ImDownWithDisney 342 Posted April 9, 2017 Report Share Posted April 9, 2017 My wife is doing the half marathon in a few weeks. Any other fiends going it too? Any pointers for first time runners or spectators? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted April 9, 2017 Report Share Posted April 9, 2017 My nephew is doing all of them. He did the Goofy Challenge a while back. If the 1/2 marathon goes in front of the beach club, a good place to watch is at the top of the rise before it dips back down to Epcot. It's near the end so a lot of people slow down and you can get to see a lot of interesting costumes. If your staying on property, I think all the resorts have buses to the start line Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ImDownWithDisney 342 Posted April 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2017 Yeah we will be at the Fort. But I may drive. It starts at MK parking lot and finishes at Spaceship Earth. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
djsamuel 322 Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 I ran the 10K in January. We were at the Fort and the bus service to and from the expo as well as the start and end points was great. I ran the Dark Side 5K last year and that was nice, although the medal was a cheap plastic one. This year is much better. My daughter and son in law are both running the half, and my daughter is doing the Dark Side challenge as well as the 5K. The routes this year are much better than last year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ImDownWithDisney 342 Posted April 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 Do you recommend taking the bus over driving to the start area? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
djsamuel 322 Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 1 hour ago, ImDownWithDisney said: Do you recommend taking the bus over driving to the start area? I would. We found it really convenient. However, I would suggest going to the Outpost the day before and verifying the pickup points both at the Outpost and within the campground. There was some confusion regarding the pickup point at the Outpost in January, but in the end, the signage was pretty clear. Use the busses to get to the Expo/registration and that should give you a good assessment of how you'll like it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ImDownWithDisney 342 Posted April 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 Thanks for the info Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure the instructions you will get at the bib pickup will tell you that participants and spectators will not be allowed to drive to or park at the start point. They do all kinds of crazy stuff with the roads for the races, and it might be difficult, or even impossible, for you to drive to the start point on race day. A big part of the parking lot at the start point will be used for the starting corrals for the runners and other stuff for the race. They bring in lots of extra buses to provide transportation, and they want you to use them instead of driving. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
djsamuel 322 Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 14 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said: For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure the instructions you will get at the bib pickup will tell you that participants and spectators will not be allowed to drive to or park at the start point. They do all kinds of crazy stuff with the roads for the races, and it might be difficult, or even impossible, for you to drive to the start point on race day. A big part of the parking lot at the start point will be used for the starting corrals for the runners and other stuff for the race. They bring in lots of extra buses to provide transportation, and they want you to use them instead of driving. TCD This year, if you drive you have to park at Epcot and take a bus to the Magic Kingdom starting point. That's similar to other events when the start point was ESPN WWoS and you had to park at Epcot and take a bus. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ImDownWithDisney 342 Posted April 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 Good info. Thanks, guys. I hate going into something and not knowing what to expect. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 1 hour ago, djsamuel said: This year, if you drive you have to park at Epcot and take a bus to the Magic Kingdom starting point. That's similar to other events when the start point was ESPN WWoS and you had to park at Epcot and take a bus. That was the case when we ran in a Run Disney event several years ago. The start and finish point for that race was Epcot. The instructions specifically said there would be no parking available at Epcot. But, it looked to me like people were parking there- they may have been volunteers or CM's though. What you don't know is what roads will be open or closed for a particular race. The bus drivers know what roads are open, and they have specific routes to drive which may not be open to the general public. So, I wouldn't chance trying to drive when there are buses available. They give detailed instructions with the race packet that you have to pick up, it's best to follow those instructions, as they vary from race to race. