It’s a big runDisney kind of day. This morning, runDisney sent out this….
If you’re running in the Disneyland Half Marathon races, you received your final race instructions this morning! This means that we have less than a month until our race weekend begins! The 4 page PDF file can be downloaded here. The final race instructions are a condensed version of the race guide that I posted here.
In case you need it, runDisney has all of their races with dates for you. It is interesting to me that “registration is now open” for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon. I thought that registration was a few weeks away. I thought that was kind of funny. After all, the race guide will be handed out in hard copy at the Disneyland Half Marathon Expo. So, saying that the Tinker Bell Half Marathon registration was now open on that PDF makes sense. However, when they email out the final race instructions before the registration opens for Tink, they should have put the registration date instead of a “now open” comment. Sorry for being a little picky.
Although I’m sure this was mentioned in the race guide, I just wanted to highlight this part of the final race instructions…Event Transportation & Driving Directions. This is really important for those not staying at a Disney owned property. If you’re a local who is getting up at an ungodly hour to drive to the resort, this information is great for your planning and knowing where to park and when parking opens. If you’re staying at one of the “Good Neighbor Hotels” there is some useful information about when shuttles will be leaving your hotel for the Disneyland resort on race weekend. Plus, in the bottom right hand corner is a listing of all the hotels that have a free shuttle. If you’ve made your reservation, you might just want to double-check that your hotel is listed here. Many of the hotels are within walking distance of the starting corrals. So, you do also have the option of walking. I did this for the Disneyland Half Marathon and Disneyland 10K races last year. It was just easier than waiting for the shuttle. Plus, other runners will do this as well. So, you will likely have someone to chat with if you wish on your way to the starting area.
Not only did we receive our final race instructions, but also a link to the virtual goodie bag. There are some interesting items in the virtual goodie bag.
First up, there are some discounts and/or special offers for each of the above.
One freebie you will not want to miss out on is the free art card from Lasting Commemoratives. You click on the “click here to sign up now” and collect the card at the Expo at their booth. This is a fun, free gift that I think everyone should make sure to receive. I believe that you do have to sign up ahead of time. There is something they send you to print out that must be turned in to get your free art card.
If you’re looking for something extra special to mark your accomplishment, use the above in the virtual goodie back for a discounted rate.
Need some shades? Check out the above offer from Apex.
I thought this was kind of cool. Free artwork. Of course, you download the image for free. Then, you would have the choice on how to use the free download. It’s a pretty cool image, though.
If you haven’t been up to speed with runDisney and New Balance the past few years, then you might not know just how insanely popular their special running shoes are. The lines are crazy at the Expo. When I was at the Walt Disney World Marathon Expo, we waited in line for almost 2 hours to get a reservation number and then another 4 or 5 hours just to get into the New Balance booth. They attempted to have a virtual queue line at the Princess Half Marathon. There is a link in the virtual goodie bag to sign up. However, the web site you are directed to make mention that the virtual line was no longer being utilized as of the Princess Half Marathon. So, if you want these highly coveted shoes, keep checking with the virtual queue link to see if it opens up closer to the Disneyland Half Marathon. Otherwise, be prepared to wait in a long line.
Ok, this isn’t exactly a coupon or retail kind of thing in the virtual bag. However, there is the announcement that at the Expo ABC will have exclusive screenings of the above shows. So, if you want to see these shows before they premiere on ABC and are willing to give up some theme park time, look for a schedule of the screenings at the Expo.
Your final instructions email also has a link to print out your waivers, which you can access by clicking here. By your signature of your waiver, you will find your bib number. If you’re racing in the Dumbo Double Dare Challenge or the Disneyland Half Marathon, here is how the corrals are broken up…
First, for the Dumbo Double Dare. So, if you’re completing this challenge, find where your bib number lies and that will tell you which corral you will be running in at both the Disneyland 10K and Half Marathon. At least, that’s the way it was done last year. I did notice that during the Princess Half Marathon Weekend, some of the Glass Slipper Challenge participants had two different corral letters on their bibs. Since they have not released the 10K Corrals (and probably won’t), we’ll have to find out at the Expo what happens.
