2013 WDW Marathon

[jrcohen]

I was looking to see if there was a 2013 WDW marathon weekend topic and I didn't see one so I thought I would go ahead and create one. For my Birthday on Saturday my wife gave me my marathon registration along with tickets to the pasta dinner the night before. We haven't been back to WDW in almost 5 years. I am so pumped. Unfortunately it falls on the same day as the 2013 Houston Marathon, so I won't be able to run that one. But I'm running the WDW marathon!!!!!

[Sleepy90]

Now that's a great birthday gift jrcohen.
Have you ran the WDW Marathon before?

[Amy]

Now that's a great birthday gift jrcohen.
Have you ran the WDW Marathon before?

I agree ~ that is a great gift I bet you're ok with missing the Houston marathon since you'll be running at Disney!

[jrcohen]

Now that's a great birthday gift jrcohen.
Have you ran the WDW Marathon before?

I have not ran the WDW marathon before. I've wanted to for a few years. Well at first I thought I'd run the half. I actually just did my first full at Houston this year. I'm signed to do the San Antonio Rock 'n Roll marathon in November so WDW will be my third in 13 months. The only downside to not doing Houston is I've got a really good friend who was going to be running it with me. Don't get me wrong though I've wanted to do a Disney marathon ever since I did my first half 3 years ago.

For those that have done the WDW marathon before is it better to end a trip with it or start a trip with it? I know after Houston this year it took a number of days for my legs to feel normal again.

[Sharonofwindham]

I have never run a marathon before, but I know how tiring a WDW vacation can be, so if I were you I would want to be fit for the marathon by doing that first, then take it slow during your vacation...have your wife push you in a wheel chair for a while if you are really sore . Great birthday present by the way

[MmeLeota]

Fabulous birthday present!!! 2013 also marks the 20th Anniversary of the WDW Marathon, and I also heard about some course changes.
http://www.examiner.com/article/disney- ... hon-course

Sounds pretty cool!

[theBIGyowski]

What a great birthday present! You are going to love running a marathon at WDW. DW and I have flirted with running the Half in January, so we'll see. She should be able to start exercising here in a few weeks (just had a baby) and if we can get into decent shape by the end of the summer, and there are still open spots, we may try it out. I have run a few WDW Half already so I know what it's all about.

I love the new course and it makes me wish I was running the Marathon...just for the course itself. You're going to have a blast though and we'll expect a good and detailed trip report when you get back!

[Joe90]

For those that have done the WDW marathon before is it better to end a trip with it or start a trip with it? I know after Houston this year it took a number of days for my legs to feel normal again.

I took on the Goofy Challenge in 2011.
The biggest problem is the start time. You have to be at the reception area really early (4am ish). If you have been at the resort for a week or so you will be getting used to late "Fireworks watching" bedtimes. You will be tired. Try to make the Marathon as close to the start of your trip as possible.

Registration starts on the Thursday before the event, If you are doing the Marathon only I would try to make the Friday registration. Whether that means arriving at WDW on Friday and going straight to race registration first or arriving on Thursday and registering on your first full day is up to you. The convention will take up an hour or so....and lots of your $$ unless you are disciplined enough to limit spending on race memorabilia. (You have to get a medal mount at least right?) Your legs will feel tired the day after the run. But a walk around a park will be OK. Your legs are going to feel normal around Wednesday

Best recommendations. Try to get to bed early a couple of days before the run. 20-30min Cold bath for your legs after the run (cold water is good enough, ice is not necessary ) Sit up to your waist in the water have a large cup of hot chocolate. Go for a light walk in the afternoon. If you crash in the hotel room you will be really sore next day.

New course? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... 26awn-I_Xc

I. Am. So. Jealous.

[jrcohen]

For those that have done the WDW marathon before is it better to end a trip with it or start a trip with it? I know after Houston this year it took a number of days for my legs to feel normal again.

I took on the Goofy Challenge in 2011.
The biggest problem is the start time. You have to be at the reception area really early (4am ish). If you have been at the resort for a week or so you will be getting used to late "Fireworks watching" bedtimes. You will be tired. Try to make the Marathon as close to the start of your trip as possible.

Registration starts on the Thursday before the event, If you are doing the Marathon only I would try to make the Friday registration. Whether that means arriving at WDW on Friday and going straight to race registration first or arriving on Thursday and registering on your first full day is up to you. The convention will take up an hour or so....and lots of your $$ unless you are disciplined enough to limit spending on race memorabilia. (You have to get a medal mount at least right?) Your legs will feel tired the day after the run. But a walk around a park will be OK. Your legs are going to feel normal around Wednesday

Best recommendations. Try to get to bed early a couple of days before the run. 20-30min Cold bath for your legs after the run (cold water is good enough, ice is not necessary ) Sit up to your waist in the water have a large cup of hot chocolate. Go for a light walk in the afternoon. If you crash in the hotel room you will be really sore next day.

