What They Don’t Tell You About WDW Marathon Weekend
I can still remember back to 2010, the year I ran my first runDisney race–the full marathon during the WDW Marathon Weekend.
I remember going to the expo, feeling completely lost but eventually finding my way to get my bib and race shirt, before literally reading every word that was written about what to do on the morning of the race.
After running the race, however, I realized there were quite a few things that they didn’t tell me about making the most of out of the WDW Marathon Weekend and some of what they did say was complete BS.
I’m taking this year’s WDW Marathon Weekend off, but having run either the full or the half in each of the past 4 years, I’ve got a pretty good handle on what one needs to do in order to successfully navigate the expo, get to the starting line, finish the race, and enjoy the parks afterward.
If you’re running any of the WDW Marathon Weekend races this year, I hope this helps and that you have a great race.
And if you’re running the full on Sunday, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be watching outside of the Studios. Look for the beard and make sure to say hi!
We were so disappointed about the lack of characters at the Wine&Dine. Maybe it was because of the rain but we only say 4, maybe 5 characters. Fortunately one was Boba Fett. Heh. We stopped for a picture with him and you’re right, I really like that we stopped for that. Based on my experience at the W&D, I doubt I’d ever run a Disney race again.
The rain definitely limited the amount of characters that were at Wine and Dine this year, and that’s sad because one of the main reasons the price of Disney races is so high is because of the on course entertainment (characters).
At Wine and Dine, they use a lot of characters from the electric light parade, so characters with lights and battery packs all over them don’t work real well in the rain!
I’d totally understand if you never ran another Disney race (I seem to say that every time) but it literally rained on your parade this year. If you can give it another shot at some point, whether it’s W&D or a different event, I’d encourage you to do it!