Everything you need to know about running at Disney World

If you've ever thought about running at Walt Disney World, you’re going to love this episode! There is no better place in the world to run your first event than at Walt Disney World! While running at Disney is amazing, there is a lot of planning involved. Tune in for advice on every aspect of your runDisney event; from signing up for the race, planning, packing, and what to expect, this episode tells all! 

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Transcript

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Thank you. Hey there, welcome back to the Mile Marker Matriarch Podcast. It's me, your running buddy, Stacey Cacciatore, and we are on our second episode. I am so excited for our episode today because we are going to be combining two of my favorite things in the world, running and Disney. Today's episode is all about preparing for a Disney race, and if you have been thinking of doing a run Disney race, if you've already done one but want more info or you've never heard of it before, but you're curious what I'm talking about, this episode is for you. Now this weekend, we're coming up with Disney's Springtime Surprise. This event is comprised of four events. We have the Springtime Surprise Yoga, a 5K, a 10K, and a 10 miler. If you're running the Disney Springtime Surprise race this weekend, you are going to love this episode, which is chock full of planning tips, what to pack, what to expect. But don't Don't worry, if you haven't signed up and you're not doing this race, I'm going to be going over all the Disney races and what to expect overall when running a Run Disney race, because a lot of the experiences are similar. So stay tuned for a really exciting episode about everything Run Disney. So for a little bit of a background about myself, I have run at least 10 Run Disney events, including the Marathon, the Goofy Challenge, the Dopey Challenge, the Wine and Dine, the Disney Two Horse Challenge. the Tower of Terror run, which unfortunately they don't do anymore, but that was an amazing race. I also ran in Disneyland Paris and completed the Castle to Chateau Challenge in 2016. And I've also run the Disney Princess Half Marathon, which happens to happen every year on my birthday weekend for 10 consecutive years. Another fun fact is I am an alumni of the Plan Disney panel. If you haven't heard of Plan Disney, it's a group of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney crews run Disney, everything Disney experts, and we help guests plan their vacation to the most magical place on earth. I encourage you to go check them out if you haven't already at plannedisney.com, and you can check out some of the great advice that they give guests on visiting. I love giving guests advice on all types of topics related to Walt Disney World, but my favorite was helping them plan for Run Disney events. My doctoral research also focused on women's running events, specifically looking at Run Disney events and running at Walt Disney World and how it's applicable to women runners. So I have some great experience I can share from my research and from actually running these races for over 10 years. So I'm hoping that I can give you some really great insight if you're planning to run one of these Run Disney events. So to get started, the first thing I'll say is there is no better place in the world to run your very first marathon than Walt Disney World. Run Disney events are notoriously wonderful for beginning runners because they have so so much on-course entertainment, so many fun aspects. They welcome runners at all levels. It's just a really great entry level if you want to get into running at events. So what are the Run Disney events? Well, every year they offer the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in January. There's the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February. We have the Run Disney Springtime Surprise this weekend, so it happens in April. The Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon is in October, and the Disneyland Halloween half marathon is in September. So these are the races that occur on an annual basis. So you'll see there's plenty of opportunities to run at Disney. The Run Disney events are so popular, they sell out in minutes. In fact, the Walt Disney World Marathon that happens every January is already sold out. Tickets went on sale on March 4th for Run Disney Club members, more on that later, and March 11th for the general public, and they were sold out within minutes of registration opening. So you'll definitely want to plan what in advance if you're thinking of running a run Disney race. I will have a guide on my website milemarkermatriarch.com that provides you a list of all the run Disney races, when registration opens, and when the races occur. Running a Walt Disney World can be pretty expensive. Not only do you have the race registration fee for the event itself, but you'll also have to consider things like your resort stay, park tickets, food, travel, all the other things that come with it, and it can really really add up pretty quickly. So you'll want to make sure that you set your budget in advance. To give you an idea of the cost, the Dopey Challenge, which is the most expensive race in the Ren Disney suite of races, because the Dopey Challenge includes a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and full marathon over the course of a weekend. That race is$688 for the registration fee alone. And yes, it sells out every year within minutes. But some of the other races, they range in cost. between like$200 to$240 for the race alone. And I do have to note that the race fee does not include park admission, your hotel, or anything else. All of those have to be purchased separately. If you plan on visiting the parks when you're there, the park admission is usually$139 to$199 per day, but really the cost of the park admission is variable depending on the number of days you stay, what time of year you visit. So you'll wanna make sure you go to the Disney World website to check out the prices for a specific race that you're looking for. Another important cost consideration is where you're going to stay. Now, I highly recommend staying at a Walt Disney World Resort because of the ease for race day weekend. You will have transportation provided to you to and from the race and to and from the expo, which that alone is invaluable. There is a lot of traffic congestion on race morning and the entire race weekend because it draws so many runners. And so for ease of mind, I really like to stay on site. The prices of the Walt Disney World resorts are broken down into the categories that they define of value, moderate, and deluxe. A value resort like All-Star Music or All-Star Movies ranges between$130 a night to$316 a night. The Art of Animation is considered a value resort and that's on the higher end of like$316 a night, but that doesn't include a family suite, which I've seen