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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 441 to 451]
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R. S. from Beavercreek, Ohio
(1/11/2007)
"Disney Marathon - A Good Run Spoiled" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 The Good: - Flat course. :) - Enthusiastic spectators. Go! - The volunteers - God bless 'em. - Plentiful FREE parking nearby. - Hundreds of pre-race port-o-lets. Ahhh. - Running through Cinderella's castle. - Shaded parts of the course. Temps reaching 80+. - Ice for knees/GREAT medical staff! The Bad - Course stations with four port-o-lets that needed many more (just ask the ladies who were urinating off the course in full view). - D-E-F-G runners illegally cutting across grass highway divider to join A-B-C runners shortly after race start. - Too many slower runners in groups 6-wide, running shoulder to shoulder - I know you have a cause, but you're not gaining support by blocking the course. Try pairs, please. - First beverage tables at almost every stop were empty. Why not put an extra person at each "first" table and remove one from the least used "last" table, so all runners do not have to make the adjustment - just one volunteer at each station? The Ugly - Artifical and natural (sidewalk) narrowing of running lanes to 3 or 4 wide throughout the entire race, especially in the parks. Non-elite runners can expect to spend the better part of the day "dodging" slow, large groups and individuals who have stopped suddenly on the center line of the course - usually in the narrowed sections. By race end you will feel the effects of the repetitive braking and sideways motion - as much laterally as forwards. If you wish to simulate a good portion of this race experience, go to the Disney Animal Kingdom on a really busy day - one filled with kids, their parents, and hundreds of baby strollers. Enter the park around 10 a.m. and try to make your way to Everest Expedition - going clockwise upon entering the park (the long way). You will gain a personal appreciation for my perception of Disney's crowded marathon course. Once is probably enough. | |
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T. M. from Hawthorne, NJ.
(1/11/2007)
"Fluid stops were a disaster" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This is my third marathon and I was well prepared. I ran the WDW half last year. No one controls the weather, but the forcast for hot, humid conditions was known well before race day. According to my wife, there were plenty of fluids for the half marathon. Not so for the marathon. As a back-of-the-pack runner, I found several water stops had run out of water and many had no PowerAde. This was especially true in the first half of the race. It got better in the second half, but by then dehydration had done its damage. The weather should have caused race officials to ensure sufficient water and sports drink were available because runners would be using more. Volunteers on the course were supportive and apologetic to us. Spectators for the 50 State Marathon Club gave me a bottle of ice-cold Gatorade. God bless them! Runners watched out for each other, which was good to see. The spectators were tremendous and gave us a lift everywhere we encountered them. The course was interesting in the parks but got a little boring on the roads. The Beatles Tribute Band knocked me out. As a child of the 60's, this was awesome to hear. Overall, with the exception of the fluids, the organization was good. For awhile I thought I wouldn't make it, but I finished with time to spare - a little bushed from the heat but happy to have done the race. My family plans on running the half marathon together next year. I will continue to run marathons from time to time; however, Disney is a great family experience and I suspect in the future I will do the half marathon to be with my family and enjoy the run. | |
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G. B. from Broadalbin, NY
(1/11/2007)
"Well Organized Races" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Disney puts on a great weekend of races. I participated in the Goofy Challenge, which was running both the half-marathon (Sat.) and full marathon (Sun.). This would be my 3rd time back to Disney - once for the marathon in 2000 and once for the half-marathon in 2003. Disney's races are very well run, with a staged start on the half marathon and a dual start on the full marathon with the two sections joining around mile 4. They have lots of music along the course and a small portion of the 26 miles is running through the amusement park sections. The rest is out on their highways, which is kind of boring. You'll see most of their characters along the way and I saw many runners stopping for pictures with them. The support along the courses was excellent. Many medical staff were offering vasoline, ice, Biofreze, etc. along the course. They had food and gels also available and many water/PowerAde stops. The only negative comment I have about the races is the cost. The Goofy Challenge was $190 ($100 for the marathon and $90 for the half), which is getting up there. But I see NYC and Boston are both up at the $100 range too, so maybe it's an insurance thing? I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. One of the benefits of the race is the post-race party, which includes passes to Pleasure Island (their nightclub area), where you saw everyone wearing their medals and walking (limping) around between the clubs. They also had the results posted there, except they don't do Goofy results showing how you did compared to others crazy enough to attempt both. Overall I would recommend running these races at least once just to experence it. Oh yeah - almost forgot, but the races start at 6 a.m., and you are expected to be there by 4 a.m. It's a little early, but it's not that bad. How well do you sleep before a marathon anyway...? | |
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S. C. from Memphis, TN
(1/11/2007)
"Never run out of water again!" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 It was WAY TOOOOO hot for the event to run out of water or any other fluids at the drink stations! You put the runners at risk by allowing that to happen! I just started walking after that because I was afraid I would overheat! | |
