I am looking for a few brave people to participate in the runDisney 2020 Marathon Weekend Dopey Challenge with me, are you that person?
The Dopey Challenge
If you haven’t heard about the runDisney Dopey Challenge, let me just say that the name is about as appropriate as possible.
The challenge is to run during the Marathon Weekend and include doing all of the weekend events. What are the weekend events?
There is a 5k on Thursday. You also participate in a 10k on Friday. You have to wake up early and keep moving because there is a Half Marathon on Saturday and there is a Marathon on Sunday.
Yes, you added it all up correctly, it is 43.9 miles over 4 days, see the reason for the name? It is dope for the adrenaline junkie but it may also make you feel dopey.
The distance is just half the challenge. Why? Participants need to participate in each event at 5:30 AM which means in your corral, you have to be ready to run by 5:00 AM. This does not include the pre-run activities such as parking and walking to your corral and warming up.
What time should you wake up? You should easily wake up at 3:30 AM to be ready by 5:00 AM.
Oh and if I didn’t mention yet, you are going to pay to do this event, which is about $585.
To summarize, you pay $585 to wake up early at 3:00 AM and run 43.9 miles over 4 days. Sounds fun, huh?
I Can Do It, You Can Do It
As I participated in the 2019 runDisney Marathon Weekend 10k and Half Marathon I realized a few things about myself and what it takes to participate in the Dopey Challenge.
First, I realized that I am personally able to run a 10k and a Half Marathon back to back. Adding a 5k run would be no bid issue, so the only scary part is the full marathon.
The more interesting part about the full marathon is who I saw out there running. We stayed for the weekend and Sunday was the last day for us in the parks. As we walked around, we would see Marathon runners, running through the park we were in. I saw all kinds of marathoners, runners, walkers, walk/runners. They also have their own stories with some runners struggling, some not struggling. This is a normal scenario but for the first time, I saw myself in that bunch.
Wipe Away the Stereotype
When I think of marathon runners, I think of these thin, long legged, fit people who, with every push forward, looks like they are running with grace and with the right running form I could only wish I had. Take that picture and wipe it completely off your mind.
The runDisney Marathon is what I would call the “Average Joe” marathon. You don’t even need to be able to run ANY of the marathon.
Can you walk for 26.2 miles at an average pace of 16 minutes or faster? Then you can do the runDisney marathon.
I don’t plan on walking the whole way, but I have been listening to a book by David Goggins called Can’t Hurt Me, where David, who is an ultra runner, like 100+ mile races or runs for 24 hours has had to walk the last 40 miles of an ultra race.
When he talks about what it took to finish, it wasn’t about how he got to the finish, it was the fact that he finished.
Finish
This is the point of the Dopey Challenge, TO FINISH. Come finish with me. Let’s take on this challenge together, we have an entire year to get ready. Let’s prepare and challenge ourselves to finish. If we can finish a Dopey Challenge, we can finish anything.
Have you ever completed the runDisney Dopey Challenge? Please share your story about the Dopey Challenge in the comments below.
