DISNEY 2011

for everything you want to know (and more) have a look here

http://www.disneyrunning.com/forum/

they have now changed the membership stuff for that forum due to spamming so you may not be able to view things

i try and fit the marathon in at the start of the holiday, then i can enjoy the rest of the holiday and not worry about the size of the plates of food i`m eating

 jpenno, its a great website and they charge $20.00 per year, well worth paying as the advice on their is second to none

Someone said that it was -2 degrees for the marathon last year. Does it warm up during the day? Just wondering if I need to find accommodation with an indoor or heated pool for kids?

Am sucd a procrastinator and indecisive when it comes to choosing accommodation. Hae just spent the last 2.5 hours trawling through places from self catering to hotels andn I just cant decide and am not sure what the going rate is and whether going to a 2 start would be soo much worse than a 3 or 4 star?

pab wrote (see)

i try and fit the marathon in at the start of the holiday, then i can enjoy the rest of the holiday and not worry about the size of the plates of food i`m eating

 jpenno, its a great website and they charge $20.00 per year, well worth paying as the advice on their is second to none

Girlie

Starts to get light about 7am so expect an hour/hour half of running in the dark for both the marathon and the half

Fizz

This year was the coldest in Orlando for about 25years A couple of years ago I ran and it was 66degrees at the start of the marathon and 86 by the time I had finished.   As Isaid I've done all 5 Goofys and this year was by far the coldest I would suggest take two kits one for warm weather and one for cold

fizziofinn, i like to stay in the disney hotel as they offer transportation, extra park hours,no need to carry cash as your room key is a charge card, and everything is 24/7 disney, they work out a bit more expensive but are well worth

most hotels or apartment on international drive or on the 192 would be suitable, virgin do some good deals offering free breakfast

last year was one of the coldest that i can remenber  but i  still used the outside pools, mainly the morning is rather chilly but by the afternoon is fine

jpenno, they do a 21 day free trial for anyone who has`nt signed on before

I stayed at Pop Century this years as no problems - clean, food, buses etc.  Some noise but quieter period so not that many people compared to summer when all the Brits pop over with 55 kids in tow (expect to hear a lot of Spanish/Portuguese a couple of days after the marathon as South America visits at that time).  Certain meals times are busy though i.e 8:30am for breakfast.
No fridge in the rooms- you have to rent these for $12 a day, get one free if you have some medical problems that requires one, buy a cheap one for $60 or so from Walmart or go to one of these Disney related sites and join a fridge swap scheme.

Buses picked you up and took you to somewhere near the race areas and plenty taking you back tyo your hotel afterwards.  Not much in the way of queuing on roads either like some cars were having to do.

Last time I was in Florida, it was 25-28C most of the time so quite a change from this year's -5C upwards!  Then again, with the cold, I was thankful I was in Pen B (sub-4?) and got to start running 10 mins before the pens behind

I-Drive is terrible now in my opinion.  Sure it's got plenty of touristy shops, eateries etc but it looks dated and tacky as hell.  It's like a dried out desert with a few buildings lined up, half of which are closed down,  and loads of cars.

Shame Disney don't do the free dining around Jan, not that I ate excessive amounts anyway - mostly snacking on cookies ($3+ at Hollywood Studios!) and various burgers and things I'd read about on theDibb etc (did pop onto I-Drive and bought some bread from Walgreens to have toast for breakfast - cheaper than paying 40c for a slice or two).
Some Disney food prices can be expensive too.  Got myself a Baby Ruth bar at the eatery near Soarin' and that was around $2.50 compared to half the price on I-Drive.  Meal wise, not too bad although portions may be bigger on I-Drive and some eat-all-you-can places there too.  You can only eat so many burgers and fries at Disney.

I'm a big fan of Olive Garden (Pasta Soups Salads )

 But the only problem all the eateries are busy of a weekend so you can end up queuing for up to an hour at the decent places

I would suggest eat in your hotel of a weekend or eat earlier than you normally would

Was looking at a self catering in Windsor apartments. Might do that as I will probably end up getting a car anyway.

Did Disney with kids about 5 years ago and might look at Universal parks for earlier inthe holiday, so reluctant to stay in places they have already seen.

Beside myself excited Always thought of doing a marathon but didn't like the sound of New York or London, just not me. Then I found this one, superb! Entered the marathon and will aim for the Goofy 2012 I hope. Never run a marathon before! Very fit, run round in circles, always gyming, cycling and now biulding up the running. Training every other day (3 or 4 days a week) and have a 16 week programme I will put into full effect on the run up.

I have told Disney I will supply times in a couple of months as I have two 10k and two 10 mile races booked. I'm assuming it makes a big difference giving times or you will end up very far back in the starting line up and take ages to start? I'm aiming for sub 5 hopefully closer to 4 1/2.

 Has anyone stayed outside Disney before - 20 mins or so. I have stayed in an appartment with family about 20mins away before and it will prove far more reasonable (lots of family seem to be coming with me to support - no one offered when I said I may think about london marathon

Husband will drop me morning of race so I don't have to worry about car etc.

Any suggestions or am I now just rambling with excitment

Will any of you meet prior to Disney - locations depending obviously.

Hello Hello, been offline for months. exams. poo.

Glad to see someone started a 2011 thread. I'm doing goofy, again, despite my knee hurting after 100m into the marathon.

 I really want the medals.

 So which mickey medal did you all vote for? I voted for the all gold one, (the one with the cool shape!)

 I shall now read back and see what the rest of you are up to.

BTW anyone doing california half this september?

Ok, so its accommadation questions, and excited bunnies.

Hubby and I do things a little differently to slowfoot. We tend to spend a big chunk of hubbys bonus on our disney trip. We do the Disney onsite hotels, the good ones. This year we're staying at beach club for a few days, before moving to boardwalk (a 1 bedroom with spa bath!).

To the excited bunnies, this race is great, very much worth the expense. uk races really do pale in comparison.

when I did it in 2009 I was in Pen B with a 4hr target, I think Pen A was sub 3:30. If you cant provide proof of a sub 5:30  time then you are put with the masses in the other pens - they all start at the same time just takes a while to get to the fireworks at the start.

Excellent race and only boring bit is the back of Animal Kindom where you are on a service road

Pens A and B start at 5:40am (Godsend when it's -5C and you're freezing to death!)

Everyone else 10 minutes later at 5:50am.

The AK bit isn't too bad.  There was the trampoline, some signs to read, and a nice feed station with bananas and ice cold Gatorade with ice floating in it where it had frozen! 
At least you know the Hollywood Studios and the Boardwalk are only a few miles out and they are great to run through when the sun comes out. 

Being with the masses isn't really a problem for a lot of the race.  The roads can be 4-8 lanes wide in places, although running around some of the backlots, things do narrow to 1-2 lanes.
If you do the half, first real bottleneck is just after the first water station which is right before an off ramp which really gets narrow and crowded.

Remember, if you're not too fussed about a time, bring a camera as plenty of photo ops such as Cinderalla, Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother at the castle, plenty of Mickey and Co, Tiana in Frontierland etc.  Or if you're doing both, do the photos during the half and run the full as the same characters are generally out and about, although maybe a few less Mickeys.

Will try and do it again in 2012.  Got NYC this year which is costing more than nearly 2 weeks in Florida!

This year all participants will be given a free park ticket for the Monday morning but you may need to wear your medal//medals if you don't want to look out of place.

 Expect lots of woo's and high fives and there will be special treats for runners