Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend- The Day After
There was a lot of excitement around the social media sites yesterday with the announcement of the Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend.? Excitement is an understatement.? There were heated opinions and discussions as well.
I was actually surprised at the different point of views that came out.? Let me explain what I saw from you guys on the internet.
YESSSSSSS! This IS the race I was looking for!? Overwhelmingly, this was the biggest response.? People reported that they would start running for the very first time thanks to runDisney offering a Star Wars race.? This makes me happy.? Really happy.? I was that person back in 2011 who ran my first half marathon thanks to the Princess Half.?? It changed my life, even though I hated pretty much every step of that race, ha ha. I hope some first time runDisney participants don’t miss out on registration next week.? Yes.? NEXT WEEK.? Which brings up point number 2…
Timing. ?This subject was a hot topic.? Personally, I moaned because I would NOT have signed up for Marathon Weekend if I knew (for sure!)? this race was coming.? For me, the lure of a Disneyland race in January trumps running anywhere else in the world.? I loved Tink weekend very much, as you know.? Replacing it with Star Wars?? Oh. Em. Gee.? YES a thousand times YES.? See point 1- this IS the race I was looking for.? But in the grand scheme of things, I am an adult and make my choices.? I can’t yell at runDisney for this.? Though can I ask them to please be considerate of runners in the future and maybe announce races with a bit more lead time?? Please and thank you, runDisney.
Registration is NEXT WEEK, y’all!? Annual Passholders can start registering on June 4 at 9am PDT.? The general public will be able to register on June 10.? That’s not a lot of time for people who need to save up $195 for a half marathon or $320 for the #RebelChallenge.? Multiply that by, say, 5 for my family— and we are talking some serious cash!? Oh, and did I mention I just got back from spending a ton of money at Walt Disney World?? Yeah, my Disney Visa will be smoking after next week!? Ouch.
But, but, but… why not Walt Disney World?? Why Disneyland? Many people thought the Star Wars Weekends in WDW would be a perfect fit for a runDisney race.? They are confused about the location and even the time of year for this race.? This one I think Disney got right.? I love WDW but I hate running in the heat.? And I just got back from Orlando: it’s hot, y’all.? Reeeaaallll hot.? You don’t want to race a half or even a 10K in that if there’s another option.
Tinker Bell.? The black sheep of the runDisney family.? In the past, social media complained loudly that Tink was overshadowed by Marathon weekend.? And then we all cried out in pain and horror when Tinker Bell was moved to May.? No one wanted it.? Okay, I didn’t want it.? I know there’s many moms and women who embraced the change and are in love with a Mother’s Day race idea.? And with time, I don’t hate it as much as I once did.? Now that Star Wars is taking over the old Tinker Bell weekend slot, some Tink runners are pretty put out.? All over again.
Star Wars?? Pffftttt… who cares? ?Yes, can you believe it?? Some people ACTUALLY don’t care about Star Wars!? What the What?!? That’s fine: more race slots for those of us who DO care.? But I don’t understand this concept.?? It just doesn’t compute.? Why do you hate on Star Wars? I get hating Jar Jar- cause he’s annoying and stupid.? But how can you resist the classic story of good vs bad? In space?!? With amazing costume opportunities, this just can’t be a bad idea for a race!
What are your thoughts on the new race weekend?? Are you in love with the idea of running with the Wookiee?? Will you be signing up next week for the inaugural Star Wars race weekend?
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.
Great summary, P. I love the idea of the race in Disneyland, and the weekend after Marathon Weekend. I won’t be participating in 2015 since I’ll be running Goofy, but I think it’s seriously an amazing time to visit DL, and the theming is a big fat YES from me!!
Yes! DL is fantastic in January and I’m so excited about it! I might have to make the WDW trip in January just to chEAR even if I do end up deferring Goofy.
I would have been lured had it been a night race to replace Expedition Everest during Star Wars weekends. I don’t LOVE Star Wars like you and trying to make the trip to the West Coast is a hassle so I’ll stick to my WDW runs for now.
That’s one thing I’ve noticed- there’s people who really don’t want to run Disneyland. They find WDW races to be much more to their liking. Or maybe it’s the East to West travel. Having just returned from WDW, I confess the travel is a bit much, especially with kids on board. If you aren’t a huge Star Wars fan, I could see how you skip this race easily.
