If you've made it this far, or if you've skipped the first four articles, then you should know my family and I attended the 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend for the second time, but attended nearly all of the races as participants and spectators. The races and expo have been discussed in the previous articles, but I had a few things that didn't fit in other places that I thought I was add here.
Spectatoring
Although not a word, it could be a sport in itself. Spectators play a major part in supporting their runner. I didn't know how much until I made it to the 18th mile of the marathon to see my family waiting for me. The day before, however, I was supporting my wife be getting the kids to see her at various spots along the course.
Disney has a great tool for helping you as a spectator, but they don't tell you everything you need to know to be absolutely awesome at it. Here are some tips of what you can do to get right there in the action and enjoy the race as a spectator. Although I'm going to focus on the marathons, but aware, that at the 5K, you are a spectator by just being in the stands, the race is short and your runners are sure to see you as they round the bend towards the finish line.
First, track your runner! You need to find a way to track your runner's progress. There are a number of ways you can do this.
Disney and Cigna provide a text message service that will alert whomever you wish of your progress through the course. The half marathon sends alerts at the start, 5K, 10K, 15K, and finish while the marathon sends out text alerts at the start, 5 mile, 10 mile, 15 mile, 20 mile, and finish. The messages only contain a little information, current chip time, average pace, and anticipated time of finish. This provides quite a bit of information for you to plan on where you wish to be when your runner arrives. You can access runner tracking only when it becomes available a week or so before the race from the Spectator Resources site.
Disney also provides a tool on their website that will help you plan on how to see your runner at various points throughout the course. The Spectator Planning Tool will help you figure out how much time you will need to allow to make it from one location to another. However, this tool assumes you are either joining your athlete at Epcot at the start of the race (that's quite early if you have children in tow) or are staying at a Magic Kingdom resort. If you are staying anywhere else, it is a good tool to get you started, but you need more. You can get to the tool through the RunDisney Spectator Resources site.
For us, this wasn't enough, I wanted details. Also, since my girls were running unaccompanied through Epcot, I wanted to know where they were more frequently. For this we used a phone app. There are a variety of them out there, but we settled on @RunMeter for the iPhone. They have a Twitter account and you can find them by searching for RunMeter at the Apple iPhone App store. The app is very configurable, but ultimately, it lets you send out Twitters, Facebook updates, DailyMiles updates, and emails under a variety of triggers. These include anytime a run is started, stopped, any time interval you choose, any mile interval you choose, and when you hit done. The message that is sent can contain a almost any information you can imagine. Of course Twitter updates are limited to 140 characters, and the app will help you shape a tweet size update. Further, it sends out GPS map links through Google Maps to provide your location at the time of the update. Runmeter can send any and all of these updates as long as the app is running. (We could not get this to work properly on an iPhone 3G, so I would recommend a 3GS or higher).
Second have a transportation plan! Here is where preplanning is important, perhaps the most important.
We found out that Disney really supports this process even through they don't always advertise the fact. Normally, there are no busses between the parks, only from resorts to the parks. So if you want to take a bus from Animal Kingdom to Epcot, lets say, you need to go from Animal Kingdom to a resort (pick one in the middle like Coronado Springs) then get on another bus headed to Epcot. However, we found out, quite by accident that they run busses between the parks that have major viewing locations, so be ready. There are dozens of available viewing locations, and we found that spectatoring, is a sport on its own.
Since this was our first time, I drove the kids (busses stop when the race begins and don't resume until 7 am) to Magic Kingdom. I know a back way from Riverside to the TTA and it happened to be the detour that Disney put in place during the marathons. Although we missed our runner when she passed on her way to the Magic Kingdom, we were able to run fast all the way across the Poly to the viewing location set up for their return trip from the Magic Kingdom. From there we grabbed the monorail to be at the finish line, but it was crowded, and you will have to assume you aren't going to get on the first, or even the second train.
We arrived at Epcot and immediately ran over to the bus loading and unloading area. The half marathon cuts through this area and lets you get right along the running path. We were able to great our runner as she made her way into Epcot. We then hustled across the parking lot to be at the finish.
My wife did something similar chasing me down. She however, used nothing but Disney transportation, and it was much smoother. She was able to make it over to Animal Kingdom to meet me in the parking lot as I left the park and headed out to HS.
Be Easy to Spot! Every girl wears pink, lots of runners are in white, and many people wear the shirt given to them by the event. You need to stand out so that your spectators can find you. Bright green, orange, and costumes can all help you get seen. Use that to your advantage.
Be heard! IF you haven't made prior arrangements or if you are planning on surprising your runner, then it might be in your best interest to get noticed from the side. Be loud, go crazy, make noise, and most importantly be enthusiastic! You are only going to be there long enough for your runner to pass by, maybe stop to pick up fuel, get a picture, and hopefully a hug. After that you are going to take off for your next spot. So go ahead and annoy those around you! Anything to supercharge your runner!
Carbloading and Fueling
Disney does provide the Pasta in the Park party, but at a hefty price. Its made even more so when you have little kids to think about. Consider alternatives. Disney is not known for how reasonable their food prices are, but they do have some bargains if you look closely at the menus. There are dozens of sites dedicated to reporting on the menus available at the restaurants, but don't neglect the one in your resort. Some even offer special deals just around this weekend to help you fuel.
Don't plan on buying your fuel and food at the expo or surrounding stores. Nearly thirty thousand runners are planning on participating that weekend and many are buying things on site. You are better served by bringing the fuel you are going to need and having it available in your hotel room. This also saves you time on site that you can use to relax, enjoy a park, or make your plans.
Commemorate your event
You may only do this once. Or you may do this for the rest of your life, but you get to run your first Disney marathon once. After that you will be a pro, so try and find a way to record the event. Bring your camera, on your run. There are dozens of cast members around all of the photo ops there to do one thing, hold your camera and take your picture. Use them. Stop and get those pictures. You are going to see things that aren't in the parks often, get those pictures when you can. Also, it might be that the picture you take there is the one that really makes your memory! If you don't think you can carry the camera with you, then consider stopping for pictures with a Brightroom photographer. They are at every major themed area of the track. At worst, your phone probably has a camera, consider using it.
Go to a park after the event. You might be tired or drained, and if this trip is on a tight budget, you may not want to spend the money for a park entrance for a day where half of it was wrapped up in running. But if you have an Annual Pass, or a flex pass with an extra day, plan on going to the park with your shirt on and your medal around your neck. The other runners are going to be there and cast members are there to cheer and congratulate you. It might be the one time where the theme parks are more like the commercials than the everyday reality.
We found that Saturday had the largest turnout of runners celebrating in the park. Sunday the parks seemed sparse. This is likely due to large numbers of runners needing to return home to work. We were no different, hitting the road around 4 PM to make our way back home for work on Monday. However, if you can stop somewhere visible and memorable in the park and stage a picture surrounded by Disney, family and friends with your huge chuck of pride swinging around your neck!
Conclusion
My family and I had a wonderful time. We are already making plans for next year where all five of us are going to run the 5K together in costume. We are debating the costume choices now, but it should be fun. If you are a runner, or if you are new to the sport, I encourage you to consider making Disney World one of your runs. Its an expensive course, so it might not be a early trip. Also, do not treat this trip as a chance to tour the parks. The races require an early return to your room to prepare for getting up on time. Moreover, eating is never inexpensive at the parks, and if you are on a budget like me, you have to strongly consider how you wish to spend your resources. On the other hand, I can't think of a better and healthier way to connect with my family at a destination I simply adore.
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