upwards of$500. For a moderate resort, you're paying between$350$540 a night. Moderate resorts are like Coronado Springs or Port Orleans. Those are great resorts. And the reason why they're moderate is they have interior hallways. The value resorts have exterior entryways, but they don't have as many amenities as the deluxe resorts. Now the deluxe resorts like Grand Floridian and Polynesian and the Contemporary, Those are usually between 500 and$600 a night on race weekend. But honestly, if you go up to one of the deluxe resorts with a two bedroom suite, you can be paying over a thousand dollars a night. So it's really important to make sure that you're incorporating that into your budget because it's such a variable cost. You can certainly consider staying offsite at a hotel or an Airbnb, but I want to warn you on race morning traffic. They closed down the majority of the roads leading into Walt Disney world, into the race course. So it's extremely difficult to navigate. If you stay at a Walt Disney World Resort, you will be able to hop on a bus at 2 a.m. Yes, 2 a.m. More on that later. And be taken directly to the race site and really have peace of mind. You don't have to worry about anything. You're taken directly there. You don't have to worry about when you're going to get there. You get on the bus on time and you know you're going to arrive because the buses understand the road closures and how to get there. Unfortunately, if you drive yourself or take an Uber, You're gonna experience a lot of road closures and it can take over an hour, hour and a half to get to the park, even if you're staying within like a five minute vicinity at a hotel around the area. It is absolutely crazy, the traffic on race morning. So I just don't like to deal with that if I'm gonna be running later, which is why I like to stay on site. The other cost consideration is how you're gonna get to Florida itself. And whether you drive or fly is probably largely dependent upon how close you live to Walt Disney World. My personal preference is to drive for any kind of travel race because I can bring all my gear with me and not worry about it getting lost or over packing. Speaking of packing, packing itself is an art and a science and it requires a lot of advanced planning. I am going to provide you with a run Disney packing list on my website milemarkermatriarch.com to help make it a little easier for you as you're planning your trip but I'll share a few of my packing tips with you. One, if you drive, I highly recommend bringing a case of water. Water in Walt Disney World is outrageous. It's like$3.50 for a bottle of Dasani. You can bring an entire case of water for$3.50. So that is a great money saving. I also recommend packing for every type of weather situation. Depending on which race you run in Walt Disney World, the weather conditions are going to be different and you'll obviously be checking the weather before the event, but the I've run the Walt Disney World Marathon in January, years where there has been freezing rain and years when it's been so hot they had to give out ice sponges during the race to make sure we didn't overheat. That can really happen any time of year. Well, not the freezing rain part, but the weather can change any time of year. I also want to point out that you are going to be sitting in the corrals, which I will get to in a little bit, for maybe a couple hours, depending upon which corral you're in. And at 2 a.m., it could be a little challenging. chilly, no matter what time of year it is. I recommend packing a throwaway outfit. So an outfit that you'll wear to the start line as you're waiting to begin to run. You want to make sure your muscles don't get cold. It's really hard to go from sitting and being cold to running and having your muscles heat up. So it's a great idea to bring like a warmer throwaway outfit. You can go to Goodwill, get a pair of jogging pants, a long sleeve shirt, and make sure that they're oversized. Put them on over your race outfit and then right before the race you can throw the outfit over the fence and Disney will take all those clothing collections and donate them after the race. So don't worry you're not littering or causing any problem. Tons of runners do it and it really helps make sure that you stay warm while you're waiting for the race to start. I also recommend packing a rain jacket or a poncho because rain in Disney World is a common occurrence daily so you'll want to make sure that you have that contingency plan. As you're planning what what to pack, of course you'll want to consider what you're wearing during the race itself. Are you going to wear a costume or are you going to wear just a regular running outfit? What shoes are you going to wear? What socks? Make sure you have your full race day outfit planned out in advance and make sure that you have run in the full Disney outfit before the actual race, even if it's a costume. If you don't want to run in your neighborhood in costume, run on the treadmill, but I promise you it's going to be well worth it because you don't want to get in to a marathon in a glittery tutu and discover that it's chafing your thighs by mile 10. Speaking of costumes, wearing a costume to a Walt Disney World running event is one of the most fun parts about running Run Disney. Disney allows runners to wear costumes on the course, which is awesome because did you know that adults are not allowed to wear costumes to Walt Disney World? The reason why is they don't want guests to go up to just random people who are dressed in costume thinking it's a Walt Disney World character. So You can't wear a costume to the park, but a run Disney race and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party are two events where you can feel free to wear a costume and emulate your favorite character. There are certain restrictions, like it can't be obstructive or offensive or violent or have a prop so big that it's interfering with other runners' ability to run. You can really let your creativity run wild when planning a costume. You could do a couple's costume, such as Jessie and Buzz, Sin Cinderella and Prince Charming, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, or if you're going with a friend group, especially if it's three people, you could be the fairy godmothers. If it's two, you could be Nemo and Dory or Peter Pan and his shadow. If it's a bigger group, you guys can each be one of the characters from inside out. The options are endless. You can see some really creative and fun ideas on Pinterest. You can actually buy pre-made costumes on Etsy, or you can even make them yourself. It's a ton of fun and it's a great way to get excited about running running the race. So going back to transportation to Disney World, this is why driving can be a great option if you have a costume that might be cumbersome or have a lot of props. If you don't want to run in a costume, that's okay too. You'll see a great variety of folks who dress in costume and