It’s not that I hate Star Wars…I’m just not into it. Except for the E-woks…they’re pretty cool 😛
I think it’s a great race because the demand is so high, but for those of us who aren’t interested in Star Wars there are plenty of other races to choose from 🙂
ha! You must be born after 1973. Have you seen the Ewok line from How I Met Your Mother? Anyone pre-1973 hate the Ewoks. lol And yes- there are lots of races to choose from. This is why I’m happy runDisney is adding races to DLR. Gives more choices for the C2C opportunities and choices for everyone who may not care for the themes.
Love this race. So sad to be missing the inaugural but I have this on my agenda for 2015 for sure. I was hoping for WDW, but I’ll take it where I can get it. The extra time might be enoug for me to convince the fam to join me.
I think the family would love it Suzanne! I know how much you guys love Star Wars. My kids started clamoring for permission to run the 5K as soon as it was announced!
I’m indecisive as it is, and runDisney always makes me more so, which makes me grumpy 😉 Still on the fence. I think it’s going to have to be Marathon Weekend or this. One of them’s gotta give. Choose for me. K, thanks.
You did make a fantastic Darth Vader you know. The Force is strong with you. Do Star Wars. And we chEAR at WDW.
I’m super excited for Star Wars and I’m also signed up for Goofy. So I need to decide what to do. Right now I’m saying just do both and tough it out :). But I’m excited for the opportunity to get coast to coast again 🙂
I know- I keep going back and forth on this too! DO it- suck it up! Are you crazy?! lol I have a little while to decide though.
I know there are people who were wishing this would be at WDW, but all the signs were pointing to DL. Otherwise, why move Tink? Sometimes FL weather can be hot even in January, so why not SoCal where people were saying the weather’s been great for Tink. As I mentioned earlier, I’m taking an rD break and this announcement doesn’t change things.
I am so excited for this race! I’m a huge Star Wars Fan. I do think the announcement is bad timing for a lot of people. It’s definitely hard for people to plan financially when there is only a week and a half between announcement and sign up. I’m definitely glad I only signed up for the 10k for marathon weekend because I was planning on Glass Slipper. This is going to trump Glass Slipper for me though. I’ll have to do that one another year. My hubby wishes he had known prior though because now he’s going to have to attempt this a week after doing Dopey. Can’t wait to do the Rebel Challenge!
Oh, and Florida in May would definitely been too hot. We just got back from there last week and attempted a run along beachside at 6am. Even then before the sun came up it was so hot and humid I was struggling. My planned 9 miles turned into a slow difficult 7 miles instead.
I like the theme, I like the date, I like the location, but I DO NOT like the timing of their announcements. If the Disneyland Paris race rumor that’s going around proves to be true, I hope they give people at least a year’s notice. People can’t just fly to Paris (or California!) at the drop of a hat!
Love this post! I was going to do something similar on my blog today. You beat me to it. So, I just linked everyone to this post in my blog instead. I hope that was okay.
I’m super stoked about this. Like, ridiculously excited, squealed like I did when I was a tween and BSB or NSYNC came on the television. The timing for financial planning is a bit rough, but I am determined to run this race! I was planning on Coast to Coast next year with Tinker Bell, but, Star Wars. Wookiees. Ewoks. I have to do this race. I was born to do a Disney Star Wars race. 🙂
I am really psyched about this race, BUT I just really REALLY wish it wasn’t the week after WDW Marathon weekend. I had been planning on doing Goofy 2015 since I crossed the finish line of my first half (Princess 2012) and I can’t defer that race. I just want to do this race sooooooooooo bad! I know waiting until 2016 (if that’s even feasible) will kill me when I read about every one doing it the inaugural year! RunDisney is trying to kill me.
Even though it is more expensive for me to go to Disneyland, I am thrilled about this race weekend! I can’t wait to do it in 2016!!
This was a great post, thanks for speaking for the rest of us. RunDisney has about squeezed me out of their races on timing, reveal, and most importantly pricing. I too have been awaiting this race. I am from the east coast, and have a 10 day trip now planned for the west coast in August for the DIsneyland Half, which now precludes me from running the race I have wanted for years, in Star Wars! I am about to put something on my blog, http://www.doombuggyrunner.com and point others to this post, to share the knowledge. Thanks so much!