Official 2011 runDisney thread!

[Silvered]

I know a bunch of us here on the boards like to train for and run the Disney endurance races so I thought it was about time for us to have our own official thread for the 2011 race year! Share your goals, training and experience, plus feel free to ask questions! We're a community and what's a community without supporting each other?

runDisney Website

January 6-9 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend

Jan 7th Buzz and Woody's Best Friends 5K Congrats to all the participants!
Jan 8th Walt Disney World Half Marathon (Donald) Congrats to all the participants!
Jan 9th Walt Disney World Marathon (Mickey) Congrats to all the participants!
Jan 8th & 9th Goofy Challenge (run both the Half Marathon and Marathon) Congrats to all the participants!

February 25-27 Disney's Princess Half Marathon Weekend

Feb 26th Disney's Royal Family Beauty & the Beast 5K Congrats to all the participants!
Feb 27th Disney's Half Princess Marathon Congrats to all the participants!

March 5th ESPN 5k

Champion's ESPN The Weekend 5k Congrats to all the participants! One year the Hokie will win School Spirited, you will see!

May 7th Expedition Everest Challenge

Expedition Everest Challenge Congrats to all the participants!

September 2-4 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend
(half marathon is full, 5K is full)

Sep 3rd Disneyland Family Fun Run 5K
Sep 4th Disneyland Half Marathon
Coast to Coast Challenge (do DL Half and any WDW Half)

Sep 30th-Oct 1st Disney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend
(half marathon is full; relay is full; halloween 5k 60% full)
(the 5K does NOT include a Halloween Party ticket like last year)

Sep 30th Disney Halloween 5K
Oct 1st Disney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon
Oct 1st Disney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon Relay

Don't forget! Sign ups for the 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (Half, Full, Goofy and, brand new this year, Relay!), Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend and Princess Half Marathon Weekend are open! Sign up today!

UPDATE:New race for Disneyland is finally announced Check out the runDisney facebook for more details!!

[Phylers]

Haha, I was just browsing through the Sports section looking to revive the old Runners' Thread. Great minds and all that jazz.

Shouldn't the title reflect the upcoming race year, though? All of the dates are for 2011, after all.

I'll hop into the fray, though.

I haven't seriously trained in over a month (really since coming out of the Wine and Dine), but I'm looking to do a half around the time of the Princess Half (though probably not that one - I get that it's geared towards women, but as it's open to both genders, there should be unisex shirts available!). I'm definitely game for the ESPN 5k, though, and I'm intrigued by the Everest Challenge.

I'm also still looking into whether or not there will be a Hash at this year's Central Florida Highland Games. The Games are awesome every year, but that the Hash will be back (as I didn't run in last year's).

And while I was hoping to attend and watch - stress watch - the Destin 50, I found out the family condo is booked that weekend. I was looking forward to seeing it - that sand is powder, and I mean powder powder. It's hard to walk on in places, let alone run. My hip flexors and achilles tendons twitch just thinking about it!

[Silvered]

Shouldn't the title reflect the upcoming race year, though? All of the dates are for 2011, after all.

.....Crud. It's what I get for writing it at 2:30 in the morning Hopefully a mod will take pity on little ole me and change it to the right year.

EDIT: THANK YOU STORY!

I've been working on strength training my back since it gave out on mile 9 of the Wine and Dine so I'm just starting real distance training again for the Donald. Here's hoping it's not such a disaster this time But I'm signed up for both Princess races, the ESPN and the Everest. I do want to branch out to do other local races hopefully soon (the one on NASA property in November is one I want to try!) but I want to finish a Disney one first where I know the course. I'm still new to this sport, can you tell?

I'm really excited for Everest. My mom and I wanted to do it last year but she was out of town and it was for the best since I was put on meds that made me super sick that weekend. We're signed up this year and our team name is Dumbo's Revenge (don't ask what it means, we really don't know we were tossing around names over the phone and somehow Mom came up with that and I couldn't stop laughing).

And yeah, while I kinda like that the Princess is geared towards women, it kinda stinks that the shirts and stuff were all fitted for women. Heck, most of the women I talked to couldn't fit in their shirts because they were fitted really weird. I know mine won't fit over my swimmer's shoulders so it's hasn't come out of the drawer since

[Silvered]

It's a week and half till Walt Disney World's Marathon Weekend!

Whose running what? I'm doing the Half on Saturday.

[Phylers]

It's a week and half till Walt Disney World's Marathon Weekend!

Whose running what? I'm doing the Half on Saturday.

I'm ... going to browse the Expo!

Anybody going through the taper blues? Two weeks is usually standard for marathons, right? One week for half marathons? My taper for the Wine and Dine was injury-induced three weeks out, and the two weeks I was sidelined were pretty nerve-wracking. I probably did more than I should have the actual week before the race, but I figured I'd rather get comfortable again than be completely rested.