those who don't, so don't worry. No matter what you decide, you won't feel left out. From a practicality standpoint, I highly recommend a really good pair of running socks that are cushioned. I like to wear two pairs of socks when I run. I like to wear a more lengthier crew and then a more padded ankle sock because that really helps make sure I don't get blisters and at Disney where it's very hot and humid that's really important. Sunglasses and a hat are also great to help protect you from the sun and definitely don't forget the sunscreen. If you use a garment or another running tracking device make sure you bring those and your chargers. You'll also want to think about your on-course hydration and nutrition. Disney does offer water stops throughout the course. They have water and powerade pretty much at every mile. If If it's a full marathon, they'll probably offer cliff shot blocks. I personally like to bring my own hydration and nutrition on the race because I want to make sure that I'm able to drink and eat what I've done in my training. Disney does allow hydration packs, which some races do not, including Chicago. So you can wear a camelback or you could just carry a sports water bottle and fill it up at the different water stations. Some runners like to have their water in a hydration belt. I personally don't like them because it feels like I'm running with a stomach full of water, but that's another option you can bring. And they usually have pockets for you to put your race nutrition as well. And when I say race nutrition, I just mean your items that will help boost up your glucose levels halfway through the race. So whether that's a cliff shot block, a goo gel, a banana, although a banana is very hard to carry on course, or the jelly beans. If you don't use a fuel belt, I highly recommend getting a spy belt or another running pouch that you can wear around your waist. It's a great item to hold your phone. You can can hold your race nutrition. You can put money or anything else that you think that you're going to need while you're running in your little belt. And you don't have to worry about it being in your pocket. Another must for me are headphones. I have to have music when I'm running. This is controversial at Disney World because there is so much on-course entertainment. There's music and there's characters and there's crowds and there's people talking and there's a lot going on to where you really don't need to have headphones. But I personally like to run with music. So I like to wear the them and don't feel bad if you do too there are runners who don't and runners who do either way whatever works for you is what you can of course the most important thing that you're going to bring for race day are your running shoes make sure that they're a pair that you have done training runs in and don't wear a new pair on race day the golden rule of running any race is don't do anything new on race day don't wear something new don't use new shoes don't eat something different don't use different on course race nutrition or hydration make sure you done everything in your training that you're going to do on race day. Other things that you may want to consider bringing are things to help you recover. So they have the recovery tights, which are basically compression pants that will help your muscles recover after the race. I love to have these, especially for the multi-race events like the goofy challenge or dopey challenge, because they really help make my legs fresh the next day. You can also consider a massage stick or a massage ball. The lacrosse balls are great for getting into to tighten muscles and help loosen them up. And you definitely won't want to forget your license. This is something that you probably won't forget because whether you're flying or driving, you're going to need this on hand. But I want to mention that you will need to show your driver's license to pick up your bib. You can't have someone else pick it up for you and you must show your proof of identity. So it is essential to have your driver's license on you so you can pick up your packet. This is a ton of stuff, which is why I prefer driving. But if you do have to fly, I have a few tips. One, make sure you're wearing your running shoes on the plane. Also make sure that everything you're going to need on race day from your outfit to your headphones to your costume are all in your carry-on bag. I have heard so many horror stories from runners who have had their race day outfits or shoes or other things that are essential for their run in their checked bag and their luggage got lost. And the problem is because you can't change anything on race day, it's really hard to get those items that you're going to need for your run once you're on site. So make sure that you have everything with you for your run and check the non-essentials. So now you're in the race that you want to do. You've booked your resort. You've bought your tickets. You've ordered your costume. You have your packing list. You've done your training runs. You are ready to go. You arrive in Walt Disney World. Now what? One of the first things you're going to want to do is pick up your race packet. There have been times I've gone straight from the airport to the expo to get my race packet because it's It's that important. So what's in your race packet? You're going to have your bib, which tells you what corral you're in. It has your name, your race number. You have to have that to run and you cannot pick it up on race day. You have to have it in a van. The race expo is also where you get your t-shirts that are part of the registration fee. And there's an entire hall dedicated to Disney merchandise. So one of the fun things about running a run Disney race is all the fun run Disney merch. There's cups and mugs and shirts and pants. and all types of fun stuff. Now, I will say that the merch does sell out very quickly. There's an ongoing debate in the Run Disney community about people buying lots of extra merchandise and selling it on eBay. It is definitely a common problem. It's so common that Disney has put limits on some of the items to help prevent someone from coming in day one, buying everything up, and then selling it for an upcharge on eBay. However, it doesn't completely eliminate the problems Sometimes folks will send in multiple people to buy it up and it does get gone really quickly. So if there's something that you must have, make sure you get to the expo right when it opens. The merch that I love are the Run Disney Doonie and Burke purses. Oh my gosh, they are gorgeous. They designed them specially after the Run Disney events. I particularly love the Disney Princess Half Marathon purses. You can only get them at the expo, of course, unless you want to pay an extreme upcharge on eBay after the event. but they are absolutely gorgeous but they do sell out very quickly so again you have to get there early if there's something specific that you want to buy the expo is