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C. E. from Alabama
(1/11/2007)
"Goofy, I Guess" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 This was my first time at attempting to run a 1/2 and whole marathon in one weekend. I thought that it would be really cool to do it at Disney since I was told you get to run through the parks, and it is a lot of fun. Well, this year it turned out to be hot - not anyone's fault at all. However, it was a horrifying experience, since you had to run on so much concrete for both races and spectators were not allowed on the course except at certain points (parking lots of the parks or use your park pass for that day to go into the park). The fans you get at most points are the workers who got paid to stand there and cheer us on. (I asked a cast member about this and they said, "Yeah, we got paid for it.") My mother could not see me unless she was Superman and could fly to three of the parks very fast to see me at each specator point. You only got to run through each park for about maybe a mile or so and that was it, and you ran mostly where the workers worked, behind the scenes. I will never run this race again. The only great thing about this race is that I can say I did it - I finished both races and I got three really cool medals. Good luck if you do it next year; I pray the weather will be better. | |
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C. W. from Louisville, KY
(1/11/2007)
"I had a great time" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was my first marathon. I loved it. I learned some lessons the hard way. (Doing just a large number of 10-milers is not going to prep you for a marathon.) Learning those lessons made me want to run another marathon (I just missed qualifying for Boston.) I figured I would do one and then go back to my favorite - 5 and 10Ks. However, I really had a great time and am now determined to go sub 3:15. I will return to Disney again when I can afford it. The Pros: Going through the parks - I picked up the pace at each mile in the park. The characters on the course. The race support. The environment and family atmosphere (my two young sons loved it that dad was running at Disney). The Cons: Loney roads between parks if not going through a resort. Mile 18 to 21 were hard. If you walk the parks the days before, you might not get a PR, but at Disney, how do you not visit Disney? | |
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Kimberly Bernardelli from Rochester, New York
(1/11/2007)
"Great Course, Organized, and Super Hot in 2007" (about: 2007)
First Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon. Everything was very organized and the course was so much fun. However, the heat and humidity this year was brutal! The only problem on the course was that the water stations ran out of water at mile 19. Granted, I was near the end, but there were so many people around me who were just as hot and miserable - and the lack of water and PowerAde certainly did not help. The volunteers were great, though. I could tell they all felt so bad even though it was not their fault. I hope next year they will make sure they have enough of everything, even for slow marathoners like myself. | |
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L. R. from Plant City, FL
(1/11/2007)
"What a great experience!!" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Ran Goofy for the first time this year, and it was a blast. Already signed up to do the Challenge again in 2008. The only negative was running out of water at two of the water stops. With luck, MUCH cooler next year!! There is nothing like a Disney event. I've done a few of the other endurance events they put on, and they just get better and better. | |
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J. B. from Massachusetts
(1/11/2007)
"Skip this one and find a real marathon" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 Let's see, you have to head to the start at 4 a.m. because they more or less MAKE you stay on Disney property at grossly jacked-up rates; an ugly highway-heavy course with very few spectators; no shade when the sun comes up; and lots of really hard surfaces (concrete, cobblestones), especially toward the end - in Florida, no less, where it's ALWAYS hot by marathon standards. Why did I do this again? Oh yeah, because a bunch of people were running around in character costumes and waving and there were little kids everywhere and OOOOOOOOOOH, this is SOOOOOO America!!! Not. I seriously can't believe anyone with marathon experience would rate this one above one star. I mean, come on, do some of y'all have sunstroke? They must do a masterful job at hyponotizing newbies and somehow making them forget they paid out the patooty for the privilege of entering this sad excuse for a race. And in case you're wondering no, I didn't have a bad race considering the conditions. I guess if you don't care about your time or extreme heat and just want to shuffle through a painful training run with 20,000 friends and drink the obligatory 3 gallons of Gatorade so you can stay out of the IV tent (they did at least have good aid stations), then this one's for you. Otherwise find one that won't break your budget, your metatarsals and your spirit. Like Antarctica. | |
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J. S. from East Coast of the USA
(1/11/2007)
"Below the Disney expected level of performance" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 The course was fun, but it was a hot, humid day, a weather forecast that had been in place for the better part of a week. The race orgranizers had plenty of time to make accommodations for the weather. Because this was a DISNEY Marathon I expected the fruit stop at mile 13 to be there. It was not and it wasn't until mile 23 that we were offered any type of fruit or food. Not only that, but as a member of a small group staying at Disney, no one in my party could get down to the 18-23 mile point to us with much needed assistance. |
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