New course? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... 26awn-I_Xc

I. Am. So. Jealous.

I think as of now I was planning on going to the convention on Saturday the day before the race and just taking it easy that day. My awesome wife got us tickets to Pasta in the Park Saturday night. I figured we do that and they I'd go right to sleep. I know she wants to check out the Harry Potter park in Universal. What are your thoughts on doing the race Sunday, going back to the room to take a long cold bath, then doing a nice slow trip around Universal on Sunday. Then starting Monday making my usual run around the park? If I did do the expo Friday as you suggest, what are your thought on what to do Saturday prior to the race?

[Joe90]

Your right. If you can do the Expo Saturday then pasta then bed. Perfecto How early/late will that be?

I didn't realize you could do the registration Saturday, I ran both days so registered Thursday morning and did a light jog in the afternoon 1 mile 11 mins slow and easy just to get the 9 hour flight out of my legs. I wandered around Boardwalk on Friday and had a really early night (7 O'clock ish). My body was still on UK time so that translates to midnight. 4am was really easy start for me. That is 9am UK time.

People have reported that some of the merchandise ran out on Friday however I can't confirm that. The medal mounts definitely don't

Universal would be possible on the Monday but getting thrown around by coasters is probably gonna hurt.
The Harry Potter ride is gonna throw you around a fair bit. If you are like me you will not notice anything other than how sick you feel. I officially love the whole Harry Potter thing at Universal.....except the ride. The line is great. The ride is Blea. Save the Butter Beer until AFTER the ride.

[cccmouse]

jrcohen - Congrats on the 2013 Marathon. That is really a great weekend. I wish you all the best as you continue your training. I am trying to talk myself into doing the marathon. I did the half the last two years as well as the wine and dine half last year, but I have never run a full. I will definitely be there for at least the half and possibly the full as well as for the 2012 wine and dine in November.

[jrcohen]

jrcohen - Congrats on the 2013 Marathon. That is really a great weekend. I wish you all the best as you continue your training. I am trying to talk myself into doing the marathon. I did the half the last two years as well as the wine and dine half last year, but I have never run a full. I will definitely be there for at least the half and possibly the full as well as for the 2012 wine and dine in November.

Until this past January, I never thought I could do a full. Even after finishing my first half and saying to myself "If I can do 13 I can do 26." It still took me two years and a lot of peer pressure from a friend of mine to get me to do the Houston Full. If All goes well by the time I finish WDW Marathon next January it'd be my 3rd in exactly 1 year. I'm training for the San Antonio Marathon right now; that one is in November. Trust me if you can do a half you can do a full. I say go for it!!!

P.S. We should try to get a Subsonic meet and greet going on around the marathon!!! I think we've decided to start our trip with it and stay the week after. We should be getting in Early Saturday from Austin. I'll spend Saturday taking it easy going to the expo and the Pasta in the Park. After that it straight to bed (if I can actually sleep).

[cccmouse]

Last year there was a SSR meet up around marathon weekend. It was nice to meet some really super people. M-dude and M-aholic did an outstanding job of putting that together. I would be all up for getting together with SSR people again this year.
I am still trying to talk myself into the full. I keep telling myself that the first full is the easiest since there would be no time expectations other than ...just finish.

[Amy]

Last year there was a SSR meet up around marathon weekend. It was nice to meet some really super people. M-dude and M-aholic did an outstanding job of putting that together. I would be all up for getting together with SSR people again this year.
I am still trying to talk myself into the full. I keep telling myself that the first full is the easiest since there would be no time expectations other than ...just finish.

From the running you have mentioned, it sounds like you would be able to do a full ccmouse. I guess a good portion of running more than a half is the mental game. If you believe in yourself, you can make it! Plus, it would be so much fun to do at Disney with all the characters and scenery along the way

[cccmouse]

Last year there was a SSR meet up around marathon weekend. It was nice to meet some really super people. M-dude and M-aholic did an outstanding job of putting that together. I would be all up for getting together with SSR people again this year.
I am still trying to talk myself into the full. I keep telling myself that the first full is the easiest since there would be no time expectations other than ...just finish.

From the running you have mentioned, it sounds like you would be able to do a full ccmouse. I guess a good portion of running more than a half is the mental game. If you believe in yourself, you can make it! Plus, it would be so much fun to do at Disney with all the characters and scenery along the way

That is very true. I figure that Disney would be the best place to try my first full. With all the difficulties that I might face, boredom would not be one of them.