always held in the disney wide world of sports which is a huge complex when you first arrive you're going to be directed to a building in the back of the complex which is where you're going to pick up your bib you'll need to show your license and you'll need to sign a waiver prior to getting the bib after you get that you're going to be directed to a different building which is where you get your t-shirts which yes is a little bit confusing because you're going from building to building and there's lines and crowds and people everywhere. It can be very overwhelming, especially because you have to walk to the very back of the building to get your shirt and the very back of the building to get your bib and walk all the way back through again, which is a lot of navigation. The building that has your shirts is also the race expo, which means you'll see a wide variety of vendors and some of them have giveaways, which is awesome. My favorite is the applesauce and the go-go packet I get those every time and my kids would love those. But they also have different vendors. So they have sports bras, they have running clothing, they sell shoes, which PS don't buy them at the expo to wear during the race. Because remember the golden rule, don't do anything new. But they'll also sell on race nutrition. So they'll have goo packets and cliff shot blocks. They'll have a wide variety of stuff for runners. So it's really fun. And if it It's your first time going. I definitely encourage you to check them out as you're able, but don't let yourself get too exhausted at the expo. I think that a lot of runners can go and get really excited because it's the first thing you're doing as part of race weekend. And they can spend hours going through the expo and going through the merchandise and then be pretty tired. And if it's the day before your race, you want to make sure your legs are fresh. So definitely save your energy. The third and final building in this adventure is the official Run Disney merchandise building. And this is where you can get all the stuff I was talking about earlier, like the Dooney and Berks or the official race mugs and shirts and all that fun stuff is in a separate building. So there are three separate buildings that you need to go to. The only two that you really need to go to to prepare for the race are getting your race bib and your t-shirts. But I have a hack that will prevent you from having to do all of this. The catch is that it costs money. Of course, in Disney, money equals time. So if you want to save time, there's a cost associated with it. The hack that will save you time and make you feel like a VIP is called Club Run Disney. Club Run Disney was created in 2020 as an exclusive membership for runners who want to take their run to the next level. There are three different levels of Club Run Disney, the silver membership, the gold membership, and the platinum membership. I do want to tell you in advance, I did join Club Run Disney in its inaugural year, 2020. I was a member of it for three years and I was a Platinum member. So I can give you some details on the benefits of this, but you can decide whether it's worth the cost. I also want to mention that Club Run Disney is sold out for 2025. However, on August 20th, 2025, registration will open up for 2026 and you can join then and receive the benefits for the year 2026. Starting with a silver membership, this is the basic level, and it's$279. As a part of this, you're going to get a Club Run Disney jacket, a membership card, and a magnet. You get an opportunity to participate in that year's Run Disney Virtual 10K and get a finisher's medal. You get the Tier 1 pricing for the races all year long, so you don't have to worry about a price increase if you don't sign up for a race early enough, although that is never going to be an issue because the races sell out at minutes. So I don't know why they advertise that as a benefit because the race cost is not going to go up based on the timeframe because they sell it in seconds. So that's not really a benefit. I just want to point that out. The Club Run Disney designation on your race bib, which also I don't see as a benefit, and early access to renew your membership annually. Okay, so that's the silver membership. The gold membership gets all of that plus an exclusive member pin and guaranteed registration for each Run Disney race weekend early. You also get early access to the Run Disney merchandise shop. The gold membership... is$613. Now the Platinum membership is quite a jump. It's$959 and of course you get all the benefits of silver and gold plus two guaranteed registrations for each race weekend during early registration, an exclusive packet pickup area at the expo, and an upgraded corral placement for each race that you register for. My opinion is that if you are a Run Disney fan and you know that you're going to run one to two Run Disney events in the year and you really want to make sure that you're maximizing your time in the parks, maximizing your time at the race, I really think that the Platinum membership is the way to go. My personal opinion are that the Silver and Gold membership aren't even worth joining. I know that's quite a declarative statement because I'm basically saying that the two more affordable options of the Club Run Disney package aren't worth it at all, but the platinum membership, which is outrageously priced, I recognize that, is the one that's worth it. But I just think that what you get for the silver and the gold membership aren't really worth it. You can register early. That's cool. That's basically it. I have the jacket. It's not cute. I'm going to be totally honest with you. The pin, not that cute, really doesn't mean anything. The thing that matter for the membership are that you get guaranteed registrations for each race weekend. That is an amazing benefit because these races sell in minutes. You actually get a different registration window than everyone else. So you get to register like a week before and you're getting that guaranteed entry. So it's really a stress-free way to be able to sign up for a race. The exclusive packet pickup area at the expo is worth every penny in my opinion. When I went to the expo to get my race packet as a Platinum Club run Disney member, I was able to go to one building, not three. I went to one building. I walked straight up the stairs. There was a personal concierge who I just gave my name, showed my license. They pulled my packet, which had my bib, and they gave me my t-shirts right there. They had everything right there for me. I didn't have to go to a different building. And it's in the same building as the official Disney race merchandise, which is the first building when you walk into the expo. So that means no walking all the way back to the wide world of sports, no going to three buildings, no waiting in line at all. They also had a beverage refrigerator, which I was allowed to get waters or diet Coke. They had free snacks up