Disney marathon advice?

[email hidden] (Marcus Holmes) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Leaving this week for the Disney marathon! Any words of advice? I hear the bus situation is a
disaster (have to get up at 3am). Anything else to know? :-)

Thanks!

Don't.

Marcus,

Some thoughts on the Disney Marathon (my wife and I have run the race 3 times):

1) Don't spend all day walking around the park(s) the day before the race.

2) Yes, the buses are very early in the morning, but I normally get up at
3:30 to run, so it wasn't a problem for me. They can be crowded, but I wouldn't call it a disaster.

4) You will spend about 2 hours waiting around for the start. Take disposable clothing / check some
clothing / trash bag so that you don't get cold. One year we about froze, there was frost on the
ground at the start.

5) There are a few hotels from which you could jog to the start, avoiding the bus situation. Do this
the day before so you know the way, it's easy to get lost, there are no pedestrian facilities
(paths, signs, cross-walks, etc) outside the parks.

6) Some people carry a disposable camera. There will be characters out everywhere, so you can stop
and get your photo with Goofy, for example. A couple of years ago the girl that played Pocahontas
was pretty hot, I almost ran into a pole in Adventure Land.

7) I hope you're in a good starting corral, some people take 10+ minutes to cross the start line.
They are pretty strict about placing you at the start.

8) Have fun!

Alan.

"Marcus Holmes" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Leaving this week for the Disney marathon! Any words of advice? I hear the bus situation is a
disaster (have to get up at 3am). Anything else to know? :-)

Thanks!

Since you mention the buses I am assuming that you are staying in a Disney property. If not plan on
getting up real early to get yourself to Epcot. The buses anything but a disaster. They will get you
to the race on time, if you don't want to go that early just line up late and you will get on the
last bus. But getting up three hours before a marathon is not all that unusual and most of the food
courts will open early to allow you to get a pre-race meal and a cup of coffee. Just as important
the buses will be there to take you back to your hotel after the race, see if they do that for you
at New York or Boston.

There is a quarter mile walk from the marshalling area to the corrals, serves as a good warm up.
Some years it is down right cold at the start (the sun doesn't come up until after seven) but it
looks to be in the fifties at the start this year.

The rough stuff is if you have family that want to watch you run by at several points in the course,
even if you know your way around WDW it is tough. Best bet is for them to go to Epcot to watch the
start, take the monorail to the Transportation Center (around mile nine or ten) and then walk over
to the Polynesian to catch you just before the half way point and then take the monorail back to
Epcot to catch you at the finish.

This is a runner's race, they will always have powerade and water and lots of happy volunteers to
hand it out, but the crowds are sparse and the course can be challenging thanks to the overpasses,
especially the last half of the course.

Marcus Holmes said:

Leaving this week for the Disney marathon! Any words of advice? I hear the bus situation is a
disaster (have to get up at 3am). Anything else to know? :-)

Thanks!