[Silvered]

I'm the opposite. Injury caused me to be sidelined right after the Wine and Dine so now I'm working up my endurance. I'll be going right up to the wire but then I'll have a small break...before the Princess 5 weeks later

[Figmentfan]

Hi everyone! I saw Phylers' invitation on the other thread and thought I'd pop in and say hello. I'll be participating in the Half this Saturday too. I'm a walker, but I've been participating in Disney's endurance events for a few years now and can't get enough!

This will be my first Marathon Weekend Half, although I completed my first half last October with the Wine & Dine. I've also partaken in the old Minnie Marathon 5K, Race for the Taste 10K, Tower of Terror 13K, ESPN 5K and Everest 5K - and now I'm working my way up to doing more of the longer races. I hope to do the Disneyland Half later this year to get the Coast to Coast medal - for me, it's all about the bling.

Good luck to those of you running/jogging/walking in the races this coming weekend!

[Vinylmation245]

Sometime in the future I would love to do this! I love running and Disney! OMG PERFECT LOL

[mshalloween]

Haha, I was just browsing through the Sports section looking to revive the old Runners' Thread. Great minds and all that jazz.

Shouldn't the title reflect the upcoming race year, though? All of the dates are for 2011, after all.

I'll hop into the fray, though.

I haven't seriously trained in over a month (really since coming out of the Wine and Dine), but I'm looking to do a half around the time of the Princess Half (though probably not that one - I get that it's geared towards women, but as it's open to both genders, there should be unisex shirts available!). I'm definitely game for the ESPN 5k, though, and I'm intrigued by the Everest Challenge.

I'm also still looking into whether or not there will be a Hash at this year's Central Florida Highland Games. The Games are awesome every year, but that the Hash will be back (as I didn't run in last year's).

And while I was hoping to attend and watch - stress watch - the Destin 50, I found out the family condo is booked that weekend. I was looking forward to seeing it - that sand is powder, and I mean powder powder. It's hard to walk on in places, let alone run. My hip flexors and achilles tendons twitch just thinking about it!

The Gasparilla Half is the same weekend as the Princess Half, if you're interested. I'm still thinking about running that (Gasparilla) although I, like you, haven't really trained since the Wine & Dine!!! It's in Tampa and I've run the race before. It's not as nice as a Disney race, but still a lot of fun

[Phylers]

The Gasparilla Half is the same weekend as the Princess Half, if you're interested. I'm still thinking about running that (Gasparilla) although I, like you, haven't really trained since the Wine & Dine!!! It's in Tampa and I've run the race before. It's not as nice as a Disney race, but still a lot of fun

I'd heard of Gasparilla before, but after reading the race page, I'm kind of intrigued. How's the course? I've only actually been to Tampa once to see a hockey game, so I'm not too familiar with the city.

And a general good luck to all the runners this weekend! Everybody healthy and rarin' to go? Feeling revved up? If not, try scrolling to the 9:58 mark in this video.

[mshalloween]

I'd heard of Gasparilla before, but after reading the race page, I'm kind of intrigued. How's the course? I've only actually been to Tampa once to see a hockey game, so I'm not too familiar with the city.

And a general good luck to all the runners this weekend! Everybody healthy and rarin' to go? Feeling revved up? If not, try scrolling to the 9:58 mark in this video.

The course is pretty nice! You start off running onto Davis Island and have a nice view of the water and park of MacDill (Force Base). Then the whole course runs along Bayshore Blvd, which is right along Tampa Bay. You pretty much are running next to the water almost the whole race (and on the other side are the million dollar plus houses). If the weather is nice, it's a GORGEOUS run!! The only thing is is that the race doubles back on itself so you see the same thing twice. However, that's not such a big deal to me when the view is so pretty. One year I ran the race and the weather was awful.. windy, rainy, and cold. I thought I was almost going to get blown off the bridge leading off of Davis Island!

Anyway, I've always had a good time at the race. Budweiser is a sponsor so every time I've ran, there's been free beer at the end. for that

[Phylers]

Anyway, I've always had a good time at the race. Budweiser is a sponsor so every time I've ran, there's been free beer at the end. for that

. That sounds like a good incentive, but surprisingly, after the Wine and Dine, beer was the last thing I wanted. I held on to that free drink ticket until last call and burned it on some sangria, the thinking being, "well, it's got fruit juice, so that'll be good."

And how did everybody do!? Are we going to see some snazzy pics of finishers' medals?

(Did we ever post pics of our Wine and Dine medals? Somebody, did, right? )

[Silvered]

Here it is!



It was slow going and my back threatened at the end but I have finally finished my first half marathon Maybe mom buying me the vinyl yesterday, even when I told her not too, was good karma!