there. They had special photo opportunities, and that's just picking up the race packet. Once you get into the race, you're getting an upgraded corral placement, which means you get to be placed in a higher Corral, which isn't necessarily based on how fast you run, which I'll get into that in a moment. And that is a little controversial, but I'm telling you for the price, I do think it's absolutely worth it. So if you're going to join, join Platinum. Otherwise, I don't think it's worth it. So let's talk about corral placement. I've mentioned it at least three other times in this podcast, so let's just get down to what is a corral, why is it important, and why do you need to know about it? So the Disney races are so large, and you'll be familiar with this if you've run other marathons or large races before, but with a large race, you can't just hit go and have everyone go out there at one time. Walt Disney World had up to 40,000 runners during the marathon weekend. Can you imagine just letting everyone go at the same time, it would be a complete cluster and really overcrowded. So how they manage this crowd control is they have different corrals and they can have up to six, I believe. There might be more. And your corrals are based on your anticipated finish time. The faster runners are in the earlier corrals and the slower runners are in the later corrals. And the elites have a complete separate section. So if you're an elite runner, you start at the elite time belt You won't even see them because they're so fast. They'll be out of there. They'll be done with a race before half of us get started. Then they have Corral A. That's for your super fast runners. So that's competitive runners. They're probably going to place in their age group, like, you know, really fast. Then Corral B, you start to have more of the recreational runners. Corral C and through, again, you're getting more recreational. I think I'm about a 10 minute miler and I've been placed in Corral G for the marathon before. And I think for a half marathon, I'm usually in Corral C. So that's usually about how the pacing works for these different things. The corral matters because you have to go to your specific corral. The corral letter that is on your bib is where you have to go on race morning. So when you arrive, you're going to arrive in an area with all the other runners. It's going to be in a big parking lot. You're going to see porta potties. You're going to see a food truck with coffee and some light breakfast items. You're going to see character spots. You're going to see a DJ with music pumping loud. It's going to be 2 a.m., but it will not feel like 2 a.m. It's going to feel, I mean, maybe it will if you're at a club at 2 a.m. Maybe it feels like that. So it's very vibrant, very lively. Everyone goes into the same area. Then you're going to walk approximately, I believe it can be up to a mile, maybe half a mile to your corral start. For the marathon, I think it's close to a mile. It's definitely a very long walk. And that's one thing you have to keep in mind is that's why you have to arrive at this race so early. And that's why you have to be on the bus at 2 AM for a race that starts at 5 AM, because there's a lot of pregame until you get to the actual event. So your corral, once you've arrived at that main parking lot, that's where you're going to be directed to go into your corral, which is where you sit or stand until your group is allowed to go past the start line. You can be in your corral for a long time, upwards of an hour, maybe more, depending upon how far back you are. The further back your corral, the longer you're going to be in it. And the reason why is because again, those delayed start times. So I believe there's about a two minute differential between each corral. And sometimes the corrals are so large, they even split that corral into different times where they allow the group to go past the start line. Each corral will have fireworks at the start of their corral. So they'll do a countdown and you'll see five, four, three, two, one, fireworks. And then they cross the finish line. We all clap. And by the time they get to the later corrals, like Corral G, you're like, oh my gosh, another countdown, more fireworks. But they do it every single time. And that's the start of your corral going across the start line. And that's when you really begin your race. But again, because there is a time difference between each corral, starting. If you get to the race, if the race starts at 5 a.m. and you're in your corral, let's say by 4 a.m. or 4.30 a.m., which you need to be, you need to be there. That's why you have to arrive at 2 a.m. is because you need to be in your corral well before the race starts or they'll close them off and you'll end up in a further back corral. So you'll need to be standing there and as each corral goes, then you'll move up in the process and be able to cross the start line. So just, that's why I recommend bringing a warmup outfit to sit in the corral in. I've seen people bring books. I've seen, I've read a magazine before. I mean, if you're going, there's gonna be music. There's a lot of people. If you go with a group of friends, you're gonna be talking and excited. But sometimes it's nice to have a zen moment. I've done yoga in the corral. I've tried just to kind of get into my mind space to prepare me for running. because it is a lot of sitting and standing around. The other thing I'll say about corrals is that you do have to run in the corral that you're assigned, or you can run in one further back, but you can't move up a corral, even if you have a friend there. So let's say you have a really fast friend who's in corral A and you're in corral C and you want to run together. She can come back to corral C with you, but you can't go up to A with her. And they do have a ton of cast members who are checking every single person's corral letter to make sure they're in the right corral. It's insane. You need to make sure that you're wearing your bib on the front of your clothing. If you're wearing a jacket or something else, either put it on the most outer layer of clothing or be prepared to lift up your outer layer and show it as you're walking through. They check it, oh gosh, probably two or three times throughout the process to make sure you're going into the right place. So just make sure you have that ready and available. I will say that the whole bib thing can be a challenge sometimes, especially in colder weather, because there has been times where I've had my bib on my most outer layer and I ended up shedding layers throughout the race. And sometimes I have to pull over off the side of the road and repin my bib to my most current layer. And that's because if a participant is seen without their bib number on while running, they can be removed from the course for safety and security reasons. So just, this is why I say the bib is the most important thing that you're going to have and you need to make sure you have