Marathon weekend has wrapped up, and the only event I ran this time was the half marathon. It was my first half marathon since 2017 (!!!) and some things went as planned, other things did not go as planned. First, let’s talk about the expo, race course, and race gear, then I’ll get into how the race went for me! This article does have affiliate links where I earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting our family!
While this race was challenging (more on that towards the end), it certainly wasn’t my worst race… to read about the toughest race I’ve run, check out my Princess 2017 review!
Expo & Bib/Shirt Pick-Up
The runDisney Expo was held at ESPN Wide World of Sports, near Hollywood Studios. Since we live locally we drove in – we had gone to Magic Kingdom earlier in the day, so we just hopped in the car and headed straight there. I didn’t have time to do much other than bib & shirt pick-up, as one of my kids fell asleep in the car, so my mom was waiting in the car in the parking lot with them. There were 3 main buildings in use for the expo: one for Disney-branded merchandise, one for bib pick-up, and one for shirt pick-up/third party vendors at the expo.
The line for the building with Disney-branded merchandise was crazy! It was out the door and winding around several times. I read that most of the merch sold out day one… I didn’t even attempt to get in line as there wasn’t anything that I really wanted, but I know a lot of runners were disappointed that it was mostly gone by the end of the first day. If there’s something specific you want, either pre-order it when you register for the race, or plan to “rope drop” the first day of the expo!
Bib pick-up was extremely easy! I know a lot of runners had trouble with the digital waiver, but I didn’t have a problem accessing it and signing it. In the event that a runner did have trouble with the digital waiver, they had waivers available to sign in-person. After presenting my ID and digital waiver form, I had my bib, a set of safety pins, and a luggage tag, which they were handing out this year! My next stop was the building across the pavilion for my shirt pick-up. All you had to do was bring your bib to the shirt pick-up area, and you’d receive your shirt! Shirt exchange was available in case you got the wrong size. Shirt pick-up was held in the same building as the third party vendors. At this portion of the expo, you could check out third party merchandise, find a pace group, and more! I ran through this really fast as my mom was waiting in the car with the kids.
Half Marathon Course
The half marathon course is an out-and-back course, starting in the Epcot parking lot, heading to Magic Kingdom, and ending back at Epcot. The course is fairly flat, with only a few minor hills. The notable hills to me are around mile 4.5-5, where you go under a bridge near the Contemporary Resort, and around miles 10-11 where you go on a curved onramp heading back to the Epcot parking lot.
Check out the course map below, from the runDisney website!
There are some hazards on the course to watch out for, such as speed bumps at the Magic Kingdom parking booths and light poles at the Transportation & Ticket Center. There are some areas with uneven pavement in and around the theme parks portion of the course – Main Street USA has curbs on one side, and trolley tracks on the other, for example. Some areas are narrow and difficult to run through – specifically running down Main Street USA with a view of the castle, running through the castle, and the stretch just after Magic Kingdom, near the Grand Floridian & Polynesian Village Resorts.
There are lots of character stops, with PhotoPass photographers available or you can snap a selfie! I saw Tinkerbell, Mary Poppins & Penguins, Mickey, Buzz Lightyear, Sebastian, Bolt, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, & more! I only stopped for one character picture with a PhotoPass photographer because there was no line.
In addition to character stops, the mile markers have character pictures on them and make for fun photo opps, although there are no PhotoPass photographers here. PhotoPass photographers are located throughout Magic Kingdom & Epcot, as well as at the finish line. They wear bright neon green and sit in little neon green tents, so when you see those tents, run over that way to get a good picture, but don’t dawdle and don’t cut off runners behind you!
There are plenty of water stops & medic tents along the course. Port-a-potties are also set up all over the course (as well as before, after, and near the corrals), and the theme park bathrooms were open for use. Water & Powerade was available about every 1.5 miles, and the medic tents were set up about every 3 miles. At the end of the race, in addition to receiving medals, medic tents were on standby, and each runner was given a water bottle, Powerade, banana, and snack box.
Race Gear
If you haven’t been fitted for running shoes before, I highly recommend you get that done at a running shop! These services are generally complimentary, even if you don’t end up buying a pair of shoes, and are conducted by experienced runners who know their shoes well. I recommend Track Shack, Fleet Feet, or RoadRunner Sports. At these kinds of fittings, they’ll have you stand on some sensors to get an idea of your arch, length, etc. They may also have you walk or run on a treadmill so they can see where you land on your feet. Running stores typically have generous return policies so you can get a few good runs in them and see how your feet are feeling!