[Phylers]

Here it is!

It was slow going and my back threatened at the end but I have finally finished my first half marathon Maybe mom buying me the vinyl yesterday, even when I told her not too, was good karma!

Congratulations!

That's so great to hear! Well, so great to read.

The medal's pretty neat, too.

How'd your Mom do? Is she still tackling the marathon to complete the Goofy?

[mshalloween]

. That sounds like a good incentive, but surprisingly, after the Wine and Dine, beer was the last thing I wanted. I held on to that free drink ticket until last call and burned it on some sangria, the thinking being, "well, it's got fruit juice, so that'll be good."

And how did everybody do!? Are we going to see some snazzy pics of finishers' medals?

(Did we ever post pics of our Wine and Dine medals? Somebody, did, right? )

That's so funny--beer was actually the FIRST thing I wanted after I finished!! Something about an ice-cold, refreshing beer just sounded so amazing. And it WAS!

I don't think anyone posted pics of the W&D medals. I'll post a pic of mine in a minute.

---------- Post added at 10:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ----------

Here it is!

It was slow going and my back threatened at the end but I have finally finished my first half marathon Maybe mom buying me the vinyl yesterday, even when I told her not too, was good karma!

CONGRATS!!!!!!

---------- Post added at 10:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ----------

Here's the W&D medal:



I definitely think we should post all our Disney race medals in here.. I love seeing them!

[Silvered]

How'd your Mom do? Is she still tackling the marathon to complete the Goofy?

She did! And she did amazing! I took a picture of all her medals!



I was going to do the 5k but she forgot to sign up so I let her take my place so she could have all of them

[mshalloween]

OMG I love the Toy Story medal!!!!!! Now I totally regret not running that. Grumble. Congrats to you and your mom, Silvered!!!!!

[HT_NSU]

I've been wanting to do a Disney Marathon for a while now! Actually, I should probably start with a 5K or half-marathon since I've never done it before. I was going to try to do the one in January this year, but then I got pregnant and decided it wasn't the best time to train for a marathon. I think I may try to start conditioning myself again for next years. It'll help me lose the baby weight and I might be able to convince my hubby to take us to WDW next January since he's being stubborn about going back. I think it may work. Maybe then my little girl will be ready for her 1st hair cut and we can get it done on MS-USA while we're there! I'll knock out three goals in one trip!

[mshalloween]

I've been wanting to do a Disney Marathon for a while now! Actually, I should probably start with a 5K or half-marathon since I've never done it before. I was going to try to do the one in January this year, but then I got pregnant and decided it wasn't the best time to train for a marathon. I think I may try to start conditioning myself again for next years. It'll help me lose the baby weight and I might be able to convince my hubby to take us to WDW next January since he's being stubborn about going back. I think it may work. Maybe then my little girl will be ready for her 1st hair cut and we can get it done on MS-USA while we're there! I'll knock out three goals in one trip!

I definitely would start with something smaller than a marathon for your first!! Are there any local races you could get into for "practice" ?? Maybe start with a 5K, then a 10K, then a 15K, then a half, then a full? I mean you certainly don't need to run ALL those races, but they certainly are fun if they're available in your area! And what a fun WDW trip that sounds like!!

On another topic: I don't think I will ever run a full marathon. Do any of you feel like that? I think halfs (halves? haha) are tops for me. I just have no desire to run any further than 13.1 miles. I might do up to 15 miles, but I don't know any races that are specifically that distance. My dad has been running full marathons for years and it has taken a bit of a toll on his body. He has gotten stress fractures in his feet and I know that his knees are going to end up in bad shape if he doesn't cut down the distance soon!! I've already talked to him and asked him to keep it to half marathons, but he really wants to run the NYC Marathon again this year (he ran it last year and it was his favorite race EVER. And he's done a LOT!) He's insane, actually. He ran the Wine & Dine with me last year and then like a month or so later he ran the NYC Marathon. I hope this year he just leaves it at the Wine & Dine and doesn't do the NYC!!

[Phylers]

She did! And she did amazing! I took a picture of all her medals!

I was going to do the 5k but she forgot to sign up so I let her take my place so she could have all of them

Congrats to her! That's a serious medal haul! Also, whoa , that's a lot of running in one long weekend!

Are you both jumping right into training for the Princess Half, now? After a week or two's worth of recovery, of course!

I've been wanting to do a Disney Marathon for a while now! Actually, I should probably start with a 5K or half-marathon since I've never done it before. I was going to try to do the one in January this year, but then I got pregnant and decided it wasn't the best time to train for a marathon. I think I may try to start conditioning myself again for next years. It'll help me lose the baby weight and I might be able to convince my hubby to take us to WDW next January since he's being stubborn about going back. I think it may work. Maybe then my little girl will be ready for her 1st hair cut and we can get it done on MS-USA while we're there! I'll knock out three goals in one trip!