it pinned on securely it's on your outermost layer you don't forget it on race morning you definitely have to pick it up in advance you can't pick it up at the race you have to get it at the expo and no one can pick it up for you you do need your license and have to prove that it's you when you pick it up you can't have a friend do it or or have them hold it for you it's an extremely important part about the race and i've seen so many runners unfortunately not be able to get their bib or have some hiccup in that process and then they're not able to run. So I jumped ahead a bit to race morning talking about the corral, but let me bring you back to the night before. Okay, so you got your bib at the expo, you have everything ready. Should you go to the parks the day before? Now if you're going with friends or with family, especially if they're not running the race, they may be hyped up to go to the parks and hyped up to do stuff on that first day. That's up to you, but if you are a newer runner or if you're nervous about the race, I recommend taking it easy. You can go to the parks, but maybe try not to walk as much. I would not suggest going to Epcot. There's a lot of walking in Epcot. Hollywood Studios is a smaller park. Magic Kingdom, you could do one or two of the lands and then go back to the room. I've done it before where I've gone with my kids and we've done like a half day in the parks and then they'll go to the pool or or do something else at the resort while I kind of rest and take it easy. I think that's the best way to approach it so you don't max yourself out before the race. There also have been times I've told my family, hey, feel free to go to the park without me. I'm going to be here in the room just kind of resting and relaxing because you do have to be up at 2 a.m. You want to make sure you're in bed by 8. You could go to bed later, but just remember 2 a.m. comes really quickly. Another ritual I like to do the day before a race is layout flat Stacy. Flat Stacy is my race outfit that I lay out with my complete outfit down to my shoes and socks, race belt, race nutrition, hat, sunglasses, and headphones. At the race expo, they're also going to give you a gear check bag. Your gear check bag is what you can bring to the race. You can put everything that you're going to need immediately after your run and you can check it. Then when you're done with a race, you just go up, you show your race number and you can get your bag. This is particularly great if you're going to go from the race to the parks directly. You can pack an after run outfit or anything that you might need from going to the run to the park and you can just make it seamless. For me personally, I do like to go back to the resort and take a shower and get fully ready before going to the parks, but you do you. Some items that you'll want to put in your gear check bag are sunscreen, band-aids, extra safety pins. You want to have your throwaway outfit, anything you might want to wear after the race, your race nutrition, put some water, electrolyte packet, all those type of things that you're going to need on race morning or after the race, you can throw in that bag. I like to go ahead and pin my bib on my clothing so I don't forget it. And because I'm an overthinker, I usually pack stuff I'm not need like hot hands or blister packs anything as a just in case scenario it doesn't hurt to have it the day before your run you're going to want to make sure to drink lots of fluids with electrolytes and make sure that you're eating enough i'm going to go back to my golden rule i don't do anything new on race day but make sure you're eating similar food to what you ate at home and what you ate before your training runs i know that can be hard with a travel race which if you possibly can bring food from home i highly suggest that so you can eat some familiar. But if you can't, just try to stick with something light, something plain, something that won't upset your stomach the next day. Another ritual I like to do before I run a race is I like to plan out my mantras in advance. We talked in the last podcast about the importance of mindset when running. And so I like to plan out things I'm going to be telling myself when I'm at the run. Some examples are, this is what you're here for. This is why you came. Because sometimes in the moment and the race, you can get so caught up in the nerves. Am I gonna finish? Am I gonna be able to run the whole thing? It can be like, is it hot? Oh my gosh, this wasn't the weather I was expecting. It can really overtake your mind. But if you take a moment during the race and relax and say, This is what I came for. I'm going to relax. I'm going to enjoy this because this is why I traveled here in the first place. That really helps me. You can also use other mantras like I'm strong. I can do this. This is what I trained for. It really helps put you in the right mindset. So I like to practice those. Another thing you're going to want to do the day before your race is plan out what you're going to eat in the morning before you run. Again, don't change anything, but try to have something on hand that is light and will help fuel you through your run. Now I will say that the Walt Disney World resorts do offer a run Disney on the go race breakfast in the food court. It's the cutest little thing. It's in a blue run Disney box. It looks like so much fun. It's so overpriced though for what you get. I have bought it before just because I think the aesthetic is so adorable, but the reality is you don't get a lot for your money. So what you'll find inside the box is usually a banana, a thing, a peanut butter, a Dasani water, and a bagel. So now it's 8 p.m. You're tucked in bed. You have your race outfit laid out. You have your gear check bag all packed. You have your breakfast planned. You have everything ready. You have two alarms set just in case you oversleep and you are ready to hit the sack and get ready to run in the morning. So when that alarm goes off at 2 a.m., don't hit snooze as much as you're going to be tempted to. Just get up. Huge fan of Mel Robbins and I love her approach of counting backwards from five. Just count backwards from five and when you hit one get up without thinking about it make sure you allow yourself a lot of extra time to get ready and factor in for any unexpected hiccups especially if you're wearing a costume it's going to take some time to get everything assembled and get it looking like you want before you walk out the door make sure you have everything especially your bib number which i cannot say enough is the most important thing that you have make sure you grab your gear check bag and head over to where the buses are going to bring runners to the start line you'll hop on the bus with lots of other runners and let me tell you, there is no better sense of camaraderie than a run Disney bus. If you are running the race alone, take the time to introduce yourself to another runner. It's such a wonderful