Man, I can’t believe that it’s been one year since I first participated in a runDisney event. If you are new to runDisney events, you should definitely take a look at my first timer experience articles…
2018 vs 2019
For the most part the experience this year was very similar to 2018, nut this year I ran more events and received a lot more medals (6 total)
- 5K (3.1 miles)
- 10K (6.2 miles)
- Half Marathon (13.1 miles)
- Rival Run Challenge (for completing the 10K and Half Marathon)
- Virtual Half Marathon (13.2 miles)
- Kessel Run Challenge (for completing the Half Marathon and the Virtual Half Marathon)
So that makes 35.5 miles in total and 22.4 of them over three days.
No matter what the distances, the events are first class and always a fun time to be had by all.
5K Event
I ran the 5K event this year with my two youngest kids. We had finally figured out how to get into Corral A (the first group of people to head out onto the course) and we were really excited. Just before they were ready to start the event, they told us that a major thunderstorm was coming our way and they needed to get everyone under cover. WHAT?
If you have lived or visited Florida before you know that afternoon thunderstorms is about as common as alligators, so what was the big deal … let us run! Well, I guess this one was BAD, so off we went to hide inside the building inside EPCOT. Yep, that’s right we got to enter EPCOT at 6 AM while it was completely empty and sit for about an hour inside some of the building just past the EPCOT “ball”. After the storm had mostly past, they let us come back to the starting line, but with a few changes. One, everyone was just upgraded to Corral A, so once you reached the starting line, you just started. No fan fare, fireworks … just go. Two, they had to “modify” (shorten) the race course to make sure that everyone would finish before the park need to open. These two items weren’t so bad in comparison to the rain that decided to continually fall during the entire race.
I have participated in Warrior Dash (Mud Runs) events where you get wet and muddy, but running in dry clothes and shoes, is way different than running in wet clothing and shoes. By the time we were done, we got our medals and headed straight for the car. It was fun, but very wet.
10K and Half Marathon
Thankfully the 10K and Half Marathon had much better luck when it came to weather. Both mornings were clear and cool, which made for perfect conditions to set some new personal bests. The only real difference between these races as compared with the Princess Half Marathon weekend, was that the start line was moved to the Magic Kingdom for the Star Wars Rival run. Up to this point all of the start lines were at EPCOT, but this time we picked up buses at EPCOT and they drove us over to the Magic Kingdom parking area (commonly known as the Transportation center) where we started the races.
This change wasn’t too bad, other than you MUST allow for extra time in the AM and 5:30 AM start times are already early enough, so getting to the busses early enough to get to the start line on time meant even earlier mornings. The nice part about this change was that we got to run through different parks and for the first time I ran through Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios as part of the Half Marathon event. This was fun.
Come run with me … I ran the 5K with my kids, and the 10K with a youth from my community, so if you want to run together during an event, let me know I am always open.
