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Walt Disney World Marathon, Low Lights, Negatives,

11 Less Than Magical Moments About the WDW Marathon

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The Walt Disney World Marathon is widely regarded as one of the most “magical” marathons by many runners.

I’ve run the race three times, and I’ll likely do it again, but let’s accept the fact that there are plenty of “less than magical” moments over the course of the 26.2 miles as well.

Walt Disney World Marathon, Low Lights, Negatives,

Where the Pixie Dust is Missing

  1. The mile (or more) walk to the starting line. I mean, as if 26.2 miles wasn’t already far enough…
  2. The excitement as race time draws near is great, unless you’re in a corral that doesn’t begin until an hour after the race actually starts.
  3. Honestly, how many stinky dumpsters are there backstage?
  4. Speaking of stinky, there’s nothing quite like the smell of (literally) tons of animal poo as you start to get close to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
  5. Running in the parks is really awesome, but the bottlenecks that are created can be brutal.
  6. Two words–Osceola Boulevard.
  7. The guests at the Studios that have no clue there is a race going on and step off the curb right in front of you and expect you to avoid them. Seriously?!?! I’m 23 miles deep into a marathon, and you think I’ve got the energy to get out of your way? Just be glad I didn’t lower the shoulder, because I REALLY wanted to. (Can you tell this one hits close to home?)
  8. Guaranteed you’ll see at least 50 people (men and women) stopped along the side of the road to pee. I’m not condemning or casting judgement, because I’ve done it every time I’ve run the race, but it does take a little bit of the “magicalness” away
  9. The swag bag is basically swagless. Unless of course you bring your credit card, then you can get lots of swag. But seriously, for the price of this race, they can’t give us a 26.2 sticker with a Mickey head in place of the decimal point?
  10. Speaking of sparing no expense, I hope you’re not looking for much to eat after the race. I’ve run 5ks with a better post-race spread than a runDisney event.
  11. The last mile takes FOREVER! When you’re just walking around in the World Showcase the trip from England to Mexico doesn’t seem like it’s that big of a deal. But when you’re 25 miles into your race, that route seems unending!

If you’ve run the Walt Disney World Marathon, either this year or in the past, did I miss anything? Where else could runDisney use a little more pixie dust to cover up the less than magical moments and make an enjoyable race even better?