For those who are only running the Disneyland Half Marathon, here are the corral assignments. I post it here because you might be looking for your bib number and won’t find it on the Dumbo Double Dare assignments. However, the time breakdowns are exactly the same. When the corrals were put out yesterday, there was something I found odd. As you scroll down the “Time Required” column, notice the time gaps. The difference between Corral A and B is 5 minutes, Corral B and C is 5 minutes, Corral C and D is 5 minutes, Corral D and E is 5 minutes, Corral E and F is 5 minutes, Corral F and G is 15 minutes, and Corral H and I is 12 minutes. There’s nothing to crazy about that. However, the time difference between Corral G and H is a whopping 43 minutes. Given the differences between all the other corrals, that seems odd to me. Over the half marathon distance that’s a difference of around 3 minutes per mile in pacing. So, if you don’t get there early enough and are closer to the 2 hour 30 minute range for your half time, you might find yourself stuck behind a bunch of 3 hour – 3 hour, 13 minute finishers. It seems like runDisney should have added one more corral and split Corral H up. Of course, I’m going to be in Corral H. So, it’s a bit concerning for me.
In other runDisney news, the medals for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend have been released. I’ve got to admit, I’d love to run the Wine and Dine some day. The race reports I’ve read from this event make it look like a really fun race. With the Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon happening one week after the Wine and Dine Half Marathon, I’m really hoping that next week we get to see the finisher medals for this race.
For those that are running at the Disneyland Half Marathon, are you happy with your placing? I’m really happy to be out of the last corral for this race! I’ll have two corrals behind me. So, hopefully, I’ll get to Ball Road a little sooner this year and not have to deal with that sun as much as last year. For those that are running the Wine and Dine Half Marathon, do you like the medals for this year? For those registered for the Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon, do you think we’ll see our medals next week?
Why I runDisney 
You are so much more thorough! LoL!
I hope that highlighting more of the final instructions people will take the time to look at everything. I find some of those virtual goodie bag items fascinating!
My first thought when I saw the Wine and Dine medals was that we might get to see the Avengers next week. Here’s hoping!
I Know! Right? Here’s hoping that if they don’t get the Avengers medals out next week, it comes soon. I seriously can’t wait to see what they look like! I’m also very interested in seeing the Avengers Half Marathon Course.
Me too! I keep wondering what super heroes are going to represent on the medal. I don’t know if I could decide, though I am kinda partial to Wolverine and the X-Men. They have always been my fav comic book. Though it would be awesome to see Wonder Woman. Too many to decide from. You have any guesses?
My guess is that it will be one of the main characters from the Avengers movie. With the “Smash the Half” hashtag they had going to announce the race, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hulk winds up on at least one of the medals. I think it would be cool to have the half marathon medal incorporate Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor in some way. As long as it isn’t merely the Avengers logo, I think it will be fine.
I really hope they do the split corral for dumbo-it worked so well at Princess but who knows!
I’m personally a huge fan of the ABC Screening Room-hopefully they hand out goodies for the new show too!
And as much as I want to see Avengers medals next week, I just don’t think we will with Tink signup starting. I think they may do it either right before Disneyland or maybe even wait until after. We are coming up on the 2 month mark though!!
I’m hoping they’ll have all the new medals in person at the Expo!
You make a good point about the timing of the Avengers medals. With the Tink registration opening up, we might have to wait. Hopefully, it will come before the Disneyland races though. It might be good for runDisney to make the announcement in the week leading up to the Disneyland Half Marathon with the actual medals being on display at the runDisney booth during the Expo.
I’m thinking about going to the ABC Screening Room. Last year, I totally forgot. Although, if they had a screening of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I would have made every effort to be there.
Oh my goodness – thank you so much for posting this and taking some time to be thorough. If I understand you correctly, you’re thinking the DDD participants will have their corral letter for the 10k and then follow the bib number to figure out the other corral, right?! I was so annoyed because I too was H and I know I will run a sub 2:35 half [which if I follow your blog right puts me in E for the half and H for the 10k?!]…I guess I will see once I get there. I was almost tempted to start line hopping! 😉
… love your blog,by the way.
