Disney World Marathon

This was my first marathon and was a truly fantastic event. It was very well organized. I was fortunate to be quick enough to get in the first corral, so the crowd size was not too bad from there and I was able to get most of the photos without much wait. Running up Main St USA and seeing the castle was amazing and I loved every park we ran through. I wish we'd run through the Star Wars area. My 3 star rating for spectators was because the only notable crowd was in the Magic Kingdom.

Overall, I had a great experience at the Walt Disney World marathon. However, there were a few things that could have made it better. First of all, the pros: 1. Even though 5am is an early start, I understand why Disney does that. Once the sun came up, it started to get hot. The high was upper 70s - lower 80s that day. Thank you for the early start. 2. Lots and lots of port-o-johns. 3. An abundance of water/Powerade stations and first aid stations. 4. Nice shirt and medal. Now, for the cons: 1. Powerade in plastic cups? Really Disney?! How am I supposed to run and drink when I can't pinch the cup into a funnel? This was my 8th marathon, and I have never seen plastic cups. 2. There was a fork in the course at one point. I couldn't hear what the person directing traffic was saying so I picked a route. The route I picked was only if you wanted your picture taken. PUT UP A SIGN! Not everyone who runs Disney wants to have their picture taken a hundred times during the course. 3. I didn't mind the long walk from the gear check to the corrals but I heard other people complain about it. 4. Why the random assignment of corrals? Since I didn't submit a recent race time, I knew I was going to be in the last corral. Turns out, I was in corral 3 (of 6). In the first 1/2 mile there were tons of walkers in front of me.

Third Disney marathon and 6th runDisney event. I did the Dopey Challenge this year so the marathon was the final event of a 4 day, 48.6 mile adventure. As is typical of a runDisney event, lots of entertainment along the course, boring sections traveling between the various parks and plenty of friendly volunteers to encourage and cheer you on during your race. Marathon course itself, while entertaining in the parks and characters along the route, was disappointing with the out and backs and awful loop around a water park parking lot. Hugely disappointed Disney decided to do away with age-group awards for the weekend. Admittedly only a small subset care but in the 200+ races I've run, can't recall another race that didn't have some form of age-group awards. No reason given by Disney. Medals this year were almost over the top as they celebrated WDW 50th anniversary. Recommend Disney events for anyone looking for a fun Disney experience. Atmosphere is unbeatable!!