Sounds like a good plan to me, HT!

Like mshalloween said, it might be beneficial to run a shorter race just to get your feet wet, so to speak, but you can absolutely go from no races to marathons (or half marathons, for that matter) in a year.

On another topic: I don't think I will ever run a full marathon. Do any of you feel like that? I think halfs (halves? haha) are tops for me. I just have no desire to run any further than 13.1 miles. I might do up to 15 miles, but I don't know any races that are specifically that distance. My dad has been running full marathons for years and it has taken a bit of a toll on his body. He has gotten stress fractures in his feet and I know that his knees are going to end up in bad shape if he doesn't cut down the distance soon!! I've already talked to him and asked him to keep it to half marathons, but he really wants to run the NYC Marathon again this year (he ran it last year and it was his favorite race EVER. And he's done a LOT!) He's insane, actually. He ran the Wine & Dine with me last year and then like a month or so later he ran the NYC Marathon. I hope this year he just leaves it at the Wine & Dine and doesn't do the NYC!!

You know, right up to the Wine and Dine (my longest race to date, and my first attempt at the Half distance), I'd have agreed with you, but in the down-time after finishing, I realized, "well, why couldn't I do a full marathon?" And I couldn't answer that question. I'm not actively planning one, but I know that at some point in the future, I'll inevitably go for it.

Bummer about his injury woes, but I've got to give kudos to your Dad! I hear nothing but great things about the NYC Marathon. Health should always come first, but let's be honest: that "finish line feeling" is like the speech from the end of Scrooged. Once you've had it, you want it again.

[mshalloween]

You know, right up to the Wine and Dine (my longest race to date, and my first attempt at the Half distance), I'd have agreed with you, but in the down-time after finishing, I realized, "well, why couldn't I do a full marathon?" And I couldn't answer that question. I'm not actively planning one, but I know that at some point in the future, I'll inevitably go for it.

Bummer about his injury woes, but I've got to give kudos to your Dad! I hear nothing but great things about the NYC Marathon. Health should always come first, but let's be honest: that "finish line feeling" is like the speech from the end of Scrooged. Once you've had it, you want it again.

After I finished the W&D I felt like I could have gone further (I even sprinted the last .2 miles or so), but I honestly don't think I could do double that distance. I guess I could with training, but I just don't want to train for that long of a distance! Running for 2.5-3 hours (I'm not very fast, haha) is enough.. I just don't want to do 5-6+. Maybe down the line, but I don't know.. a half just seems like the perfect distance for me!

And yeah, you can't beat that finish line feeling. You can't beat the feeling while you're running and complete strangers are cheering you on. That's one of the huge reasons I love races--the camaraderie!

[Cosmos]

I'm in agreement that the Half is the ultimate for me. I'm not a big runner anyway so even when I do a half it'll be mostly walking, some running. I did the Princess 5K last year and thought that was a really fun race. I did it with some friends who don't run so we were walking mostly but it was a neat thing to go through the park while it was closed. I would love to aim for the Wine and Dine race this year - I wanted to do it last year, but work got in the way. I ended up doing 5 different 5K's last year instead - 4 locally, and the Princess.

[mshalloween]

I'm in agreement that the Half is the ultimate for me. I'm not a big runner anyway so even when I do a half it'll be mostly walking, some running. I did the Princess 5K last year and thought that was a really fun race. I did it with some friends who don't run so we were walking mostly but it was a neat thing to go through the park while it was closed. I would love to aim for the Wine and Dine race this year - I wanted to do it last year, but work got in the way. I ended up doing 5 different 5K's last year instead - 4 locally, and the Princess.

There were a ton of people who walked most of the W&D so you absolutely can do that!!! I'm really looking forward to that race this year. I had an absolute blast last year! Hope you can run/walk it!!

[Cosmos]

There were a ton of people who walked most of the W&D so you absolutely can do that!!! I'm really looking forward to that race this year. I had an absolute blast last year! Hope you can run/walk it!!

If you do end up walking most of it, does that leave any time to attend the party? I thought when I looked at the times that the party would really be available for those that only took 2-3 hours to finish.

[mshalloween]

If you do end up walking most of it, does that leave any time to attend the party? I thought when I looked at the times that the party would really be available for those that only took 2-3 hours to finish.

It does leave a bit less time but there's still SOME time to do stuff. If you don't check any bags, that saves a lot of time. I remember the lines to pick up your checked bags/gear were horrendous and I can't imagine how long people spent in them!! I think the finish line party went until 3am.. so if you can finish in 4 hours you'll still have an hour there. No, that's not a lot of time, but you'll at least get to grab your free drink and food and walk around a bit.