Marathon Weekend 2026

[Z-Knight]

Honestly think the book themes are the cutest they’ve been for MW in years. Finally whoever does graphic design for MW got appropriately creative.

i totally agree...they are very comical and fun. i love this design

 

[KSellers88]

i totally agree...they are very comical and fun. i love this design

Completely agree. I've done the full several times, but always said I'd save Dopey for an anniversary year since I plan to only do it once (no one try to persuade me otherwise! LOL). Then when I saw the book themes, I decided to just go ahead and do it next year. I've seen some people disagree with doing races due to the themes, but I feel like they are one of the main draws of Disney races.

 

[Disneyslowrunner]

When I did my first RD event, you were able to still register for the full marathon until mid-December...how things change. While the time it took for the race to sell out wasn't as quick this year, this was the first year where every browser was over an hour. So, for me, this felt like the hardest one to get into—and I got in the Covid year that was eventually cancelled and the race numbers were significantly cut.

Also, this is the first year I have seen where some of the presale merch is already low on numbers...for the men's jacket, a number of the sizes are already sold out. I am not sure, why—I would think they would just up their order. I would wait, but by the time I got to the expo on Saturday, pretty much anything I would have wanted was gone. How times change...wow! It is great to see running have this much popularity, but it has definitely made things more difficult.

 

[Barca33Runner]

When I did my first RD event, you were able to still register for the full marathon until mid-December...how things change. While the time it took for the race to sell out wasn't as quick this year, this was the first year where every browser was over an hour. So, for me, this felt like the hardest one to get into—and I got in the Covid year that was eventually cancelled and the race numbers were significantly cut.

Also, this is the first year I have seen where some of the presale merch is already low on numbers...for the men's jacket, a number of the sizes are already sold out. I am not sure, why—I would think they would just up their order. I would wait, but by the time I got to the expo on Saturday, pretty much anything I would have wanted was gone. How times change...wow! It is great to see running have this much popularity, but it has definitely made things more difficult.

I started signing up for races when registration was similar. The 2012 Marathon Weekend Half was my first race of any kind, anywhere. My sister had heard about the races from one of her friends and was looking to have someone run with her. She told me about it in late August 2011 and we signed up in September with no idea that a sellout was even possible. The following year, despite knowing we were signing up for the Marathon (that first Half hooked us), we waited and signed up a few weeks after registration. Again, not even dreaming there were any constraints on when we signed up. The following year was the inaugural Dopey Challenge (we had planned to move up to Goofy, but when Dopey was announced we knew we had to go for it) and that was the first time we signed up on registration opening day. As I remember, the craziness had not yet reached fever pitch at that point. I think it was Dopey 2 or 3 where things started to sell out quickly but the Marathon and Goofy almost always stayed open for several months.

The last few years, and this year in particular, have really shocked me with the speed at which everything sells out. It’s crazy to me that the full Marathon is selling out in 79 minutes now. I think there is a big shift in people being willing to register for anything just to get registered for something, if/when their preferred registrations are gone, but it is clear the demand for these races has never been greater.

 

[Zutroy]

Honestly think the book themes are the cutest they’ve been for MW in years. Finally whoever does graphic design for MW got appropriately creative.

It’s a copy and paste character design from the 2024 marathon—they literally just did a palate swap of Mickey’s clothes and stuck a helmet on him. I still don’t get the love for this theme.

 

[camaker]

Now that the dust has settled from registration and 35(!) pages have passed since the SAFD question was posted, I'm going to repost it so that anyone who may have missed it gets a chance to see it and participate:

Good morning, RunDisney All-Stars! March is upon us, which means it's time to crown our favorite dining location in March Magical Madness! We picked our top four dining locations from each park, setting up our very own Sweet Sixteen (with some very sweet option in there, indeed), and now they'll go head to head to see which comes out on top.

Pick your favorite from each match-up in the bracket below. At the end of the week, I'll tally all the votes and we'll see which advance to the Elite Eight. I'll leave voting open through the end of the day on Friday to give everyone a chance to weigh in. Here we go!

 

[StarGirl11]

It’s a copy and paste character design from the 2024 marathon—they literally just did a palate swap of Mickey’s clothes and stuck a helmet on him. I still don’t get the love for this theme.

View attachment 947217

I mean I wasn’t there for 2024 so . Not all of us are here for every weekend. And I know it looks like it with the amount of weekend I do do. But I wasn’t ready to jump back into Marathon Weekend at the time it opened. So I sure didn’t know that or paid attention to that

So for you it’s a repeat

That’s not the case for everyone

 

[Herding_Cats]

It’s a copy and paste character design from the 2024 marathon—they literally just did a palate swap of Mickey’s clothes and stuck a helmet on him. I still don’t get the love for this theme.

View attachment 947217

They do the same thing for princess. I feel like *maybe* there's only so many running poses they can come up with for the characters? Stylistically, I don't want them to change things up too much....like I don't want numio-style characters. So while yes, you are correct that they c/p the mickey and minnie for this year and changed the clothing colors and added/subtracted an accessory, the surrounding artwork with the books, the genre cues in that artwork are what people are excited about.

 

[MinnesotaDisneyFan]

Now that the dust has settled from registration and 35(!) pages have passed since the SAFD question was posted, I'm going to repost it so that anyone who may have missed it gets a chance to see it and participate:

Good morning, RunDisney All-Stars! March is upon us, which means it's time to crown our favorite dining location in March Magical Madness! We picked our top four dining locations from each park, setting up our very own Sweet Sixteen (with some very sweet option in there, indeed), and now they'll go head to head to see which comes out on top.