experience being with other people who are doing this event, who are putting themselves out there, who are probably as nervous and as excited as you. You can really develop some great friendships. Once you arrive and walk to the start line, you're going to see tons of porta potties with lots of lines. Make sure you go early because I've seen so many runners run up to their corral late because they waited too long to hit the porta potty. You're going to see porta potties in the general waiting area as well as on your way to the corrals. But once you're in your corral, there are no porta potties accessible. In fact, you're probably going to have to wait until a little bit after mile one for the next porta potty. And let me tell you what, after waiting around your corral for over an hour, you probably will be dying to hit up that next porta potty. They've counted down and the fireworks have gone off and you have crossed the start line you are on your way now what to expect so the courses can be pretty crowded and congested and it really is more crowded more congested the further back your corral is because of course you have more runners on the course it will also get pretty congested during some of the more narrow pathways throughout the race my tip is take it easy walk when others are walking and don't let it get to you remember that disney is a race for everyone at all levels so there are going to be folks who are walking some are jogging But just be patient because everyone around you is there for the same reason. The standard etiquette when running a race is that if you need to pass someone because they're going slower than your pace, you just say on your left and you pass on the left. You usually want to call it out so you don't scare them or frighten them as you run around them or they don't dart into your path. However, I want to say that in a Disney race, you just want to be a little more cautious about passing people and trying to run really fast. If you're looking to PR or placing your age group this may not be the race for you. I'm not saying that run Disney events aren't for competitive runners. I've run tons of races and there's a time and a place to run competitively, but I just don't think Disney is one of them. I've been a part of a ton of run Disney events where some of the faster runners get frustrated and they try to pass the slower runners. They run in the grass or aggressively run around them or mumble things under their breath. And it just makes it for a negative experience for everyone. No matter what your pace or reason for being in an event, you deserve to be there. You deserve to be on the course and you deserve to take up as much space as anyone else. So if you are a slower runner or a walker, please don't let those faster runners intimidate you. And if you are a faster runner, I just want to ask that you have awareness that going into this race, there are going to be walkers, there are going to be congested areas. So please just go into it without understanding and don't expect to set a PR or go super fast during the race. The course is super fun and there's going to be a lot of characters stops. There's going to be so many character stops that you're probably going to have to use some discretion about which ones you actually stop for. The lines can get super long and you may end up making some decisions on not stopping for every character. What I like to do is stop for characters that I know I can't meet any other time or any other park. And this is one of the most exciting things about a run Disney race is that there are going to be character stops with characters that you just don't see anywhere else. So it's a really fun opportunity to get to meet some of the more rare characters. However, if you see someone that you know you can meet in the parks, maybe bypass that. Speaking of character stops, let me give you some tips to make this process really smooth. So the lines are going to look really long, but if everyone follows the right character stop etiquette, then it can go pretty quickly. And what I mean by that is have your phone out, have the camera app opened. What you're going to do is go to the character that will be a cast member. You quickly hand them your phone. They're going to shoot the picture. You grab it and you keep on running. Try not to be that person that is like, hey, can you get multiple pictures of me or can you get me and my friends and me alone? It really holds up the line for everyone else and really isn't fair. You want to try to make sure that as many people can get their photo as they can. Now, of course, if you have a group, take the photo with a group if you want to do some of the group and some not, but try not to take up too much time at each of the character stops and certainly don't stop and talk to the characters. It's a shoot and go situation. There are also going to be a ton of photographers on the and I highly recommend purchasing PhotoPass in advance. With PhotoPass, you'll get all of your on-course photos in the app and it is amazing. They'll be at the finish line, but they'll also be all throughout the course and you may get some really good pictures. My biggest tip for enjoying the Disney race is to soak it all in and enjoy the moment. Don't worry about your time. Don't focus on what you're doing afterwards. Try not to think of anything else except for how much you're enjoying this. You can think about how much money you paid to be there and that will help motivate you through because you'll be like, I've paid to come here and this is what I'm here for. I am going to enjoy it. So enjoy the run, enjoy the characters, enjoy the full experience. It is a moment you will definitely not forget. So what about your friends and family? They can come and watch you on the course, although I do have to say it is quite a fresh turn to experience for spectators. I am not worrying about your pace. I am going to answer the number one question people have about run Disney events and that is who are the balloon ladies what happens if a balloon lady passes you so let me explain this if you haven't heard of them before so the run disney events have balloon ladies which essentially are just other runners who well they're they end up walking the course and they hold balloons and what they do is they set that pace for who's going to get swept in the race disney maintains a requirement that you must have a 16 minute per mile pace if you are slower than that you can get swept which basically Basically means you'll have to go on to a bus and be brought to the finish line via bus transportation and you won't be allowed to finish the race. This is because they have certain time requirements for the road closures and they have to make sure the course is clear. The balloon ladies don't actually sweep you. They don't pick you up and take you off the race. They're not mean to you. They don't say, you're too slow. Get off of here. They just simply are a visual reminder of