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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 461 to 471]
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Sid Busch from Goose Creek,South Carolina
(1/10/2007)
"GOOFY NUMBER 2" (about: 2007)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Disney World Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my 13th Disney Marathon and second Goofy Challenge. It was also my 140th marathon over all. The temps were HOT, but that cannot be controlled. Water stops from 17 to mile 20 were out, which has to be corrected; it's a dangerous situation not having fluids. The volunteers at the water stops did all they could do, even giving away their own Cokes and water with ice. My thanks to them, and sorry if I was angry with any of you - I was just tired and thirsty, and needed water, and you didn't need to hear us runners yelling at you. Disney is normally the most organized marathon, so I will not judge them on this one-time error, and have already registered for GOOFY 2008. The course is DISNEY. Where else can you run through your childhood? I am 60, but for a brief time I was a 10 year-old again, and that is worth all the money in the world. I am sure that Disney has gotten enough feedback that this water problem will not happen again, and to the volunteers, please accept my apologies and also my THANKS for being there. To the volunteer who wrote the previous posting, PLEASE don't let this year's experience prevent you from doing it again. We runners really appreciate all of you, and you have my THANKS. | |
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W. B. from Detroit, Michigan
(1/9/2007)
"Loved it! Will do it again in '08." (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first Disney Marathon (Goofy's Challenge) and I found it wonderful. Very warm and humid but GREAT FUN! Wasn't looking for a P.R. - just enjoyed the characters and running through the parks. A little desolate after Magic Kingdom and before the next park, but overall a great race! | |
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J. A. from Florida
(1/9/2007)
"My experience at the 2007 Disney Marathon" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Disney World Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 I am part of the group of perfect 14 Disney World Marathoners. I have plenty of experience running this race. I was extremely disappointed that towards the end of the race there were two consecutive water stops that had run out of water and PowerAde, and that was the first time this occurred. This was definitely the hottest marathon out of all 14. One of the flaws that I see in the Disney World Marathon is the fact that after the race they do not provide anywhere to sit, and they leave the runners to find a spot somewhere along the concrete. They should have seats, benches, chairs, etc. for the runners to sit on after the marathon. Out of all of the marathons I have run, the first thing that I want to do when I'm done is to sit down. Thank you for your time. | |
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T. E. from USA
(1/9/2007)
"No water on the hottest day of the year?????" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 While this was my first marathon, I was shocked that, on the hottest day of the year, several water stops ran out of water and PowerAde, even when they warned us all morning to drink only PowerAde after 4 hours. This was an amazing fault for what is always billed as a well organized race. Half-marathoners told us they had the same problem (no water), so surely they could have been better prepared. In addition, why is the start line so far from anyone? The spectators can't cheer you off - all they have are the extremely loud speakers trying to break your eardrums. Very disappointed in the organization. On the course, while it is fun, several areas narrow down considerably, considering the number of runners. The fans were GREAT! | |
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j. m. from Houston
(1/9/2007)
"Glad it's over!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 There were so many things wrong with this race. The most shocking of all being the lack of gels at the expo!! I have never been to a marathon that didn't provide food, water, and sports drinks at the start. If you wanted food, you had to buy it! Water was provided on one small table that was easily missed. (Where did all the registration money go to?) For those of us that had to be on the bus by 4 a.m., sitting around until the 6 a.m. start was a waste of time. (Maybe it was good to get up so early since our Disney bus driver got lost twice on the way there!) Maybe we had to be there so early because we had to walk for 20 minutes to get to the start line-up! Another issue was how some of the roads weren't opened up. With so many runners in both races, everyone was constantly running into each other and kicking each others' feet. What was the point of that? Either create more wave starts, limit the number of registered runners, or simply open up the roads! I did enjoy all the characters that were out there to take pictures with along the course. Running through the different parks was also fun. I've run 16 marathons and I wouldn't recommend this race, I wouldn't do it again, and I'm glad it's over. | |
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Crazy Tom from Detroit
(1/9/2007)
