If you have seen my The Dark Side Half Marathon 2018 article, you know that as a first time runner, I recently participated in a runDisney event. I learned a lot about the in/outs of how these events work, although I am sure that I don’t know everything, but I wanted to share what I did learn about the registration process.
If you want to know more about how to get started see my runDisney – First Time Participant Getting Started article, or what to expect during pre-race preparation see my runDisney – First Time Participant Pre-Race article.
Final Photos
Now that you have your snack pack, you are not done yet as you need to make sure to get your pictures at the photo area. If you are like my family, we have annual passes which include a free subscription to all of our Disney photos. Look on the back of your race bib and there will be instructions on how to access your photos post race. They really can be quite funny. They get those pictures at the worst time, and you never know where your hands might be, or what your face will look like when they decide to take your picture.
Reunion
Now that race is done, you will have the challenge of getting your group back together. If you raced all the way through the course together, then you are golden, but if your group is anything like mine, the first group finished at a little over 33 minutes, the next group 30 minutes later and the last group 30 minutes after that.
Disney provides a Reunion area that allows you to sit and rest while remaining group members catch up. This is a nice area to just chill and cool down.
NOTE: Make sure that everyone in your group knows to meet back at the reunion area if you don’t take a phone with you on the course. We lost one of the people in our group, so when we went back to take a picture they were missing. That was sad, because it was our families first run, and one of the family members was missing.
Parking Lot
Getting out of the parking lot is much easier than getting in, although getting in really wasn’t that bad either. I have to admit, runners or maybe it’s just runDisney people are really nice. When we were parking before the race everyone was nice and let people over into traffic without issue and this was all at 5:00 AM.
When it was time to leave, it is easy to find your car the later you wait. Most people tend to leave after they get done so the parking lot starts to clear out quickly and makes it easier to find your car.
