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Disney World Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Disney World Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 4.3 
Spectators 4.0
Number of comments: 818 [displaying comments 421 to 431]
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K. L. from Fredericksburg, VA
(1/14/2007)
"Mixed Results" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was my first marathon so I don't have much to compare it to. I was disappointed with the expo. The first half of the course was great. Almost too great. I found it hard to slow down because there were so many bands, cheerleaders, characters, etc.... Second half of the course was pretty boring, though and that is when you need the motivation. The water stations seemed to be randomly placed. Sometimes you would have two miles between stations, and sometimes a half a mile. Some consistency would be nice. The information for spectators could have been better. My wife found it very hard to figure out the monorail system. We stayed at a condo off of Disney and found it very easy to get to the start and park at 5 a.m.! Much better than 4 o'clock. I will probably be back within 2 years to do it again. I want to tackle the course with better weather! | |
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M. A. from North Dakota
(1/13/2007)
"What's with the start???????" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 I wanted to run this marathon in 2006, but was unable to, so I signed up for 2007 when it became available. Perhaps a one-year build-up of expectations is impossible to live up to. Certainly Disney failed to live up to mine. I did the Goofy Challenge and I'm glad I had the experience, but I'll never go back. I'm from a small state, but have run a couple of bigger marathons - Phoenix and Chicago - and they all seem to think we're able-bodied adults that can get ourselves to the start line on time. Disney obviously disagrees. We stayed on Disney grounds thinking it would be more convenient, but not so. There are busses to take you to the start area, but the last one leaves the hotels at 4 a.m. The race starts at 6, so first you wait around for an hour (with 1 water area and 2 garbage cans - seriously, there are thousands of people, so you need LOTS of garbage cans). Then they herd you through to the staging area and walk you to the official start line to stand for another hour. I'm a back-of-the-packer. I don't need to get to the start 2 hours before the race. I'd be better served with more sleep. The weather was hotter than normal this year, and the later it got, the hotter it got and the less water there was at the aid stations. I was lucky enough to be early enough to get oranges and bananas, but not always water. On Saturday they ran out of medals for the half marathon and people were told, "Go to the information center and we'll see what we can do." A $95.00 entry fee, and that's the best you can do?? Especially since entries were capped.... Also, busses ran from the hotels to the expo, but not from any of the theme parks. If you were in Downtown Disney, you had to go back to a hotel somewhere out on the grounds to catch a bus to the expo. The one bright spot was that busses were prompt for the return trip to the hotels. All in all, Disney should be ashamed to put their name on such a shoddy operation. Save your money for a better organized race. As poor as this one is, it won't be hard to top. | |
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M. H. from Twin Cities (best Marathon around) Minneso
(1/13/2007)
"DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!!!!!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Don't believe the hype! It would have been nice to have "finisher" on the t-shirts, but why have "finisher" on the shirt when you can sell the SAME shirt at the expo for 30-40 bucks! The course was flat and fast, but of the 26 miles, I think you run only about 8 or so in the parks! Lots of dead spots! The expo offered nothing - no kid-size shirts! Very disappointed with the race! The Disney Marathon is all about the dollar! | |
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P. R. from St.Louis
(1/13/2007)
"Fun time but poorly managed" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This is my first marathon so I don't have too much basis for comparison but I have run many races before. I also did not bring my own gels for the race due to hearing there would be 4 stops with gel throughout the course. To my surprise, I found that the first gel station was not until mile 16! My momentum had already been lost by this point. I did not experience the empty drink stations, but I had a decent pace going, so that could have been why. Then there were the spectators; they were amazing. They made this race worthwhile and worth it for me to sign up for the Goofy Challenge next year. | |
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C. M. from USA
(1/13/2007)
"Great experience" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first time to run Disney and I have to say it was a wonderful experience for me. Now I know many are complaining about the fact that along the course, many water stations ran out of fluids but I also need to remind runners that in your preparation and training, you need to learn how your body respones to the elements and that includes running in humidity. If you need more fluids, then you need to carry extra fluids on you. I am sure Disney knew the weather was going to be warm... well, so did we. It did not sneak up on us. I was prepared. I enjoyed it. I will run again next year. Happy running!!! | |