I have kind of a weird foot – they are extremely long and extremely narrow! I also have had serious issues with ingrown toenails, so having a wider toe box is important to me. After about 45 minutes of trying on different shoes, I ended up with a pair of men’s On Cloudswift shoes. These work great for me because the tongue is attached to the entire shoe instead of floating around separately so I can have it tighter around my foot, yet the shoe itself is wide enough in the toe to provide extra room and I don’t have to worry so much about ingrown toenails! All this said, this is just my experience buying shoes and finding a shoe that works best for me. I highly, highly recommend going to a running store and getting properly fitted.
Next up are socks! I usually wear two pairs of socks – toe socks & padded socks. For toe socks I like Injinji brand, they hold up well and are comfortable. For my outer layer of socks I like a padded sock such as these by Saucony. Try out different things and see what works for you!
To prevent chafing, try out Body Glide and consider carrying it with you on the course! If you don’t carry it with you, you can find some vaseline at the medic tents. If you anticipate finishing after the sun has come up, don’t forget the sunscreen! The sun is absolutely brutal from Magic Kingdom to Epcot, with runners heading straight into the sunrise. If you forget the sunscreen, don’t fret – medic tents will have some available.
I almost always listen to music when I run, so wireless earbuds are a must. I like the kind that wrap behind my head and hook around my ear, although there are lots of different styles at different price points available. Personally I use a brand called Otium which is definitely an entry-level brand, but it works for me, as it’s not quite in my budget to upgrade just yet. They work well and are comfortable.
During this race I carried my phone, water, drivers license, & credit card. I used a small running belt that held everything and was super comfortable! It stayed in place the entire race and was extremely lightweight – most of the time I didn’t notice it. I highly recommend carrying something like this for longer races so you aren’t stuck carrying things in your hands or having your pockets weighed down!
Since all races are outdoors, masks are not required. But if you want to bring a mask, I recommend bringing a disposable one and carrying it around your wrist, or looping it through the back of your running belt.
As far as clothing goes, you know what suits you best. Take a look at the weather and dress accordingly. Lots of runners wear costumes or “Disney bound” while they run. I usually opt for a pair of headband style ears along with whatever running clothes I’m most comfortable in. Whatever you do, make sure you try your clothes on a long run BEFORE race day! This is highly important so let me say it again: TRY YOUR CLOTHES ON A LONG RUN BEFORE RACE DAY. More on this, and a hard lesson learned, later…
One final thing you may want to consider bringing is a throwaway jacket & pants. Head to the local thrift store and pick something up that you don’t mind tossing at the start of the race. It was in the 50s when we were lined up at the corral, and given that it’s Florida, it could be rainy, it could be colder than the 50s, etc. That extra layer of comfort while you’re sitting there in the corrals is really helpful. And Disney does come along and collect clothing tossed aside – they’ll launder it and donate whatever they can! Pro tip for the WDW Marathon weekend: You know how everyone has ugly Christmas sweater parties? Thrift an ugly Christmas sweater for sweater party season, then bring it to the race as your warmth before the race starts and toss it aside when you’re done.
Half Marathon Race Experience
This was maybe my 6th half marathon? I have lost track at this point; I’d have to go count medals! Anyway, this was my 2nd Walt Disney World race, the first being Princess Half Marathon in 2017. We did a lot of Disneyland races before they were cancelled, so we were mostly familiar with what to expect. What was new for us was driving to the race start as locals, since we were staying at a WDW resort during Princess. We left right at 3am and arrived around 3:20am. We took several minutes to get ready at the car, pinning our bibs, getting our race gear in order, etc. It was a long walk to security and to the race start area. We bypassed gear check, as we didn’t have anything to check, made a quick bathroom stop, and took a couple pics before making it to our corral. We were in our corral shortly after 4, with a spot against the barricade so we could do a little bit of stretching.
We were in the last corral, S6, as neither of us had proof of time from a race recent enough to get us into a higher corral. This race, they divided each corral into waves, seemingly at arbitrary points. It was a couple of Cast Members with a long piece of tape that they stretched at random points across the corral as we moved forward.
