If you ran the Wine and Dine Half Marathon last year, you know that this race was a nightmare in 2014.
Friends lovingly call it the Splash and Dash.
Heavy rains and cold weather created a mess of a race for the runDisney participants last year.
This year? Things weren’t much better.
Lightning forced a race delay and runners evacuated to the Wide World of Sports buildings.
Pictures from friends at the scene:
Even the Balloon Ladies were stuck inside!
Hang in there, ladies.
After some time and some social media reports from those on the scene, the official word was sent out by runDisney.
Okay- so they delayed due to weather. Runners can appreciate the concern for safety. Absolutely.
But they also shortened the course due to the delay.
Errrr…
This is NOT making some runners happy.
I’ve seen athletes share their frustrations that they did not pay $200 for a 10K. If it’s safe enough for a 10K, it should be safe enough to plan for the half logically.
Some are expressing the concern that they planned on using the half distance as a proof of time race.
And the coast to coast runners are still eligible- even though they are not finishing a half or longer race.
Just a lot of frustration over the situation.
ETA 11.8.15: There are a lot of thoughts on what went down. The prevailing sentiment is that the roads had to be opened within a particular time per contracts that Disney was bound to uphold. This meant the race officials had to run a short course or do hard sweeps under the 16-minute pace. The other point to consider was the Animal Kingdom Park. It saw a severe storm roll through, leaving the already slippery pathways slick with rain and debris. Volunteers stationed in the park stated they were slipping just walking around. Imagine 13,000 runners heading through there? Might have been in the best interest of safety for everyone to cancel that part of the race.
ETA 11.16.15:
This email was sent to the runDisney participants.
Dear?____,
Thank you for participating in the 2015 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon. We heard that some of our runners had questions about the race, which was delayed and shortened because of inclement weather and lightning in the area. As a race team, we had been monitoring weather conditions continuously on Saturday and due to conditions in the area we modified the course for the safety of our runners and spectators.
We appreciate the effort you put into preparing for the 2015 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon. While we are equally disappointed in not being able to provide a complete half marathon experience, we are thankful our runners were able to complete the modified course safely.
All Coast to Coast Challenge participants are eligible to receive their medals, and all runners’ proof of time will count toward a 10K distance option for other runDisney events.
Our runDisney team has a passion for putting on magical running events where participants can make their dreams come true and achieve their personal best. While weather is out of our control, we take necessary precautions to keep our runners and Guests safe. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you and hope you will consider running with us again.
Sincerely,
Maribeth Bisienere
SVP, ESPN Wide World of Sports and Disney Springs
Jon Hughes
runDisney Race Director, East Coast
I’m curious how you feel about the issue. Is there a perfect solution when the weather goes bad that you’d like to see? Do you think runDisney handled this in the best way possible?
Patty Holliday is the owner and creator of all things No-Guilt Universe. As a lifelong fangirl and pop culture connoisseur, she’s been creating online since 2009. You can find her work at No-Guilt Disney.com, No-Guilt Fangirl.com, No-Guilt Life, and as host of the top-rated No-Guilt Disney Podcast.
Tom B
Sunday 15th of November 2015
I can't say my opinion matters on this. I signed up for 2014, but flights were ridiculous, so I deferred to 2015 and flights were still ridiculous, so I never put in my time in before the August deadline. I wasn't going to pay to defer again, so I figured it was money out the window. Oh, well. No Disney races for me. Lesson learned.
Then in the last few weeks we saw flights get sensible, and booked three days to wander the parks and then race. I was in corral "K", so any hope of running a decent time was out the window anyway. There's no shortage of races near me and I've done plenty of them. There's a half marathon two towns away as I write this. So I really didn't care.
When they herded everyone into the stadiums to get out of the weather, I stayed behind the crowd. I was planning to 'escape' and run back to Epcot myself (4 or so miles) if they scratched. I was more interested in meeting my wife back at Epcot before 4AM, and if they had to get everyone back on buses, that didn't seem likely. I know Disney. These people redefine "By The Book". If that happened, everyone would be basically a hostage. Screwed.
So shortening the distance made sense to me. I ran it, but only because it still let me meet my wife before 1AM, even in "K". I normally race pretty seriously, so it was nice to jog and bounce around without a care.
For people who don't race a lot, or love Disney, and wanted to live this experience to the fullest, I can understand the frustration. I didn't need it, will never do it again, and probably found it even more fun because of the altered plan.
Kate
Sunday 15th of November 2015
I think the right decision was probably made. I doubt Disney would have made the decision if it wasn't absolutely necessary since I'm sure they had to deal with a lot of complaints.
I was definitely bummed, although with the heat and humidity that night, I was pretty done by the time we finished.
That said, I do think an email the following day explaining what went into the decision would have been nice. I understand it isn't realistic to give everyone a discount or even partial refund, but Disney's customer service has always been top notch, so I was a little surprised to receive nothing from them.
Kimberley
Sunday 15th of November 2015
I think alot of factors played into the decision people don't know about. runDisney made the absolute right decision and the run, like anything else, was what you could make of it. We had a blast laughing, singing, dancing, and causing shenanigans along the way. With an injured runner in our group, it took the pressure off and allowed us to have an even better time. Just like with last year's broken medal mess, you just had to have a good attitude and make lemonade outta...!
Kevin
Wednesday 11th of November 2015
I was there and was ok with the final decision. I wish they did a better job of communicating what was going on, but there's only so much you can do when sever weather was involved. It could have been much worse. The race could have been cancelled or we could have been stranded out on Osceola Parkway in a severe storm.
That said, I completely understand why many would be upset or disappointed, especially for those who this was their first half or this race was being used for future qualifying times, or for qualifying for Half Fanatics
Matthew Spak
Sunday 8th of November 2015
I do appreciate the communication to evacuate the field for our safety and understand the course needed to be changed for our safety . However I trained for 13.1 and received slightly over a 10k. In my mind I would have appreciated a 10 mile course with a turn around in Animal Kingdom parking lot.