Cary Greenfield's Staging Area

The weather for WDW Marathon Weekend was great, cool in the morning and warmer as the day progressed. Early mornings was something I was told is the hardest thing about doing the Dopey Challenge. The early mornings were just part of the experience, did not seem to have an impact on us.
What was a little dis heartening was the walk to the start line. The 5K and 10K had about a mile walk to the corals and the 1/2 marathon and marathon had a good two mile walk to the corals.
Day 1 – Epcot and Expo
Day 2 – 5K and Magic Kingdom
Day 3 – 10K and Animal Kingdom
Day 4 – 1/2 Marathon and Rest
Day 5 – Marathon and Rest
Day 6 – Hollywood Studios
I was expecting the Marathon on day 5 to be much more difficult than it was but there are so many distractions from character stops, sights to see, running through the parks, water stops and music that keep your mind off of the distance you have left. The miles just seem to add up as you continue without noticing how far you’ve gone. The experience was great and was a lot of fun, but what do you expect when going to WDW.

Great place for a race, the weather cooperated extremely well. Cool morning and foggy so the sun didn’t peak through and make it unbearably hot. Did not notice the humidity being too uncomfortable either. Ran along a stream and through old country roads with many neat sights and sounds. Finish line was well placed and made for great atmosphere.

It turned out to be a beautiful day after raining most of the night. The hills were tougher than I expected. I hit a wall at mile 7 and again at mile 11, that may have been because of all the walking the day and week before touring DC and then once in Gettysburg, walking around town and seeing all the monuments, there is so much to see. The swag was great (bag, medal, glass, and shirt was all worth it but was disappointed when the beer was not offered) due to COVID! Just thankful that we were able to run in person!!!

There was no expo, but race atmosphere and production did not disappoint. For a smaller race it had great benefits, race tickets, beach towel and a nice medal to boot. The shirt could have had a better design but who does it for the shirt? As far as the race, can’t beat running around DAYTONA SPEEDWAY and onto the streets to the beach and back. Unfortunately because of high tide we did not actually run on the sand but we visited it the day before during one of the 5K races that was held on the beach.

This was an amazing location for a run, the scenery kept your mind off the hills and the weather cooperated which was a blessing. We had several family members running and also cheering at the finish line that made it more memorable!

very well organized event in a magnificent location, it was the toughest course I’ve done but was manageable. Race was cold at the start but after the first couple miles got warmed up for a good run.

This race is always fun because of the memories that we have built throughout the years doing this event. This year my oldest son, his wife and my daughter plus my wife ran and cheered each other on.

Running in Disneyland was awesome, lots of fun going through the park. Running through Anaheim was really enjoyable too, we ran through Angels Stadium and that was a highlight too. The weather was unbearable 84 degrees and 82% humidity at 5 AM

This was my first race so I had no idea what to expect. The expo was small but was in a great location in downtown Manhattan and the course was reasonably scenic. It has inspired me to do more in the future and someday I hope to tackle a full marathon.