April 20th-22nd was the 3rd annual Star Wars Half Marathon at Disney World and it did not disappoint. While the 5k & 10k runs were business as usual from last year, this year’s half marathon added in additional lighting and sound effects on the course making it by far the best year yet in this runner’s opinion.
Packet Pick Up & Expo
Packet pick up and runner’s expo are located at the ESPN Wide World of Sports for Run Disney events. This packet pick up mirrored that of the new setup used at the Princess Half this year. Runners picked up their packets at the HP Field House. If you forgot your waiver, Disney has you covered with a waiver printing area also located in the Field House.
From the HP Field House runners make their way over to the Visa Center where they can pick up race shirts and browse the vendors’ booths at the expo. After shopping some of their favorite booths, getting Star Wars nails, or meeting Jeff Galloway at the expo, runners can then make their way over to the new arena to purchase Run Disney merchandise (and beer).
In the evening many runners will want to stay off their feet or in their host hotels due to early morning wake up calls, while others will choose to carb load at their favorite Disney hot spot. No one wants to stay out too late due to the 2 am wakeup call; buses start boarding between 3-3:30am depending on the run. All of the Star Wars runs have a prompt 5:30am start time which makes it possible to get back to your room post half marathon, shower and enjoy a day in Disney’s theme parks.
5k Run (3.1 miles)
This year I ran the First Order Challenge which consists of the 10k and half marathon, so I interviewed several other runners who were participating in the 5k. Donna Dreifus drove from North Florida to run the 5k. Like a lot of Run Disney participants Donna has been a longtime fan of Disney and was very excited to make this her very first run ever. I asked Donna about the packet pickup process. Laughing Donna said ‘I felt like I was running a marathon just picking everything up. It was my warm up.’ I think she verbalized what many people going to a Run Disney event feel.
When I asked Donna to tell me her impression of the 5k and how she felt it went she said, ‘I wanted to do this because it was Disney and I had never done a run before.’
Prior to Donna’s run there were several character photo ops, but she felt the line was too long to wait in, so she went ahead and got to the corral (area runners line up) to wait for the start.
The start to the 5k this year was cool she said, and the course was scattered with characters like R2D2, Chewie, Sabine & Ezra, and Storm Troopers. If there was a costume contest the grand prize for best costume at the 5k according to her would go to the trio dressed up as characters from Spaceballs.
The 5k run stayed in and through the Epcot area where the finish line was set up for all three runs.
10K Run (6.2 Miles)
The next morning at the 10k there seemed to be a few hiccups I noticed. Run Disney usually has three hosts that we all know and love: Rudy Novonty, Carissa Grazel, & John Pelkey. There seemed to be some confusion during the opening pre-run show on Saturday that normally does not happen. Usually the opening is a giant party with 10,000 runners singing and dancing in their corrals. However, Carissa was running in the 10k so initially she was not on the stage but hopped up to help with a few announcements and things got a bit wonky from there. There were lags in talking and several awkward moments that had people looking at each other trying to figure out what was
happening. Regardless of the odd moments and tension the start was still on time with wheelchair participants taking off first.
One thing that was immediately clear as we ran our way around the Epcot property through the park is that Porgs are the new Rey. While last year everywhere Rey costumes were most popular, this year there were Porgs far and wide! While some just went with a Porg hat others went with full body Porg costumes.
More character stops were sprinkled along the 10k course as well and again the weather much cooler than last year. You could say it was at least LUKE warm.
While there was the usual bottle necking on course we all used the force to finish without any hold ups.
Post run there were many people in the parks with the 10k shirt on; however, due to the unusually heavy weight of the medal there were very few brave people willing to commit to wearing them all day.
Half Marathon (13.1 Miles)
Like the morning of the 10k, temperatures for the half marathon were nice and cool compared to the normal heat the Star Wars weekend usual brings. Walking in Run Disney had plenty of character photo ops, again, if you were willing to get in the line for them instead of lining up for your corral.
My running party made our way over to our corral where we sang and danced until the run started. Unlike the previous morning Rudy, Carissa, & John seemed to be doing much better when addressing the 15,000+ runners that were waiting to start. Runners were broken into corrals A-H and then those corrals were then broken into 20 smaller corrals based on where you fell in the corral.
The run started without a hitch and everyone was off! I have to say this was my favorite year doing Dark Side; this run has come a long way from the first year when there were few characters on course and long stretches in the heat with no entertainment. I felt like they really upped their game this year with areas that might otherwise have been boring by adding in sound effects and extra lighting. Even though these areas had no characters, a laser light show and light sabers noises coming from the bushes added an extra element of fun.
On the way to the Animal Kingdom one of the worst moments (and embarrassing for Disney) involved the stretch that went past the water treatment plant. I think those of us that frequently run distance at Disney understand that to make the runs work there is no avoiding this horribly smelling section. Unfortunately, this year they placed a water station directly across from the water treatment plant. As we ran up to the water station there were volunteers with their shirts over their noses or bandanas tied around their face. Just imagine having to stand across from a place that smells like it processes human waste for 5 hours or more while pouring water and trying to be encouraging for the runners. While I always make sure to thank the volunteers, at this station I made sure to really go out of my way to thank every single one of them. I can’t understand why this one stop was not moved away from the plant so volunteers were not subjected to this. It was a major failure in planning.
After running through the Animal Kingdom before park rope drop I then exited the park to make our way over to Hollywood Studios. Along this stretch of road was one of the photo ops I have been trying to get for the past few years: the coveted (usually really long line) photo with the snow Wampa!
One of my biggest goals running Disney has been to go on a ride, but I am always too nervous be swept (removed from the course) to try it. This year after running through Hollywood Studios I came up with a plan! I was able to track one of the balloon ladies that symbolize the end of the run, so I knew how much time I had after arriving in Epcot. I was able to make it to Frozen (between miles 12-13) during that sweet spot right after rope drop but before it gets busy. When I ran up to the ride there was a 15-minute wait and I went to get in line. However, as I was making my way one of the cast members walked up and intercepted me. At first, I was worried she was going to boot me but instead she asked if I was trying to get on the ride. I told her “yes” and at which point she stopped me and asked me to follow her. She walked me all the way to the front of the line even bypassing the fast pass riders. This will be one of my favorite moments running Disney ever!
Once I finished the ride I ran back to the course with no balloon ladies in sight and booked it to the finish line that was lined with Storm Troopers.
All and all it was a great run! I used the Force and did some EWalking here and there, but in the end we succumbed to the Sith Lord and joined Dark Side.
So, what do you think Yoda going to do next year? Join the Dark Side or are you worried it’s a trap!
