RunDisney

runDisney

runDisney

Disney endurance road race division

runDisney (stylized as runDisney, formerly Disney Endurance Series and The Endurance Series at Walt Disney World Resort), is the road race division of Disney Sports Enterprises, a unit of Disney Experiences, a segment and subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The division is designed to get runners to plan a "runcation", a vacation planned to coincide with the race they signed up for.[1]

Quick Facts Formerly, Company type ...

runDisney consists of 26 individual races with 163,000 runners.[2]

History

In 1994, Disney held the Walt Disney World Marathon, its first road race while adding addition races later.[3] There were only 5,588 runners at this inaugural race of what became the Disney Endurance Series.[4]

Disneyland Marathon and 5K were run in 1995 three weeks after the LA Marathon on March 26, 1995. The marathon included Anaheim Stadium and a loop around The Pond of Anaheim, while its 5K stuck to Disneyland taking in six of seven of the theme lands.[5]

By 1998, Williams was named vice president of Disney Sports Attractions, overseeing a newly created sports & recreation division including its races.[6] In 1998, the first Donald Half Marathon is run at the same day as the WDW Marathon.[4] The first 10K Disney Classic race on October 3, 1999 kicked off Disney World's 15-month Millennium Celebration.[7]

On March 30, 2003, Sports Attractions held the first Disney Inline Marathon at the request of the International Inline Skating Association.[8] By 2005, a half marathon was added to this weekend.[9]

In 2004, Florida Half-Ironman Triathlon and Family Festival was started by Ironman North America and Disney Sports Attraction and was scheduled only for two years. The festival was held May 22 to 23 which include the Florida Half-Ironman, a Kids Race, and an expo.[10]

Disney's 10K Classic was renamed the Race for the Taste 10K in 2005 and moved to October 9 to coincide with the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, which then ran from September 30 to November 13. The Race for the Cure 5K was scheduled for October 8 with proceeds benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Foundation while Disney's Cross Country Classic was scheduled on the seventh.[9]

In 2006, the Goofy race challenge was inaugurated[4] as the half and marathon were scheduled for separated days for the first time at the World Weekend. 3,000 runners applied for the challenge. By that year, a Fun Run 5K and Kids’ Races were added on Saturday, while a Health and Fitness Expo was held Thursday to Friday at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.[11]

From May 5 to 7, 2006, the inaugural Disney Minnie Marathon Weekend was held but no race was a marathon.[12] The Champion 5K and Fun Runs were added to the ESPN the Weekend at Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2009.[13] The first Wine & Dine Half-Marathon was run in 2010.[4]

The 2014 World Marathon Weekend added the Walt Disney World 10K plus the Dopey Challenge for completing all four weekend races.[14] An additional race, Castaway Cay Challenge, was added to the weekend series in 2015 with the 5K race taking place on Disney Cruise Line's Castaway Cay.[15] The first international runDisney weekend was Disneyland Paris Half Marathon in September 2016.[3]

In September 2016 Disneyland Resort Paris held its first races at the DLP Val d’ Europe Half-Marathon.

RunDisney canceled all Disneyland Resort based races beginning in 2018 due to major ongoing construction projects (e.g. Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, the Disneyland Eastern Gateway and a new Downtown Disney hotel).[16] The Theme Park Insider blog speculated that Disney may be using the loss of revenue to the City of Anaheim and nearby business as leverage to expedite project approval.[17]

In the 2017 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon, which took place on November 5, 2017, a runner collapsed and died near the finish line in the Epcot parking lot. No other details were initially disclosed.[18]

In 2020, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Star Wars Rival Run Weekend was cancelled,[19] while the Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend was changed to a virtual race weekend.[20] On September 22, 2020, it was announced that both the 2021 Walt Disney World Marathon and the 2021 Princess Half Marathon Weekends would become virtual as well.[21]

On June 30, 2021, it was announced that in-person racing would return to Walt Disney World, beginning with the Wine & Dine Weekend in November. Some modifications may be made due to COVID.[22]

On September 11, 2022, during D23 Expo, it was revealed that runDisney races would return to Disneyland in 2024.[23]

Weekend series

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Races

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Race for the Taste

The Race for the Taste, formerly Disney Classic, was a 10K route that started at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, then went through Disney-MGM Studios' new attraction, Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, then went along Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, and finished at the World Showcase in Epcot, where the Food and Wine Festival is taking place. A ceremonial toast kicked off the race while music and entertainment lined the route. Runners were required to maintain a 15-minute mile.[9]

Athletes enjoyed a ceremonial toast to start the race. During the run, participants were entertained by festive music and entertainment. A "Go the Distance" Expo was held October 7–8 which in 2005 had a special wine debut, Miles of Magic, a California Syrah wine.[9]

Race Challenges

Earn additional medals for completing multiple races.

  • Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend
    • Fairy Tale Challenge: run the 10K and half marathon[33]
  • Walt Disney World Weekend
    • Goofy Challenge (2006-): run the half and full marathons[14]
    • Dopey Challenge (2014-)[14]: run all four Disney World weekend races[14]
  • Disneyland Half-Marathon Weekend
    • Dumbo Double Dare (2013—) running the 10K and the half marathon[30]
    • Coast-to-Coast: run a half marathon in Orlando and in Anaheim in a single calendar year[30]
  • Disneyland Paris (DLP) Half Marathon Weekend
    • Castle to Chateau Challenge (2016-) in the same calendar year run one of the half marathon at Disneyland, the halfmarathon at Walt Disney World or the marathon at Walt Disney World plus run the half marathon at Disneyland Paris [31]
    • Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo Cinderella (2017-) run both Paris 10K and a half marathon races[32]
  • Wine & Dine Half Marathon
    • Disney Two Course Challenge [34]

References

  1. [1]
    Jesdanun, Anick (April 15, 2016). ""Runcation" at Disney World: Come to run, stay for the Disney magic". Denver Post. Digital First Media. AP. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  2. [2]
    Bruning, Karla. "Why runDisney Races Are Such a Big Deal". Shape. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  3. [3]
    Sylt, Christian (January 7, 2016). "Disney's Runaway Success". Forbes. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  4. [4]
    "runDisney: Then & Now". grandlegacyhotel.com. Grand Legacy At The Park. April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  5. [5]
    VanderKnyff, Rick (March 23, 1995). "Disneyland's Magical Marathon". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  6. [6]
    Solano, Javier (March 27, 1998). "Directing Sports Of Disney". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  7. [7]
    Carroll, Frank (September 24, 1999). "Disney Classic 10k Is Oct. 3". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  8. [8]
    "Putting together skate event was a marathon itself". SportsBusiness Journal. No. October 14–20, 2002. American City Business Journals. October 14, 2002. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  9. [9]
    "Disney Sports Attractions hosts Race for the Taste 10K". e-Sports. e-Sports Media Group, Inc. Disney Sports Attractions. September 3, 2005. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  10. [10]
    "New Florida Half-Ironman Set For Walt Disney World in May". Ironman.com. World Triathlon Corporation. November 11, 2003. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  11. [11]
    "Disney's 2006 Marathon registration closed". e-Sport. e-Sport Media Group. Disney Sports Attractions. October 11, 2005. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  12. [12]
    "Disney Sports opens registration for Minnie Marathon Weekend". e-Sports. eSports Media Group, Inc. Disney Sports Attractions. October 15, 2005. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  13. [13]
    "ESPN The Weekend to be held at Hollywood Studios and newly renamed sports complex". Attractions Magazine. Dream Together Media. February 20, 2010. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  14. [14]
    McGoldrick, Hannah (March 22, 2013). "Disney Announces New Race". Runners World. Rodale Inc. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  15. [15]
    Mauney, Matt (January 14, 2015). "Disney's private island hosts inaugural 5K challenge". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  16. [16]
    Pimentel, Joseph (October 18, 2017). "Disneyland half marathon officially cancelled, along with other runDisney races, in 2018". Orange County Register. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  17. [17]
    Niles, Robert (October 18, 2017). "Disneyland cancels its 2018 runDisney schedule, future events". Theme Park Insider. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  18. [18]
    Ruiter, Jason (November 5, 2017). "Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon runner collapses and dies, Disney says". Orlando Sentinel.
  19. [19]
    runDisney (April 15, 2020). "runDisney Registration Update". RunDisney Blog. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  20. [20]
    runDisney (July 22, 2020). "The 2020 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend Goes Virtual - Still Wickedly Delicious!". RunDisney Blog. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  21. [21]
    Team RunDisney. "2021 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend and Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend Transition". RunDisney. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  22. [22]
    RunDisney (June 30, 2021). "Return to In-Person Running". RunDisney. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  23. [23]
    Smith, Thomas (September 9, 2022). "D23 Expo: LIVE Updates on Future Experiences Coming to Disney Parks and Beyond". Disney Parks Blog. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  24. [24]
    "Event Preview – RunDisney". Endurance Magazine. November 21, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
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    "runDisney". rundisney.com. Disney Sports Enterprises. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  26. [26]
    Ruiz, Stephen (April 17, 2016). "Runners from Wisconsin, New York conquer Star Wars Half Marathon at Disney". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  27. [27]
    RunDisney. "runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend". RunDisney. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  28. [28]
    "Make a Final Run to the runDisney Virtual 2021 Star Wars Rival Run Weekend!".
  29. [29]
    Levine, Arthur (April 20, 2015). "Run around the World: Marathons and more at Disney". USA Today Travel. Gannett. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  30. [30]
    "A look at Disneyland's Half Marathon Weekend 2013". Attractions Magazine. Dream Together Media, LLC. September 2, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  31. [31]
    Scanlon, Shane (January 26, 2017). "Disneyland Paris: Run a half-marathon in Mickey's magical kingdom? Absolutely! - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  32. [32]
    "New Experiences Coming For Runners In 2nd Annual Disneyland Paris – Val d'Europe Half Marathon Weekend". Disney Sports News (Press release). Disney Sports. June 7, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  33. [33]
    "Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend presented by Children's Miracle Network Hospitals | Official Site | runDisney". runDisney.com. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  34. [34]
    "Run Disney". www.rundisney.com. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
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