How to runDisney - Everything You Need to Know Before Your First Race

During the 2020 Marathon Weekend, I had the opportunity to run the 10K with my dad. This was an unbelievable experience, and I’m already trying to talk my dad into running the 10K or half marathon next year. This post is going to be a hopefully thorough guide on how to runDisney. I could never find enough information in one place about runDisney before my first race, so hopefully this will answer any questions you may have about the event you’re interested in.

RunDisney started in 1994 with the Walt Disney World Marathon where there were only around 5,500 runners. In 1995, Disney hosted both a marathon and 5K at the Disneyland resort. As of 2020, runDisney has one marathon weekend and three half marathon weekends all taking place at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida. There are also virtual races and a run weekend in Disneyland Paris. I believe they recently added a princess run in Disneyland Paris as well. Each weekend has a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and kids race in the US, and a 5K and 8K for the Disneyland Paris weekend. Each race weekend includes challenges where you can earn more medals by running extra races. As the name implies, the WDW Marathon Weekend includes a full marathon. This post will focus on races at Walt Disney World in Florida because that’s what I have experienced.

The four race weekends are Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in January, Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February, Star Wars Rival Run Weekend in April, and Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend in November. The first thing to do when you want to runDisney is to choose your weekend. Some things you may want to consider are the time of year, typical Florida weather for that time, the theme you want your medals and shirts to be, and your personal schedule. I chose the WDW Marathon Weekend in January because the weather is typically the coolest of the year, the parks are less crowded as school has started for most students, and since I’m in college, I didn’t want to miss class for the trip/race.

After you choose your weekend, choose which race or races you want to run. I chose the 10K for my first one, because I wanted something a bit more difficult than a 5K but still possible for me as someone who was not in shape when I started training. The next time I go for a race, I want to do a challenge.

When you know what you want to do, make sure you know that time and day that they race goes on sale. Disney Vacation Club members and Annual Passholders get early registration for the races. If you are like me and unfortunately not either of these, make sure you have everything ready to register as soon as it opens. Have an account already created and know the information for everyone you are registering. Certain races can sell out very quickly once registration opens. After registration, you will have the opportunity to preorder commemorative merchandise to be picked up at the race expo. I got a 10K magnet and pin. You will need to have a finish time estimate, or proof of time, when you register, but you can add this later. If you wait to add it after registration, make sure you remember to add it before the deadline. Your proof of time for the half and full marathons will have to be verified from another race. I think the race for your proof of time must be at least a 10K, but I may be wrong. Your time estimate will determine what corral you are in for the race.

After registering for your race, the next step is to book everything involved with your trip: hotel, flights, dining reservations, transportation to and from the airport, and fastpasses. I won’t get into all of that with this post, because it will get really long, really fast if I do. I will say that booking sooner is always the best plan in my opinion.

A few weeks before the race, Disney will put out a Digital Event Guide with information about the race and a virtual goodie bag. This will have the race routes also. The goodie bag includes discount codes for companies who will be at the expo, and some other things. I used a discount code to get a free headband from BondiBand.

If you haven’t already seen hundreds of examples, people typically wear costumes for RunDisney events. I dressed as Belle in her blue and white dress, and my dad wore a Princess Protection Agency shirt that I bought from Etsy. There will be a post coming soon about how I put together our costumes.

I had another runner take this before we got on the bus and left the hotel. I wanted at least one picture before we got super sweaty!

IN ORLANDO:

When you get to Orlando, every racer must go to the race expo at the ESPN Wide World of Sports to pick up your bib and tshirt before your race. To pick up your bib, you must have a signed waiver with you. Print this at home and bring it with you. When I got to the building to pick up bibs, there were plenty of printers available, but I have heard that the printer lines can get long depending on the time you are at the expo. I was there on the afternoon of the first expo day. The shirt and bib pick up locations are in different buildings. There are multiple signs pointing to each building that tell where you can find everything. I had never been to ESPN and had no problems finding my way around. While I was at the expo, I really enjoyed seeing all the booths from the vendors and the runDisney merchandise. I bought a Tervis Tumbler and Minnie Mouse ears. There are photo ops all over ESPN. I was making my mom take my picture about every 5 minutes. In one building there are characters to take pictures with. When we were there, they had Goofy and Mickey. The DJ at expo was playing the best music, but sadly I can’t find any of the versions they were playing online.