Anyways, I believe we were the 2nd or 3rd wave to go from S6, and we were at the front of our wave. My dad & I kind of had loose plans to stick together, as he was dealing with an injury and promised his PT he would run no more than 20% of it. I on the other hand felt pretty good, but I know I have a pretty slow jogging pace and he could probably speed walk to stick with me.
The First Few Miles
For the first mile, my dad and I lost track of each other. He ran pretty fast and far ahead of me and I lost him in the crowd. I was sticking to my 1 min run, 30 sec walk intervals, as I knew that if I ran faster than that to find him, I’d be too tired later on to continue at a decent pace. So I remained aware of my game plan and stuck with it. Around the 1 mile mark he called me and said he was waiting for me up ahead. From there, I did my intervals and we stuck with each other. As he’s taller, his walking pace is naturally faster than mine, so for most of it he just had to power walk to keep up with my jogging sections. He did jog a little bit when necessary. At about mile 2, we had reached a right turn to head towards Magic Kingdom, and the crowds thinned out a bit, so we had room to spread out.
From there, we looked up above and to the right and saw Monorails driving by. They honked occasionally and we waved, although it was too dark to tell if anyone was waving back at us! It was still a fun sight to see. Just before mile 3, we passed through the Magic Kingdom parking booths, and here it is a little tricky because other runners stop in the middle to take pictures, and then the course becomes a little bit narrow as you pass through the parking booths. You also have to watch for the little speed bumps & curbs at the booths! Disney does a great job of having a loudspeaker announcement cautioning about the speed bumps, as well as stationing volunteers and Cast Members with signs to remind runners to watch out.
The next stretch of the race was through the Magic Kingdom parking lot, to the Transportation & Ticket Center, and past the Contemporary Resort. The parking lot actually wasn’t so bad, the sun wasn’t up yet and there was a live band there! The Transportation & Ticket Center had our first real bathroom of the race, but the line was out the door so we decided to keep going. We also saw our first spectators here, with some inspiring and funny signs! Leaving the Transportation & Ticket Center we were greeted by a local high school marching band.
Next up was a little bit of a straightaway and then a downhill & uphill. The hill section is part of the road that resort buses take to drop off guests at the Magic Kingdom bus drop-off area, and it’s also the road you take to get to the Contemporary Resort. You go under a bridge, then back up. I would say this is the steepest hill of the course, but it’s also pretty short. And once you get past it, you have awesome views of the Magic Kingdom so you get some more pep in your step!
Running Through Magic Kingdom
Next up, around miles 5-6, is the Magic Kingdom! You start by running through one of the bus loops at the drop-off area. Be careful here, as the pavement isn’t even – I stumbled but caught myself and thankfully did not get injured! Next thing I knew, we were entering Magic Kingdom! There was a DJ on the train station, hyping up the runners, and tons of spectators lining Main Street USA! It was really hard to run once we got going down Main Street, as the course gets rather narrow, and there are trolley tracks & curbs to watch out for.
When we got to the Magic Kingdom, we decided to take a bathroom break here at the first one we saw that didn’t have a line, and that happened to be the bathrooms just past the Plaza Restaurant on the right side, heading into Tomorrowland. There were only 2 other runners and a Cast Member in there! It was a short deviation from the race course and my dad and I were off again. We stopped and took a selfie in front of the castle, then headed into Tomorrowland, where we saw our first PhotoPass photographer on the bridge heading into Tomorrowland. On our right we saw Buzz Lightyear but opted to keep running. In front of Tomorrowland Speedway, and near Little Mermaid, we saw more PhotoPass photographers. We passed by Sebastian and the Carousel, and pretty soon we were running through the castle!
It gets pretty congested through the castle, as the walkway there is quite narrow. There were more photographers around there as well as directly in front of the castle. We veered off the race course to get our picture taken with photographers lined up in front of the castle. It made for a great shot! Then we were off to Liberty Square where we saw Mickey in front of Hall of Presidents, and kept moving towards Splash Mountain. We saw a couple more photographers, the Country Bears, and then we headed out of the park backstage by Splash Mountain, where Jafar was greeting guests on a parade float. We saw the Maleficent dragon from the Festival of Fantasy parade, then made a sharp left towards the Grand Floridian and Polynesian Village Resorts, passing by the mile marker for mile 7.
