan but also add Princess?? I DID say with my mom living local now, it opens up all the weekends. Running a half together sounds like a pretty easy assignment after what we just did. Now let's manifest a Merida race!

We have until June to get this manifestation working. I'm down for Princess if I can get life back on track

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Shout out to @The Expert for helping me at the Expo & for the positive energy during the time we spent leap frogging during the marathon! I love this community

 

[nancipants]

Okay so maybe I stick to my plan but also add Princess?? I DID say with my mom living local now, it opens up all the weekends. Running a half together sounds like a pretty easy assignment after what we just did. Now let's manifest a Merida race!

I’m there either way. But I’m pretty sure @Herding_Cats will be at MW anyway.

 

[disneyrunnergrl]

After 4 years of dopey, goofy or the marathon I am out for the full next year. I just don’t want to train over the holidays again and I already have an October full on my race schedule. But I haven’t ruled out coming to cheer on Sunday. And now I’m starting to think maybe I could run the half

 

[GollyGadget]

During the marathon yesterday I thought never again. After finishing I told my husband to never let me do that again.

And now I want redemption.

After finishing the WDW Marathon in 2023, I told my husband to never let me do that again. I've run 3 marathons since but he never stops reminding me that he's supposed to stop me from myself

I'm likely out for MW 2026. I'm not done running, I just need a runDisney break. I'll be back.

 

[laurend]

Why didn’t you get them all? Which ones did you skip? I almost skipped a few where the Photopass photographers were having camera problems, but I wanted to get 100% one way or another.

I had time trialed a 1:38 half marathon the day after Thanksgiving and then the whole family got sick mid-December and my last couple weeks of training got borked. I should have been fit enough to tackle a BQ prior to getting sick and with the absolute perfect weather, I took 3-4 miles to decide whether I’d go for that or not (my lungs still said “not!”). I missed the first few stops there, 2 others where the characters hadn’t come out yet and then maybe 2 more where there were technical issues and it was cell phone pictures only. Next year I’ll wait and/or dig my phone out for those ones!

 

[Herding_Cats]

This is starting to feel like harassment

 

[AZMermaid]

There must be something wrong with us!

Got home an hour ago and one of the first things I did was block my work calendar the entire day March 11......

I was just like oooooh that’s during Spring break. That’s a sign!

But then was like uh oh. We are spending March 10 in Bisbee, AZ after my sons swim state meet in Tucson. I was planning on doing a mine tour and then driving home to Phoenix on the 11th. That’s an anti sign. Or is it a sign that we don’t need to go to Bisbee? Hahaha!

 

[The Expert]

Shout out to @The Expert for helping me at the Expo & for the positive energy during the time we spent leap frogging during the marathon! I love this community

I feel like we have that leapfrog moment almost every race! I was sad to lose you when I stopped for the Hercules characters, but also so happy to see you got in TWO rides AND a PR! WTG!!

 

[PrincessV]

One thing I really prioritized this training cycle was sleep. I started sleep tracking and making sure I got at least 8 hours of sleep—which was tough since I got up at 5 am for my runs. The week before MW, I was regularly getting 9 1/2 hours, and I felt great. Same time last year I was feeling burned out and exhausted. I ended up with a higher volume of training this year, but I finished with no injuries and a positive mindset.

I’ve been thinking of your words here since you posted them and wanted to come back to say thank you. Because I think I’ve REALLY underplayed to myself how intensely stressful the last few years have been for me, for reasons out of my control, how much that stress load impacted running, and also how much of those years I spent not getting good, quality sleep. I’ve always needed more sleep than the average person or my autoimmune diseases flare-up, and getting that sleep was never a problem before. But if I look back, there have been soooooo many nights of really poor sleep during that high-stress period. That finally broke a few weeks ago and I feel like an entirely different person. I just had not connected the dots until I read your post. A couple months ago, a marathon was unfathomable: just getting through a normal day was a challenge. Now? Maybe.

 

[Bree]

I’m still undecided about 2026. I can say confidentially, though, that Rogue Two will be making a return in 2027.

I might have to come out of marathon retirement for this only so someone doesn’t end up with wet shoes and a funky rash the next day.

I’ll be back in 2026 for the half and maybe the 10K. MW is my favorite weekend.

 

[3princesandaprincess]

I’m definitely back in for the marathon 2026! DH hasn’t run much the past several years, but is sold on Dopey! . If he decides to go for it I won’t be left out. Guess we will see how registration goes!

 

[cburnett11]

I’m almost certain I’ll be back for Dopey in 2026 for my 9th WDW marathon. For the most part, Disney race weekends are the only races I “look forward to”knowing they will be great. Most of my other races I have a time goal (this is a “me” problem) and therefore they are sorta pass/fail. Disney races are always great because my only expectations are to have fun and/or grab a bunch of pics.

 

[MissLiss279]

I plan to be back for Dopey. I already put my request in to the charity I used this year - so I don’t have to stress on registration day and I help a good cause!

 

[nekonekoneko]

After finishing the WDW Marathon in 2023, I told my husband to never let me do that again. I've run 3 marathons since but he never stops reminding me that he's supposed to stop me from myself

2018 was supposed to be my DW's one and done Dopey.

Sunday was her 7th Dopey medal

 

[KellyKateri]

After crossing the half marathon finish line, my sister decided she was in for the full in 2026. I was thinking about going for the MCM in October for my first marathon (which would line up perfectly with Dopey training) and then tacking on the additional miles training the last two months. Only hiccup is that my fiance may be graduating from nursing school the Friday of marathon weekend… do how dopey is it to fly back to DC post 10K and then fly back to MCO that night to be ready for the half the next morning

 

[NewYKRunner]

After crossing the half marathon finish line, my sister decided she was in for the full in 2026. I was thinking about going for the MCM in October for my first marathon (which would line up perfectly with Dopey training) and then tacking on the additional miles training the last two months. Only hiccup is that my fiance may be graduating from nursing school the Friday of marathon weekend… do how dopey is it to fly back to DC post 10K and then fly back to MCO that night to be ready for the half the next morning

Not Dopey at all, or really Dopey depending on how you look at it. My only concern would be how reliable the airline would be.