Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend

The marathon weekend always takes place during the first weekend in January and is a very popular event for those are running in the marathons and the spectators. So, if you are visiting the parks during this weekend be advised that the crowds levels are above average for this weekend.

The marathon weekend consists of four different races; a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and the Marathon. There are also two challenges. They are, the Dopey Challenge and Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge. To complete the Dopey Challenge, you would have had to of finished all four marathons which adds up to be a total of 48.6 miles. To complete the Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge, you would have had to of finished half marathon and marathon which adds up to be a total of 39.3 miles.

So, what is so special about the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend? All the races’ courses go through either a park or resort. Sometimes they go behind the scenes as well. Also, all along the race you can meet characters! The 5 and 10K races are your best choice to run the course and meet characters. But if you are worried about your time and keeping a pace, the character wait lines will mess you up. As you can see I am not a runner so I’m not going to be the first one to sign up for these things. But if I had the chance to do it I would and I would do the 5K just to get the experience of doing a race at Walt Disney World.

So where exactly do the courses take you?

All the courses start and finish in the EPCOT parking lot. The 5K course takes you through EPCOT only. The 10K course takes you through EPCOT and the Yacht & Beach Club Resort. The Half Marathon course starts you off in the EPCOT parking lot and then you make your way to the Magic Kingdom, go through the Magic Kingdom, make your way back to Epcot and go through Future World and head back out to the parking lot to finish. The Marathon course takes you through all four parks and the ESPN World Wide of Sports Complex. You start in EPCOT’s parking lot then go to the Magic Kingdom, then Animal Kingdom, then the ESPN complex, the Hollywood Studios through to EPCOT and finally end in the parking lot.

I think the BEST part about the marathon weekend is seeing all of the creative running costumes that the racers come up with! It’s a huge deal to put together a running outfit that either resembles a character or is a full out costume. I don’t know how some of the people even run in their costumes. Just think of Disney-bounding on steroids.

But probably the worst part about the weekend is the traffic. If you are a runner and staying onsite participating in the event the Disney transportation system will get you where you need to go when you need to be there from your resort. This also goes for those of you that are participating as spectators. The 5k and 10k are usually over around lunch and those races only affect EPCOT and its surrounding resorts. The Half Marathon and Marathon affect the WHOLE resort so just be aware of the runners on the roads as well as a little bit more traffic on the roads while trying to get around the resort on those two days.

The last thing that I want to note before I end this video is the registration for this event fills up quick. So, to be sure that you get your spot in the race be sure to register early, like as soon as the announce the dates for the next year. Also, the registration for these events is pretty pricey so be prepared to spend a good bit.