Thanks for the question. To clarify, according to the chart, your sub 2:35 half would put you in Corral H. The times listed in the chart are for the half marathon finish time. Both the Dumbo Double Dare and Half Marathon charts are the same in that regards. However, if you’re only registered for the half marathon, you will have a bib number that will not be found using the DDD chart. So, I’ve included both charts so, after you get your bib number, you can find what corral you will be in.
As for the 10K, I’m not entirely sure if they are going to have it like last year where the corral you were in for the DDD chart is the same as you will be in for the 10K. Last year, this is how they did the DDD runners. However, this past February, when they had the inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge (same king of thing as the DDD), some of the runners had two different corrals on their bibs (one for the 10K and one for the half). I believe that runDisney made this change because of complaints from runners that ran in the Dopey Challenge for the Marathon Weekend. Many runners felt like the seeding for the half marathon and full marathon was unfair. The folks at runDisney figured that by the time the Dopey runners got to the latter races, their finish times might be slower than projected. So, some of the runners were put in corrals with folks that had slower projected finish times.
Since nothing has been posted in regards to the 10K corrals, we won’t know if the corral placement is like last year’s DDD (same corral for the 10K and Half) or if it is like this year’s Glass Slipper Challenge (potentially different corrals for the 10K and Half). I hope that clarifies things.
Also in H and pretty frustrated about the span of time. My pacing has been at about 2:30-2:35 and I had a predicted finish of 2:31. Really want to run with the 2:30 pacer and not weave around people finishing 40 minutes later.
I completely understand your frustration. My advice is to get to your corral early to be near the front of the corral. Also, pay attention when the corral moves up. If you walk fast enough, you can bypass some of the people who were initially in front of you but are taking their time to walk up to the start line. I never end up starting the race where I camp out in the corral beforehand. Corral H is looking like it will be a massive group. If you can move your way to the front, you should be fine. This race is perfect for negative splits. You spend miles 3 and 4 in the theme parks. Then, you’ve got a lot of open roads to make up time and only one overpass to climb over at the start of the fifth mile. So, if the first few miles slow you down a little, keep positive. You can make it up.
Thank you for the feedback and advice! That makes me feel a bit better. Have you run with a pacer? I am concerned about finding them and staying with them.
I ran with a pacer at the Walt Disney World Marathon this past January. People that are pacers generally have a sign they carry. The official pacers will have a sign with the expected finish time. The sign is usually on a stick that they carry in some form. So, they are pretty easy to find. Unofficial pacers will have a sign on a stick as well. They might or might not have their finish time. Look for them while you’re getting into your corral (it’s also okay to talk to them on the race course). You’ll want to ask if they are doing the Galloway intervals. If they are, find out what their plan is. If you train with the Galloway intervals and the pacer is running similar intervals you should be able to stick with them and let them do the pacing.
Also find out if they are planning on stopping for restroom breaks and/or character stops. If they plan on motoring through the course without stops, you’ll have to run ahead for the stops you want to make and plan on running a little faster to catch back up. Sometimes, you will have to choose to take part in all the fun with character stops or go for time.
Of course, if the pacer is running differently than you’re used to, I would advise to use them as a guide rather than trying to stick with them. If they don’t do the intervals and you do them, you should know that the intervals are designed for a particular overall time in mind. So, you will probably run faster than the pacer and they will catch you or maybe even go a little ahead of you on your walk break. That’s okay. Just know you will pass them on each run interval. It will all work out in the end. You might even end up finishing faster than expected. At the Hollywood Half Marathon, I knew I wanted to beat the 3 hour pacer. So, every time I saw him on the course, I wanted to be in front of him. It worked pretty well as I finished around 7 minutes ahead of 3 hours.
If an official pacer isn’t doing what you’ve got planned, look for those with signs and no time goal on them and ask what they are doing. Or, just ask around for those standing by you in the corral what they are planning. Maybe, there is someone who has the same game plan as you and you can do the half marathon together. You might just make a new friend.