The Inaugural Walt Disney World Marathon Relay is in the books! Lee and I both had really good runs – he finished his half in 2:13:02, and I finished my half in 2:30:33. They also counted the 3:17 we spent in the transition area, so our total time was 4:46:51. I was thrilled that it was under 5 hours! The number “4” was still the first number in the race clock when I arrived at the finish – I didn’t think I’d ever see that.
Just a few photos for now – I’ll have a more detailed report later.
The morning started EARLY – we caught the bus a little after 3:00. Here’s the Team AllEars photo, taken about 4:15 – a few people were missing because their bus drivers got lost. 🙁
In the transition area (they had a HUGE area for the relay, much larger than we needed), they had numbered chutes, and you waited until you saw your runner approach, and then moved out into the lane. There was no official passing of a baton, or any point that you both had to cross – just whatever greeting you wanted to give your incoming runner, and then runner 2 could take off.
Lee crosses the finish line! He had a really good time. Which made it nice for me, because it put me ahead of a whole lot of runners, so the course was less crowded for me, and I didn’t have to wait too long to get my photos taken with the characters. 🙂
They had a really elaborate area set up for the Villains!
Team All Ears cheering area just past mile 24 – this was really a great place for them to be, since at that point a lot of us are very tired – we know we can make it to the finish, but a little extra encouragement really helps, and they were so supportive of EVERYONE – not just TAE runners!
My new Chip and Dale relay medal!
I was a 2nd leg relay person. I ended up staying at the Contemporary the night before (I got an annual pass discount, but of course, it was still expensive.) I took the monorail to the TTC and walked to the exchange area in the MK parking lot. I left the Contemporary around 6:30 or so and was in the exchange area a little after 7 a.m. My relay partner finished her half by 8:15 so I didn’t wait long. My backup plan was to drive to MK after 5:30 a.m. Either way, it requires extra money to rent a car or stay at a monorail hotel so you don’t have to get up so early. I did the half on Saturday so I was looking for a way to get extra sleep on Sunday.
Great recap, has motivated me to find two people with which my husband and I can each team so he and I can still do the race together. To that end, did your husband get his medal right away after he finished Leg 1 or did he have to wait until you finished Leg 2? Thanks.
Laura replies: The leg 1 runners received their medals as they exited the relay exchange area. They did not have to go to Epcot to meet up with the leg 2 runner at all.
Laura, thanks for the recap. I ran the 2nd half of the relay. I wasn’t an AllEars runner, but I did have a wave of excitement when I saw the AllCheers team near the end! It was like seeing someone I knew – so thanks to all who were there.
There must have been many folks who showed up to the transition area later – it sure didn’t seem like more than 300 people hanging out early on. I left out of there early (my DH ran a great time!), but not too long before I left I noticed quite a few people coming off the busses, etc. I didn’t mind getting up early and being part of the whole experience.
We liked that at EPCOT they had a place for us to take our picture together in front of a relay themed background once we reunited.
A great weekend!
The medals are really nice, as always.
However, I have a few comments about the marathon relay. I thought it was ridiculous for the Leg 2 runners to have to wake up so early to catch Disney transportation, only to have to wait for hours.
If WDW asks for feedback, I would suggest that they start Leg 2 at the same time, so Leg 2 runners wouldn’t have to wait so long or wake up so early.
I ran Leg 1, but I heard there weren’t any heating lamps, so was it cold.
Moreover, there weren’t any Marathon Relay souvenirs to buy.
Laura replies: I have a lot of the same comments. 🙂 Though I don’t think letting the leg 2 runners start early is the answer – then they would be in the way of the elite marathon runners on the course. I was also disappointed in the lack of merchandise – one “We Did It” shirt, and that was all. But with only about 1800 people who might buy it, I can understand that.