This weekend is the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, an annual event on the resort’s calendar for almost thirty years. The weekend encompasses a variety of running events including full and half marathons (the “Goofy Race and a Half Challenge” is for runners who do both), a marathon relay for two runners working as a team, a “Family Fiesta 5k” which allows for walkers and those pushing strollers and a series of kids races beginning with crawlers under 12 months up to a mile long run for all kids up to age 13. Whilst those participating in the events have been training for many months now, there is still ample opportunity for spectators to get involved, and some of the technology aimed at spectators is fascinating by itself.
If you are planning on heading down to Walt Disney World to cheer a runner on, you may be wondering where the best place to watch from might be. This is likely to depend on your own personal preferences, do you specifically want to see them run through Cinderella’s Castle? Are you staying at a certain hotel and want to watch from there - if so when are they likely to come past? Do you want to simply see them as many times as possible on the course, how do you plan out a viewing schedule? This is where Disney’s “Marathon Spectator Tool” comes into its own. Spectators choose the event they will be watching (the full and half marathons are included along with Feburary’s Princess Half Marathon), you then select either your runner’s pace or their expected finish time. Finally you select the viewpoints you wish to use - options include Castle viewpoints, preferred viewpoints, those based around hotels along the course and simply “the most viewpoints.” The tool will then give you a personalised itinerary to help you cheer your runner on, including directions to get you to your next location and estimated travel time to each viewpoint based on average walking pace. If you plan to use the tool, bear in mind that it is an estimate and times can vary due to runners starting in different waves and corrals.
If you can’t travel to Disney this weekend, then online runner tracking is just what you need. You can sign up for free to receive live updates on your chosen runner via text message and email, and you can also choose to have updates posted to your Twitter feed or Facebook. Updates come at the splits (5k, 10k etc) and the race end so your feed won’t be inundated with updates if you choose one of the social media methods. To receive runner updates, you need to sign up and register before entering the name of your runner and selecting your preferred method of contact. If you don’t know anyone personally running one of the races but are interested in the tracking technology, you could choose to track one of the charity runners from the WDW Radio Running Team who raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation via the Dream Team Project.
I don't know anyone running in the marathons this year excluding some podcasters running in the WDW Radio team, naturally I will be checking in to see their results over the weekend. Next month however GeekMom Patricia will be running in the Princess Half Marathon and I'm sure she will be able to count on the support of all our readers. If you are running in the Disney Marathon Weekend, or are training for any sporting events in 2012 - good luck!
