Introduction
Three down, one to go. After running the 5K on Thursday morning and the 10K on Friday, we tackled the half marathon distance on Saturday, January 11th. Per usual, the Marathon Weekend Half Marathon was themed to Donald & Daisy (“take on 13.1 miles with boisterous, feathered friends”)–but with a revamped course even more different from usual than the previous 5K and 10K were.
runDisney 2025 Marathon Weekend Half Marathon Course Map
13.1 out of 48.6 miles – The Dopey Challenge
Like thousands of others, I ran the half marathon as a part of the Dopey Challenge. The Dopey Challenge entails taking on and completing 4 individual races over the course of 4 days at Walt Disney World: a 5K (3.1 miles) starting at 5am on Thursday, a 10K (6.2 miles) starting at 5am on Friday, a half marathon (13.1 miles) starting at 5am on Saturday, and a full marathon (26.2 miles) starting at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday. So over the course of 4 days, you run a total of 48.6 miles. This morning’s half marathon was the third of those races.
You can read more about the Dopey Challenge and how I prepared for the weekend in the lead in to my 5K recap HERE.
Half Marathon Race Day Experience
Same morning routine as usual–1:30 a.m. wake-up since my brain and body require the same morning routine whether it’s 1:30 or 6:30 in the morning. Arrived a little after 3:00 a.m. though because we’d traded the rest of the weekend’s cold weather for slightly less cold, but much more wet, conditions. In the hours between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., when the race finally started, we had pretty steady rain, varying from drizzle to heavy showers. It was a little warmer than the 30s we’d had for the 5K and 10K, but temperatures were still in the 40-50 degree range.
The rain before the race
I was pretty much fine since I was in a massive waterproof winter coat from Goodwill until we started. I’d planned another outfit but the pants were delayed in shipping and honestly it was just as well. I was plenty comfortable in my favorite Lululemon Fast & Free cropped black leggings & top. Once we got moving and I’d dropped my rain and cold weather gear, I was dry enough and comfortable for the rest of the race. (Remember, Disney gathers, launders, and donates any gear that you drop before and during the race, so it’s all going to a good cause after it finishes keeping you warm and dry.)
a soggy start line
The energy at the start was as high as it had been the rest of the weekend despite the weather. Like I wrote in my 10K recap, you always feel a little extra camaraderie at the races during Marathon Weekend since so many of the runners are showing up every day for the Dopey Challenge. There’s always an added sense of all being in it together and as we all get progressively more sore and tired over the course of the weekend that feeling only grows.
I LOVED the new course so much. It flew by. In part probably because the change of direction had me thinking we had more miles left at certain points than we actually did, but it was also just a blast to run.
Our first view of the Water Pageant from the Grand Floridian Path
The high point was absolutely the new entry into Magic Kingdom through the Grand Floridian walkway. We curved in toward the path near the Grand Floridian Convention Center and curved along Seven Seas Lagoon, and they’d brought out the Water Pageant for us, complete with the music playing.
I live right behind Magic Kingdom and can literally hear the Water Pageant at night in my bedroom so it’s near and dear to my heart and just got me in the feels.
I know people running in later start groups said that this area got extremely congested later in the race. That’s such a shame and I hope Disney can tweak things as needed to alleviate this a bit. It’s hard to imagine a way to eliminate issues like this completely though without the courses being nothing but road races. If we’re going to get into cool spaces like this, there will be some narrow bits that are meant for pedestrians and not cars. So hopefully we can all bring our patience and appreciate having access to incredible foot-traffic-only views like this on our courses.
We are huge Robinhood Fans in this house!! (Tyson’s favorite Disney movies are all from this era.)
Probably only stopped a handful of times throughout since I was having a blast just running and enjoying the course. Some of my stops weren’t even for characters but just to capture the stunning new perspectives we were getting from the changed course. My favorite among these was probably exiting Magic Kingdom along the path that overlooks Space Mountain over the water just outside the Park. There was a heron standing there in its reflection and the moment was so perfect.
I stopped to take this picture…which I loved so much that it’s now in the shop as a commemorative post-race piece.
Our incredible running team was also out cheering again in this awful weather.
So grateful to Lou and the rest of the WDW Radio Cheer Team!!
Immeasurably grateful to them and everyone else, spectators, volunteers, and Cast Members alike, who got up in the middle of the night to stand in the cold rain and support us along the way.
I’ve been raving about the Nike Alphafly 3 all weekend and this was their moment to really shine. I was moving on that course and having a blast and again had no foot pain at all afterwards. Having to go back to regular trainers will be sad.
All in all another great race. And there was “only” one left. The full marathon on Sunday. It was going to be dry…but the cold was coming back with a vengeance.
runDisney Marathon Weekend 2025 – Half Marathon Medal
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If you’re interested in what my race guides look like, you can find this weekend’s HERE. Stay tuned for the Princess Race Weekend edition, as that information has just been released!
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And that’s a wrap on the recap!! You can always watch here and on my Instagram @thecastlerunner for live updates over the course of race weekends and recaps after each event. I generally try to start near the front of the race and provide coverage throughout, especially for the 5Ks and 10Ks.
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Please join me on Instagram for my day-to-day adventures living a mile from the magic.
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Planning a run while you’re here? You can find my complete guide to running trails on Walt Disney World property RIGHT HERE.
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View of Space Mountain over the Water from the Half Marathon Course
If you’re missing home (or love someone who is) and are looking for a way to bring the magic home, I’d love for you to check out my photography prints over at Thousand Circles Images.