the pace requirement and you'll know that if a balloon lady passes you at the next stop, you may get picked up by the bus to bring you to the finish line. I will say that the 16 minute mile pace is based on the very last runner who crosses the start line in the very last corral. That means that you don't necessarily have to maintain a 16 minute mile pace. If you are in a earlier up corral, you have a lot of leeway on that time. I know a lot of runners get really worried because they're like, well, I want to walk and what if I stop for characters? And that's all going to make my pace much longer than 16 minute per mile and that's okay. If you're in a further up corral, you have a lot more leeway. If you're in the back corral or if you're the very last runner to cross that start line, yes, you will have to maintain a 16 minute mile pace. There have been people who've been swept off the course. It is something that happens if you can't maintain the pace or if you hit the wall or any number of things, but it's okay. It really is okay. You may feel disappointed if you get swept, but please keep in mind that You passed everyone on the couch. You showed up. That is the most important thing. You showed up and you tried. And if you happen to get swept in the race, that's okay. Pick yourself back up, train again, and go back out there and try again. it is okay. You are still worthy and it doesn't take away from the fact of the effort that you put into your training and the effort that you put out there on the course. I will also mention that you will still get your medal even if you don't officially cross the finish line. I know that that's a little controversial and some people don't want to accept it because their own internal dialogue around whether they're worthy or not of the medal, but I will say that from a Disney official perspective, you will still get your medal. However, if you do not finish finish every aspect of a challenge, you will not get the challenge medal. That's applicable for things like the Dopey Challenge or the Goofy Challenge. As I mentioned earlier, the Dopey Challenge is a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and full marathon. If you do not complete one of those events, you will not get the finisher challenge medal. But for each of the individual events, you will get the medal for those. Speaking of medals, so now you have done the race. You have crossed the finish line. You get a medal around your your neck which is the most incredible feeling it's what I live for it's why I do races it's the best feeling in the world you will see that there are multiple people giving out medals so don't feel like you have to go to the first person Now that you have your medal, you're going to walk through, get your water, get your Powerade, get your obligatory race banana, because is it a race if there's not a banana there? I don't think so. Then you're going to get this Run Disney snack box. The snack box has a fun variety of things, usually a bag of chips, a little thing of cheese, a little fruit snack, just a little snacky thing that you can have after the run. Whenever people get back on the bus after the run to go back to their resort, we're all opening up our little snack boxes and chowing down. There will be more photographers, of course, who can take pictures of you with your medal, and then you're going to enter the friends and family greeting area. This is where you can meet up with your friends who may have been watching you on the course. There are usually letters set up throughout the parking lot, and you can tell your family to meet you at like letter C if your last name starts with C, and then that way you know where to go, whatever one can meet up and again some people like to go to the parks directly after the race some people like to get on the bus and go back to the resort and clean up in this area they're also going to have a very small merchandise tent you'll see a lot of the same stuff that they had at the expo it's usually pretty picked over though and there's not a huge selection but if you want to get your i did it t-shirt this is a great place to pick that up now that you've run your run disney race you've cleaned up you've taken your shower you can wear your medals to the parks and and hear congratulations all day long. I strongly encourage you to wear your medals. It's so much fun. If you do any of the challenges, such as the Disney Princess Half Marathon Challenge, where you'll have your 10K in your half marathon and your Fairytale Challenge medal, it's so much fun to wear all three of them to the park and hear them clinging around. You'll hear lots of clinging as you walk through the parks as everyone wears their medals that first day. And you'll hear a lot of congratulations and you'll be able to have, again, that sense of camaraderie with the other runners as you see them walking around the park. I'll add one final thing before we close out this podcast episode and that is Disney virtual races. So let's say you're not able to get into any of the in-person run Disney events or the cost is astronomical because once you add up those park tickets and resort stay and everything else associated, it really is beyond your budget. A great option is to do some of the virtual races. Now with the virtual races, you're not at the park of course you're running the miles back at home but you will still get the Disney medals and the t-shirts which hey isn't that what we all came for I actually did sign up for a virtual running event that they have this summer which is so exciting Disney hosts these virtual events every summer and this summer they are doing a series of three 5ks that are themed after Pirates of the Caribbean Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder Mountain if you complete all three you get a special challenge medal you don't have to prove your time or submit anything. You really can just do this on your own and Disney will mail you a box with the medals and the t-shirts. It's a really fun way to be a part of running at Disney without having to incorporate the full cost. So now I really want to hear from you. Were there any questions you had about running Disney that I didn't answer? Anything you're curious about? Want to hear about a specific race? I love to talk about running at Disney. So please feel free to visit me at milemarkermatriarch.com on my web You can also reach out on Instagram, milemarkermatriarch, or on Twitter at milemarkermatriarchm. I would love to hear from you. Until next time, have a great run. This podcast is for educational purposes only. It's not intended as medical advice, not a medical professional, and my recommendations are shared based on my experience and knowledge as a certified personal trainer, running coach, and nutrition consultant. Always consult with your doctor or qualified healthcare provider before beginning any new exercise program, making significant changes to your diet, or addressing any health concerns.