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J. K. from a sofa in my family room
(1/12/2007)
"Volunteers Deliver the Magic!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Disney World Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Thank you to all of the volunteers who made the Disney Marathon ever so special! This is my second Disney Marathon in as many years. Sure, I enjoyed 2006 more because it was not so hot. I'm from Arizona - that sure wasn't a "dry heat." I was sweating my Mickeys off! Okay, enough about the weather. The volunteers were friendly, encouraging and helpful! At every aid station and finish, the volunteers' positive attitudes were refreshing. As for Disney, it's Disney, so you expect top-shelf service. They came close. I would offer a few more bands or characters or something along the stretch from the Grand Floridian to Animal Kingdom. While the sewage treatment plant is a necessity for any developed area, it certainly does not deliver that Disney magic I was looking for. Overall, I enjoyed the race and the characters along the way - where else can you "high five" Jafar and Kermit on a run? My family stayed the rest of the week to enjoy the theme parks. This made for another fun race and fun family vacation. But again, it's the VOLUNTEERS that bring the magic. | |
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D. L. from NYC
(1/12/2007)
"Fun race" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was a extremely well organized, big marathon. Everything went smoothly from the expo, to the parking, getting to the start line, the water stations and the very organized finish area. It took me over 5 hours to finish and I did not experience any water stations not having water or PowerAde - nor did I see any angry runners. Food was plentiful and the oranges were a great treat. All the volunteers were very helpful. The only thing I would have liked was running through the parks a little bit more. Most of the course is on the roads on the Disney property. I will do this race again in the future. | |
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s. n. from Chesapeake, virginia
(1/12/2007)
"Always an enjoyable race" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 6+ Disney World Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I have run this race six times and completed my second Goofy Challenge this year, so you could say I am a little biased. I do enjoy the atmosphere and feeling of runnning at Disney. I do feel they do a good job of making it a memorable race and have plenty of support for the runners. I would agree they could do a better job with their expo but that does not really matter to me in the greater scheme of things. I will continue to run this race becasue it has a great family atmosphere and can be rolled into a larger vacation for the entire family. | |
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S. S. from Spring Hill, FL
(1/12/2007)
"The most boring of marathons" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 3 Disney World Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 O.k., so I'm a slow learner.... It took two Goofy Challenges for it to sink in that Disney is one of the most boring events. Last year it was feezing... and this year it was incredibly hot. This year there were more runners and less water. I had to beg for what little water they had at the 10-mile water stop and then at the 18 and 20, they were out of all fluids. THANK GOODNESS for TNT (a donation is coming your way via Land O'Lakes - World Gym) and the willingness to dump the cups with M&Ms and give us some of their own PowerAde. It was way too hot to run on all those endless streets... and a run by the overpowering stinky sewer plant? Yuck! For 2006, the expo was out of Goofy Challenge shirts except in XXL by Friday afternoon.... This year, since we arrived earlier, we were able to purchase Goofy shirts... but, I already heard them say they had put out what they had. My running partner wanted to get some socks and wasn't able to find them. In years past they had a neat Mickey runner bobblehead. There was nothing like that this year. And where were the shoe bargains? Due to the huge number of runners and limited characters, the lines for photos with characters were too long.... The whole race felt like it was crowded and squeezed as many people in for the dollar. Not something I want to repeat.... | |
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D. M. from Lisle, IL
(1/12/2007)
"Good support, but long stretches without spectator" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I ran the Goofy. Way too humid for me. No need to be at the start so early. We sat for an hour waiting and we were not even early arrivals. Volunteers were great. Baggage check and finish area were well maintained. Course should spend more time in the parks. For the marathon we ran aound the outside of Epcot at 6 a.m. With no visitors we could have spent more of the early part of the race in the park. Should include a park pass with the entry. Probably won't run this again. I prefer races like Chicago that celebrate the marathon experience. I felt that at the end of both races it was important to get out of the way of the paying customers. Fabulous massage tent. Easy access, for runners only. Only sporadic cheering from most spectators. They were mainly standing and and looking for their loved ones while thousands of runners ran by without so much as a "looking good." |
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