Michelle Brothers's Staging Area

The expo and medal were great but that’s all. Course was full of pot holes and uneven roads. Course ran through the ghetto that smelled of feces. Water stops were too far apart and first water station didn’t have enough water for runners creating a huge traffic jam. At the finish they ran out of Mylar blankets, giving them to all the half marathon runners and forgetting about the marathoners. Glad it’s done. Won’t be returning.

Huge expo. Easy to find. Bib and shirt pickup were easy. Shirt is a long sleeve tech shirt that was nice but nowhere did it say “marathon” or “26.2”. Not much in the way of bragging rights regarding the shirt. The expo tent was open to runners in the morning prior to the race and hot coffee and heaters were available to keep warm. Race started on time. Live runner tracking was available for family and friends to track runners during the race (mine worked, my friend’s did not). Several water stations along route with water and Vitalyte, though as the race went on several stations ran out of Vitalyte. Medical tents along route were well manned and well stocked, however, at one of the tents around mile 14 i asked for Tylenol and was told by a volunteer they weren’t allowed to offer it to runners?? That’s a first for me but fine. My friend stopped by another medical tent further in the race and was asked if he wanted Tylenol?? Apparently Tylenol was available to runners but the volunteer i spoke with didn’t get that info. The marathon and half-marathon share most of the course. Marathoners start earlier and meet with the halfers around mile 8 and we continue running together until the end of their race, about a mile from the finish, where marathoners have to turn around. It is a kick in the gut to see runners flying past you then to make it to their finish line just to turn around and run back. It really killed my race mojo to basically see the finish and then have to turn around. The last 1/3 of the marathon was on a public bike path down the beach that was pretty but narrow and open to the public so we were having to dodge dog walkers and bikes while running. The course was paved for the most part, with a short trail portion to get to a park that we ran around. The park path was riddled in cracks and raised portions of pavement from tree roots. Lots of opportunity to fall if you aren’t paying attention. The finish line was nice to finally cross, sadly though the amenities at the finish were minimal at best. An orange, banana and water was all I was given in the way of calories. A blanket was given to us even though it was 80 degrees. The beer garden offered each runner 2 beers free post race but they ran out of most of the beer selections and then closed around 12:30. Overall I am glad I did it because the medal is amazing but I don’t plan on doing it again.

All the medals and long sleeve tech shirts were nice. Expo was huge and easy to find and navigate. Courses are easy and well supported with volunteers. Several photo ops throughout the races. Finish lines are all in the same place so transportation is fairly simple. Blankets were provided at finish on the colder mornings. All the races ran through at least 1 Disney park so scenery was nice. Marathon day runs through all 4 Disney parks with lots of things to see and photos to take. Lots of actual bathrooms along marathon course in the parks that were clean and well stocked. Marathon was my favorite race.

Well organized. Lots of course support. Several water stations and volunteers. Pretty course with beach and mountain scenery. Swag was sad. Medal wasn’t pretty or even well designed. Crappy cotton short sleeve shirt.