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ImDownWithDisney 342 Posted April 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 Well she finished her first half. There were about 1 million people there it seemed. The buses were great from FW. djsamuel 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 Went to see my nephew run this morning. He also did the 10K yesterday and by completing the 1/2 today he got the coast to coast and Kessel Run medals. The race itself seemed to be well organized, but trying to get info about spectator viewing and parking was very lacking/close to non existent. We were told to park at the MK to see the beginning or at EPCOT to see the finish (along with thousands of others) We were able to get parking at the Boardwalk, and then went down and saw my nephew right in front of the grassy area. Lots of interesting costumes. Saw someone dressed as Boba Fet with a helmet with the visor closed. Saw another guy dressed as Dark Helmet from SpaceBalls with a garbage can helmet. But the most impressive was Maleficent dressed in a purple/black Princess Leia slave bikini (but she had something on under the bikini.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 12 hours ago, Travisma said: But the most impressive was Maleficent dressed in a purple/black Princess Leia slave bikini (but she had something on under the bikini.) You can't post a description like that and not post a photo. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ImDownWithDisney 342 Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 I didnt see Boba Fet, but i saw the other 2. Lol. I didn't get a pic though Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 6 minutes ago, ImDownWithDisney said: I didnt see Boba Fet, but i saw the other 2. Lol. I didn't get a pic though Fail. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 42 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said: You can't post a description like that and not post a photo. TCD I was watching in the distance for my nephew to appear when she ran by. She came and went before I had a chance to take a photo. But I bet she will be on other sites photos of the race! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ImDownWithDisney 342 Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 Yep sorry. I was a bit mesmerized Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 7 minutes ago, Travisma said: I was watching in the distance for my nephew to appear when she ran by. She came and went before I had a chance to take a photo. But I bet she will be on other sites photos of the race! 7 minutes ago, ImDownWithDisney said: Yep sorry. I was a bit mesmerized LOL. You both gave good excuses. I understand completely. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 1 minute ago, ImDownWithDisney said: Yep sorry. I was a bit mesmerized Where did you watch the race from? We were on the Boardwalk. When my nephew did the Dopey Challenge last year the full marathon ran the walkway in front of the Beach Club, so we got a spot on the bridge at the end of the Boardwalk where the hill comes up from the Beach Club walkway. great viewing spot because that hill slowed down a lot of runners being so close to the end. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ImDownWithDisney 342 Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 We were at the finish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 1 hour ago, ImDownWithDisney said: We were at the finish Bet it was crowded, since the "Official" answer to where to watch the race was at the starting line or at the finish line (preferably in the $49 Cheersquad seating)! My nephew said he saw quite a few people watching from some of the more remote roadsides. He had no idea where they parked since they closed the course roads starting around 3:00 AM. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ImDownWithDisney 342 Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 49 minutes ago, Travisma said: Bet it was crowded, since the "Official" answer to where to watch the race was at the starting line or at the finish line (preferably in the $49 Cheersquad seating)! My nephew said he saw quite a few people watching from some of the more remote roadsides. He had no idea where they parked since they closed the course roads starting around 3:00 AM. It wasn't bad. We had free seats right beside the $50 ones. I've never seen so many people running. It was like a river. They had the finish set up nicely. The runners were directed well away from the finish line before family or friends could meet them. Then the buses were lined up there taking people away. It was pretty swift. They used the huge charter buses. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 3 minutes ago, ImDownWithDisney said: It wasn't bad. We had free seats right beside the $50 ones. I've never seen so many people running. It was like a river. They had the finish set up nicely. The runners were directed well away from the finish line before family or friends could meet them. Then the buses were lined up there taking people away. It was pretty swift. They used the huge charter buses. Like I said earlier, the race itself seemed like it was pretty organized, but the spectator info was very sparse even on their websites. My nephew sent me the link from the Friday meeting about the start and finish access. On the run Disney site all they listed was the cheersquad seating. We figured we wouldn't see him if we were at the end, and he told us more than once that having relatives cheering him on while he wason the course was a big plus to him. it helped him push thru to the end. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 54 minutes ago, ImDownWithDisney said: It wasn't bad. We had free seats right beside the $50 ones. I've never seen so many people running. It was like a river. They had the finish set up nicely. The runners were directed well away from the finish line before family or friends could meet them. Then the buses were lined up there taking people away. It was pretty swift. They used the huge charter buses. This is from the race results Page 2017 Star Wars Half Marathon - The Dark Side Men 7506 Women 8796 Total Finishers 16302 So you were correct when you said it was like a river.... 16K + finishers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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