The Long Stretch
By this point, I was starting to feel some chafing on my inner thighs. There was a medic tent around mile 8, but I opted to continue on because I thought I’d be okay. However, the pain was getting significantly worse, and I pretty much had to walk at this point. The next medic tent wasn’t until mile 11! Miles 8-11 were really rough for me, I was walking slowly and becoming aware of the balloon ladies catching up to us. At one point, around mile 9-10, I looked down and saw that I was chafing so bad to the point that I was bleeding! It was starting to get really uncomfortable and there wasn’t anything I could do in that moment.
Mile 10 also brings about a slight terrain change. Between miles 10 & 11, runners head up a curved onramp to head into Epcot. It’s a long incline, and it’s angled. It’s really difficult on the ankles and feet as you’re constantly making slight adjustments to your footing. Be careful in this area to avoid injuring yourself!
Once I hit mile 11, I found the medic tent and they took a look at my thighs, and the Cast Member there said she had a plan! I trusted her, and she was determined to get me moving again. She put some antiseptic on it, then vaseline, then gauze, and tape around each of my legs. I pulled my shorts down over the edge of the tape so I was good to go. At this point I still couldn’t run, my legs were so raw.
Crossing the Finish Line
We headed into backstage Epcot for the final stretch. There were a couple more characters here, and we entered the park near Journey Into Imagination with Figment, where I saw that the park was open and guests were waiting to cross the race course. We saw a couple more photographers, and a beer/popcorn/snack stand was open, so some runners grabbed some treats before crossing the finish line! We headed backstage again near Spaceship Earth, saw one final character (who didn’t have anyone waiting for PhotoPass pictures so I grabbed a pic), then we saw the mile 13 marker! We were almost done!
Usually that last .1 miles doesn’t seem very long but this .1 felt like a long distance for some reason. We walked most of it until we saw photographers again, so we lightly jogged to the end. It felt good to be done. Once we crossed the finish line, we picked up our medals, snack boxes, water, and Powerade, and started the long walk back to the car! We didn’t stick around for any pictures or buy any food from the food trucks. We both wanted to get home and get showered!
Thoughts on the Race & What Went Wrong
Overall, this was another fun runDisney event and well-organized! Security was efficient, and corrals were clearly marked. Plenty of bathroom stops along the race course, along with water & Powerade stops. The Cast Members, volunteers, entertainment, PhotoPass photographers, & medic team were great! Special shout-out to the cop around mile 10 who was telling a lady changing her shoe to hurry up because he could smell her all the way from his cop car.
As far as my race went… well, I’m both proud and disappointed. I made a last minute outfit change from pants to a skirt, and that was truly my downfall. I didn’t bring Body Glide. I didn’t stop at the medic tent at mile 8 at the first sign of chafing. What’s disappointing is that for the first 6 or 7 miles, I was set to PR! In fact, my 5k time was a PR. But by mile 8 the mistakes I had made were manifesting in physical problems that were extremely difficult to overcome.
However… I did complete the race, I did run across the finish line, and I did earn the medal, without being swept. I did PR my 5k time. I felt like I had the energy to keep going through – my body didn’t fail me in that way. And that’s a thing to celebrate! Learn from my mistakes – don’t forget the body glide, and at the first sign of a problem, get medical help. And always listen to your body!
Future Race Plans
Whenever I complete a Disney race I am always plotting another one in the back of my mind. I see the Dopey & Goofy Challenge runners, and they are so inspiring. I hear about people training for Princess Half Marathon weekend and I want to join in. But I also need to be realistic about what I can do (both physically, financially, and with my time!) so I have to be picky & choosy about the races that I sign up for. Here is what I am hoping to do:
- Springtime Surprise 5k – 2022
- Wine & Dine Half Marathon – 2022
- Princess Challenge OR Springtime Surprise Challenge – 2023
- Fall half marathon somewhere in Orlando or Florida – 2023
- WDW Marathon – 2024
This is tentative for now, but I think this is a pretty good race calendar and is totally realistic for me to complete. I’m going to have to talk myself into the marathon, but it’s a bucket list item for me, and if I’m going to do a marathon once in my life it’s going to be at Walt Disney World!
To check out runDisney events, visit Disney’s website, here! Hope to see you at the starting line!