"Need Less 'Magic', More Planning" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 I ran the 1/2 this year. The parks, the characters, and the spectators are fantastic - it really is a great feeling running through the park. However, the remaining 11 miles of the course are really dull. Unless you like empty highways, that is. While there isn't much the organizers can do about that, they really should be ashamed about the start. SHAME ON YOU!! We arrived at 4 a.m. to sit in a parking lot, eventually to be herded to a different parking lot where we self-segregated into waves A, B, and C. Points for lots of porta-johns, but water was only available in the B section. Everything would have worked had they started the race from this point, with us runners already segregated into our start waves. Instead, they told us to leave the water and the porta-potties 1 HOUR before gun time, to march at least 1 mile to the actual start of the race. Here we were again grouped into A, B, and C but the organizers forgot to put up any signs indicating where the groups were. I was in wave A1, but started with wave B - thank goodness for chip timing. The nastiest surprise, though, wasn't the race, but rather admission tickets. It costs over $70 per person to get into the parks!! Correction - it costs $70 to get into 1 park. If you want to hop around to multiple parks, add another $45 per person. They really should give a discount on admission to the runners. My legs have healed, but my wallet is still hurting from the weekend!! | |
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T. G. from Parsons, KS
(1/9/2007)
"Good overall experience" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The course was great in some spots, long in others. I guess I just expected more time in the parks. Disney characters were fun. Being in the parks was great. Many, many water stops and enjoyed the food along the way. The bananas, chocolate and oranges were great. Really enjoyed the Sharpie signs and the DJ's. I would suggest it to other runners. I thought the organization was great. No complaints here. | |
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C. Y. from USA
(1/9/2007)
"I thought it was FANTASTIC!" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I did the Goofy Challenge and everything about both races was just fantastic. It was definitely HOT, but that's not Disney's fault. I didn't experience the water/PowerAde shortage; I didn't realize there was an issue. High-fiving Mickey, Donald and Minnie as you cross the start line and then seeing all the disney characters in all the parks was just so much fun that I was grinning from ear to ear. I just thought it was wonderful. I will definitely do it again!!! | |
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K. K. from Chicago, IL
(1/9/2007)
"At least I had been warned" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Disney World Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 When you think of the Disney Marathon, you think theme parks, not service roads. I was warned and now so are you: Only about 5 miles of the marathon are actually in the parks; the rest is service roads and highways. When you hear "Disney," you think well organized - not the race. This is the first time I have had to walk over a mile to the start line (for the 1/2 it is over 2 miles) from gear check. The water stations had watered down PowerAde; sometimes you had to take 2 cups since the first one only had an 1/8th of a cup in it. Several times they switched the sequence on you (usually it was PowerAde, then water). Transportation was another flaw, more for the 1/2 than the full. I waited for over an hour to catch a shuttle back to my hotel due to road closures for the race. What I found after I got back to my hotel was that I should have taken the monorail to Magic Kingdom and I would have easily caught my bus there. Several runners took cabs. None of the Disney employees offered this option to me while I waited for a bus. The only good thing they did was to put the characters out on the service roads for the runners. If you do decide to run Disney, take a camera. Most of the time where there is a character, another Disney worker is there who is more than willing to take your picture. | |
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L. J. from Atlanta, GA
(1/9/2007)
"Never again!" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I have run one marathon and 8 halfs. The Disney Half was the biggest disappointment, and I had heard it was a great race. But judging from the 2007 comments posted so far, I am not alone. Registration at the expo was very slow, and the expo itself was not the quality I expected it to be, e.g. compared to Nashville Country Music Expo. While the organizers can't control the heat and humidity, they can control the corrals. Supposedly, there were waves within the A and B letters. However, there were not corrals for the different waves. And no one monitored the corrals because there were C (walkers) in the corral beside me. Thus, there were walkers from the very beginning who blocked the entire path. The path was so narrow to begin with that it was mile 3 before it even broke up any. Even then, I could never get a consistent pace because walkers were constantly blocking my path all the way across the course. The course itself was awful, with only 2 miles inside the park. The rest is all on the most boring road leading into and out of the park and through parking lots. Hard to make that exciting when there are no spectators. To make matters worse, I had friends who finished who did not get medals because they ran out. How can they run out when they know exactly how many are registered? They were told their medals would be mailed to them. That is an insult! Never again! |
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