This was one of my favorite photo ops at the expo!

RACE DAY:

Tip #1: make sure you eat enough for your race. You will be sitting and waiting a long time before the race starts. I hardly ate anything and got nauseous until my dad made me eat an applesauce pouch after mile 4 that he brought for that very reason.

Tip #2: Go to the bathroom before you get in your corral!! At the 10K this year, there weren’t any portapotties until mile 2.

Every WDW resort provides transportation to and from the race. In my experience, the front desk will give you the times the buses will run, but they really start earlier. My dad and I got there 15 minutes before the start time for buses, and they were already running. The 10K started at 5:30, and we got on the bus at 3:15. There were tons of people at the race already when we got there. There are a few character pictures before the races with very long lines. We saw Dopey, Minnie, Mickey, and Oswald. If you want to get pictures, get there as early as possible. We were there by 3:45, and the people at the end of the Oswald line were not going to be through until 5:15. We didn’t get the picture with Oswald. My dad and I went to wait for them to release runners to get in their corrals so that we could be at the front. We ended up in the front few rows of corral B.

This was at 3:45 in the morning when we first got there. You can see how crowded it already was.

At the expo, you’re given a clear gEAR check bag to check anything extra you want for after the race. There is a table at the race where you check it and pick it up later. Like at ESPN, We didn’t check anything because everything we wanted fit into my dad’s pockets or it was something we could hold like phones.

DURING THE RACE:

Enjoy yourself! The parts of the race outside the parks will get boring, but Disney tries to keep it as interesting as possible. There are characters placed throughout the course, along with screens playing movie clips, people cheering you on, and bands from nearby high schools. Once you get in the park, it is absolutely the best experience ever! You can get some great pictures during the race, because there’s only the racers in the park. There are photopass photographers taking pictures with each character and along the course to get some action shots.

Abu was taking pictures in the Morocco Pavilion.

Another thing I haven’t mentioned yet is the balloon ladies. These ladies keep the required minimum pace of 16min./mile, and are identified by the mickey balloon tied to their outfit. (I’m told some training groups will also use balloons to keep their group together, but the balloon ladies have the mickey balloons sold everywhere in the parks.) If you fall behind the balloon ladies, you can be swept and taken to the finish line by bus. You won’t be able to finish, but you’ll still get your medal. I was in the second wave of corral B, and the balloon ladies, who are the last to cross the start line, were just starting when I was getting to mile 4.

Disney provides different food and drinks throughout the race depending on the distance you’re running. For the 10K, we just had powerade and water. The longer distances have running fuel stops as well as the powerade/water stops like the 10K. There are also first aid booths set up periodically.

I was so happy when I saw how good our finish line picture turned out!

AFTER THE RACE:

After the race, you keep walking past the finish line to first get your medal, then to the runners' area. When you first get there, there will be volunteers handing out bananas, snack boxes, water, and powerade. I think you can only get one box, but as much of everything else as you want. Many people stick their gEAR bag in their pocket to carry all of their snacks after the race. The snack boxes had corn chips, cheese sauce, and other snack foods.

There were also photo spots with photopass people at the end of the race. It’s a good place to get those medals pics in your costume. They have props like signs saying, “I did it!”

After you get all your snacks and photos and then relax for a couple minutes, Disney will have buses running back and forth to each resort. We had to wait for about 2 buses to pick up their people and leave, but at one point when we were loading our bus, there were two other buses loading for our resort. You shouldn’t have to wait too long to get back.

When you get back to the resort, shower and do whatever else you need, but head to the parks later that day. It’s good to walk out your run, and you can show off that new, shiny medal!

We headed to Animal Kingdom after showering to meet my mom and spent the rest of the day there. My dad didn't want to wear his shirt because it was hot, and he didn't wear his medal because the way it rubs your neck is a bit annoying.

 

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