If you've never cheered for a race, it really is a magical experience-even more so if it's a marathon in the most magical place on earth! So I was 100% on board for cheering for the marathon again this year. The race started half an hour earlier than last year so I adjusted my am wake up call to 3 am. I don't like to get on the first bus when spectating so that the seats can go to runners but I don't want to be on the last bus either so I planned on getting on the bus at around 4 am. The marathon course had quite a few changes this year and magic kingdom was just past mile 10 rather than just past mile 6 like last year so I had plenty of time to get to the Magic Kingdom before the runners arrived.
This all ended up being a good idea because there was major traffic trying to get to Epcot for the race start! Craziness! I'm not sure exactly what went wrong this year but there were so many buses of runners stuck in traffic. It was so bad that some of the runners were getting out of their cars and walking to the parking lot rather than waiting in traffic. My bus driver was a bit more of a proactive driver and bypassed a lot of the traffic and cut back over to the right hand lane closer to where we needed to turn. Even with that, it took us over 40 mins to get from the resort to the Epcot parking lot. Once we got into the parking lot, the cast members where doing a great job of getting all of the buses unloaded quickly but a lot of the runners were feeling really stressed out as we got off the bus at 4:50 am with 10 minutes until race start.
I headed over to the front of Epcot to catch the monorail to the Transportation and Ticket Center. I heard some of the cast members reassuring runners that the race had been delayed which was a good call since many runners probably wouldn't have made it to the start on time. The race ended up starting about 20 mins late but I was already on the monorail. Two quick monorail trips and I was in the Magic Kingdom.
The Magic Kingdom opens at 5:30 am for spectators and not ticket is needed to spectate for the race before the park opens. I made it there a bit after 5:30 am so spectators were already lined up to cheer. I took a few minutes to enjoy Main Street at night. It's so beautiful with all of the Christmas lights and decor still up! It's a great opportunity to get some photos with the castle with a very light crowd.
The crowds on Main Street seemed a bit less crowded than last year. There were several stretches along the course where there was space right up by the rope. I suspect that this is due to more cheering opportunities available in Epcot at the beginning of the race and due to people getting stuck in traffic and not making it to Magic Kingdom. I had plenty of time to add bib numbers into runner tracking for all of my friends. Alas, I learned that you can only track up to 8 bibs! Runner tracking will send you start, 5 mile, 10 mile, half marathon, 20 mile and finish alerts. You can also do live tracking on your phone but that just guesses at your runner's progress based on the previous average pace and doesn't take into account if they stop or change speed between alerts.
First up are the hand cycle athletes. Some of them really move! And quite a few light up their chairs with lights so they look so cool cycling down Main Street. Pretty soon the elite men and women started to trickle in. If you have never seen elite athletes running, it's an amazing sight. They really do make it look effortless! Since the spectating area was further into the marathon course this year, the runners were even more spread out which is great for spectating. I got to see so many of my friends run down towards the castle. I wasn't sure how much delay there would be in the runner tracking texts but I was able to get the 10 mile update and then get ready to start looking for my runners with plenty of time.
My next stop was the Polynesian resort for breakfast. They have two sit down restaurants but I opted for the quick service Captain Cook's just like last year. It was pretty crowded so I shared a table with two other ladies who were cheering on runners that morning. I always meet the nicest people on race weekends. The runDisney community is absolutely wonderful! After breakfast, I took my tea to go and hung out around the resort for a bit. After a very crowded half marathon course, it was great to get some introvert time.
To get back to Epcot, I reversed my monorail journey and headed over to the finish line area in the Epcot parking lot. The finish line was very crowded and because I cheered for longer in Magic Kingdom that morning, I didn't have as much time to stake out a finish line viewing spot. There are many viewing areas before and after the finish line so it's always a good idea to walk around to find the least crowded section. I ended up near the volunteers handing out medals and got to see Will get his medal.
It was a wonderful experience cheering for the marathon but it was really warm for running and Will wasn't feeling that great after the race so we headed straight back to the hotel for showers and naps. Post marathon naps are the best!
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Part 1: The Expo and YouTube Meet Up
Part 2: The Half Marathon
Part 3: Cheering for the Marathon-You are here.
Part 4: Enjoying some Disney Magic
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