Pick your favorite from each match-up in the bracket below. At the end of the week, I'll tally all the votes and we'll see which advance to the Elite Eight. I'll leave voting open through the end of the day on Friday to give everyone a chance to weigh in. Here we go!

Karamel
Napoli
Ronto
ABC

Skipper
Harbor
Tusker
Flame Tree

 

[PrincessV]

When I did my first RD event, you were able to still register for the full marathon until mid-December...

I started signing up for races when registration was similar. The 2012 Marathon Weekend Half was my first race of any kind, anywhere. My sister had heard about the races from one of her friends and was looking to have someone run with her. She told me about it in late August 2011 and we signed up in September with no idea that a sellout was even possible.

My first race was the Princess 5K in February 2012. I registered for it in… January 2012. A month out. Today’s registration is unrecognizable in comparison!

At risk of sounding negative… the craziness of registration does not hype me up or excite me to register - it actually has the opposite effect and I feel this really strong sense of satisfaction when I don’t register. If registration fell closer to the race dates and wasn’t so crazy, I’d have little or no hesitation about signing up: this isn’t about not wanting to do any races - it’s specifically limited to registration. It’s very strange.

 

[AZMermaid]

Now that the dust has settled from registration and 35(!) pages have passed since the SAFD question was posted, I'm going to repost it so that anyone who may have missed it gets a chance to see it and participate:

Good morning, RunDisney All-Stars! March is upon us, which means it's time to crown our favorite dining location in March Magical Madness! We picked our top four dining locations from each park, setting up our very own Sweet Sixteen (with some very sweet option in there, indeed), and now they'll go head to head to see which comes out on top.

Pick your favorite from each match-up in the bracket below. At the end of the week, I'll tally all the votes and we'll see which advance to the Elite Eight. I'll leave voting open through the end of the day on Friday to give everyone a chance to weigh in. Here we go!

Karmel
Via Napoli
Brown Derby
No opinion

Skippers cantina
Gaston’s Tavern
Yak and Yeti
Flame Tree

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Now that the dust has settled from registration and 35(!) pages have passed since the SAFD question was posted, I'm going to repost it so that anyone who may have missed it gets a chance to see it and participate:

Good morning, RunDisney All-Stars! March is upon us, which means it's time to crown our favorite dining location in March Magical Madness! We picked our top four dining locations from each park, setting up our very own Sweet Sixteen (with some very sweet option in there, indeed), and now they'll go head to head to see which comes out on top.

Pick your favorite from each match-up in the bracket below. At the end of the week, I'll tally all the votes and we'll see which advance to the Elite Eight. I'll leave voting open through the end of the day on Friday to give everyone a chance to weigh in. Here we go!

Les Halles
Via Napoli
No vote (somehow have not done either)
Baseline Taphouse

Skipper's Canteen
Harbor House
No vote (again, have not done either)
Satu'li Canteen

 

[Zutroy]

They do the same thing for princess. I feel like *maybe* there's only so many running poses they can come up with for the characters? Stylistically, I don't want them to change things up too much....like I don't want numio-style characters. So while yes, you are correct that they c/p the mickey and minnie for this year and changed the clothing colors and added/subtracted an accessory, the surrounding artwork with the books, the genre cues in that artwork are what people are excited about.

I hate that excuse because history shows us how great the art can be. It would be one thing if they actually changed the poses, but RD actively uses the same art each race. Compare before Covid:




With right after Covid, where we got the same Mickey art over and over and over

 

[princesspirateandrunner]

SAFD:

Les Halles
Spice Road
Ronto
ABC

Skipper’s
Harbour House
Yak & Yet
Satu’li

 

[LilyJC]

Joining this thread since we finally decided which combination of races we’re doing! Still not ready to train for Dopey over the holidays, so it’s the 10k and 1/2.

SAFD:

Epcot:
Les Halles
*pass*

DHS:
complete pass as I don’t think we’ve ever eaten there

MK:
Skipper’s Canteen
Gaston’s

AK:
Yak & Yeti
Satu'li Canteen

 

[MissLiss279]

I hate that excuse because history shows us how great the art can be. It would be one thing if they actually changed the poses, but RD actively uses the same art each race. Compare before Covid:

View attachment 947348
View attachment 947357

With right after Covid, where we got the same Mickey art over and over and over

View attachment 947351

View attachment 947352
View attachment 947353

Eh… it was practically the same Mickey from the beginning 1994 up until 2016 - with the exception of 2013. However those were all the more metal medals without the color enamel or whatever the finish is. I’m not saying they couldn’t do better, but they have re-used a lot of the same Mickey form.

https://teamrundis.com/marathon-weekend-medals

 

[JackosinDIS]

Random one, but what are we meant to do with the race waiver form they want us to print and sign?

 

[Herding_Cats]

Random one, but what are we meant to do with the race waiver form they want us to print and sign?

You don’t need to print it, just “sign” it digitally by completing the form. You have to complete it to get your expo pass, which will have your bib number so you can pick up your bib. (There is a different process for international runners.)

 

[JackosinDIS]

You don’t need to print it, just “sign” it digitally by completing the form. You have to complete it to get your expo pass, which will have your bib number so you can pick up your bib. (There is a different process for international runners.)

Ah… I’m international… does that make a difference. There doesn’t seem to be an option to sign digitally.

 

[camaker]

Ah… I’m international… does that make a difference. There doesn’t seem to be an option to sign digitally.

You won’t need it until you go to the Expo to pick up your bib.