Disney Marathon Weekend Trip Report: The Big One
Note: This trip report is divided into seven parts. This post is part four of my trip report visiting Walt Disney World for the 2025 Dopey Challenge at RunDisney Marathon Weekend.
- Mears & Arrival
- Bib Pick-up & Hollywood Studios
- 5K & Epcot
- 10K & Lightning Lane Multipass
- Half Marathon & Hollywood Studios (Again)
- The Big Race, Animal Kingdom, & Ohana Noodles
- Check-out & One More Day of Park Hopping
The big one! Race four of four. The conclusion to a year of training.
Today's start time is 4:30 a.m., 30 minutes earlier than the other three races. Disney explained that the earlier start time would allow more time in the parks, but I'm unsure if I believe that explanation. The earlier start time allowed runners to be through Magic Kingdom around 8 a.m. with plenty of time to clear the crowd and clean for the park opening at 9 a.m. The earlier start time solved a logistics problem. That is only a guess, however.
Due to the earlier start time, I woke up at 12:45 a.m. I felt better than the previous two days, and I think getting to the hotel earlier yesterday and starting to sleep in the late afternoon was a big reason.
I was unprepared for the weather before the half-marathon. While the temperature was 60 degrees Fahrenheit, the wind and rain made it feel much colder. I did not want to underestimate today's weather and what I may need before, during, and after this race. First, I packed two hoodies. I would wear one hoodie in the starting corral, which I could drop off and donate after a few miles. I packed the other hoodie in my gear bag and stored it for after the race.
The weather forecast said the temperature would be in the low 40s throughout the early morning. Most of my training over the past month has been with temperatures in the low 40s, and I thought I could run the race without my thermal shirt. However, after yesterday, I decided to pack my thermal shirt in my gear bag, just in case. This decision paid off, as I chose to wear the thermal shirt once I arrived at Epcot for two reasons. First, it felt much colder than I anticipated, and second, I worried about how much sweat I would produce during the long race. The thermal shirt would keep me warmer as I sweat throughout the race.
The Walt Disney World Marathon is my favorite race because it is the only race where participants run through all four theme parks on the property. This unique course is why I have chosen to run both marathons here.
I won't go into too many details about the race itself. Although it was cold before the race, it was near-perfect running weather. I wore my hoodie for the first three miles before I discarded it while leaving Epcot. There were parts of the race where I felt cold, but that may have been due to the toll these past few days have taken on my body.
Even with running a 5K, 10K, and half marathon, I beat last year's marathon time by 36 minutes, finishing in 3:53. Completing the marathon in under four hours was not my goal, as I wasn't sure how my body would feel after running the previous three days. But, I admit running under four hours was in the back of my mind after I maintained a terrific pace for the first fifteen miles.
After the race, I returned to the hotel and spent the next 2 hours decompressing. I purposefully did not make plans for the morning.
Animal Kingdom is my wife's favorite park, so once I was comfortable at the hotel, she went ahead of me to Animal Kingdom. I knew my time would be limited today, as there would only be so much time I would want to be in the parks walking around. I also knew I would be s-l-o-w, and walking from attraction to attraction would take longer than usual.
The kids and I arrived at Animal Kingdom around noon and headed straight to our lightning lane, Expedition Everest. After last year's marathon, we went to Universal Orlando, and I was nauseous for many rides. While rides at Disney are less intense, I feel fortunate that I felt much better after this year's marathon and could ride all the rides at Animal Kingdom without feeling sick.
I waddled from ride to ride, including Dinosaur, Flight of Passage, and Kilimanjaro Safaris. We then split up for a late lunch, with my youngest son and I traveling to Satu'li Canteen in Pandora. I was excited to try the Chili-Spiced Crispy Fried Tofu Bowl, and my son had the Cheeseburger Bao Buns. This meal was the best meal I had during my visit. It had a spiciness that I enjoyed. I also love tofu, and this tofu had a good flavor. I ordered it with black beans and rice, but there are other combinations you could order with this item.
After lunch, I admitted defeat and needed a break, so we all returned to the hotel room. My kids went back to Disney Springs while I took a nap.
This evening, we had another lightning lane single pass for Guardians of the Galaxy. My wife also wanted to go to the Polynesian and enjoy some Ohana noodles from the Tambu Lounge. It was after 8 p.m. when we stepped off of the Guardians attraction. Epcot closed at 9 p.m., so I knew we would need to find other transportation back to our hotel, as Epcot would be closed once we left the Polynesian. To get there, we took the monorail at Epcot to the Ticket & Transporation Center (TTC). Then, we walked to the Polynesian. We had to wait 30 minutes for a table, but the noodles and bread pudding were worth the wait.
To return to the hotel, we took the monorail from the Polynesian to the Magic Kingdom and hopped on the bus back to our hotel.
We check out of the Beach Club tomorrow, but I am excited to sleep past 1:30 a.m. tonight.
- Total Steps for the day: 66,507 (204,675 total)
- Total Miles for the day: 38.15 (108.75 total)