Disney Goofy Challenge

carls10

Anyone ever done the Disney Goofy Challenge?  I am thinking of putting this on my calendar for next year and of course making it a vacation   It is after all the happiest place on earth!!  I can't imagine that anything Disney does would fail or be done poorly, but realize that endurance racing is not their forte.  Any info/reports would be helpful! 

Nemo Brauch

Have never done it- but know a few folks who have. The recurring theme I hear from folks is that much of the run is through the back lots (behind the scenes sorta stuff) so you don't really run through the park like you might imagine. That said, the medals are really cool! Who could resist getting Mickey, Daffy, and Goofy!

I think Marianne did the Disney Marathon one year if I remember correctly.

ri133ck

I did the Goofy Challenge a couple of years ago. What I remember most was that it was unusually warm on Sunday for the Marathon. Nemo is right, you get to run through one corner of the Magic Kingdom and Epcot then it is back roads and back lots, not much shade along the way either. Make a short vacation of it, its a good event to say you did once. They do give nice finisher medals.

left.right.repeat

Did the half with my wife this year....it sleeted and snowed....yes, at the happiest place on earth.....I wish I had known about the Goofy - I would have done it just for the medals...they ARE cool. Disney as you might think, is well organized. They move a LOT of people. Expo was good - Dick and Rick Hoyt were there. One thing to know, take you wallet.....it is the priciest place on earth too. I told Debbie that we could have done the Paris half for the same price.....

tgarson

I haven't done the Goofy but I have done both the half and the full marathon on separate occasions, including the full this year. As Bryan experienced, this race can in fact be cold. It was in the 20s at the start of the marathon, I think it barely peaked above freezing by the time I finished, the water at the aid stations froze over at the top and there were some visible patches of ice out on the course.

When I did the Half in 2007 we left from Epcot, ran on normal roads to the Magic Kingdom, down main street, through the park and the castle and back to Epcot for the finale. For the full you leave from Epcot, go to the Magic Kingdom, then to the Animal Kingdom, then to MGM Studios and back through Epcot for the finish. Again, as the others have stated, the majority of the race is out on Disney's road system-- the parks are only so big but you do run through each of them. On the plus side it is well organized and it is a closed course.

As for the price, the entrance fee does not seem unreasonable to me but lodging at Disney can of course cost a pretty penny and the marathon starts extremely early so if you don't stay at one of the Disney hotels that provide race day bussing you'd have to be up and moving at o'dark thirty in order to get to the start. In the end though, everyone who's done Goofy that I've talked to seems to have had a good time, you get 3 sweet metals to boot. I'd like to do it myself one of these years.

Coach Patrick

I have only heard good things about the race as well, but that it's early and cold and the double is wicked hard. Sounds like you'd have to do a serious run block worth of training to be ready!

P

gedpayne

I did it in 2008 and the weather was great.  It was a little warm on Sunday for the marathon, but it's Florida.  The support is nice and there is really only one boring place to run on when you are on the back side of the Animal Kingdom.  Very boring and very stinky, but only lasts for a 3 to 4 miles, so not so bad.

Fora  palce to stay, if you were ever in the military or have family that will be going with you and they were in the military, Shades of Green is right next to the Polynesian and they have their own buses.  They are about 30% to 50% less than regular Disney places and you also get some discounts if you ahve kids and are going to the parks afterwards.  We go pretty much every year and stay there and the rooms are great, some of the largest ones on all the property. It is not a Disney property though so you ahve to go directly to shadesofgreen.com to get rooms and you or the person reserving the room needs a military ID to get the room and tickets.

Really fun race though and you have two kids, then everyone gets a medal!

eliwashere

Just saw this,
I have done the Disney full 4 times and the Goofy 2 times.
The cold of the last year is unusual. The race is well organized and goes through the parks. Of course, there is some running through the back areas, and one sort of stinky sections near a processing plant.
I have enjoyed the races tremendously. However, as stated, you have to get up early. It is a CROWDED race. You will spend a LOT of time standing around in your corral, and a lot of time shuffling after you pass the start because of all the people. You cannot just stay in your car until the start becuase the full course doubles back on itself (4 lane 2 direction highway) and they block off the path to the start once the first corral goes (learned this one the hard way).
The medals are awesome and there are lots of characters on the course.
They didn't have chocolate chip cookies at the end last year though, and that made me unhappy.

doddsj

The best resource I have found for checking out potential marathons is http://www.marathonguide.com/  They have a ton of race reviews and it is the most comprehensive list of marathons that I know of.

Kevin Walter

I'll be there to do the half again this year. I have done full and half before and always enjoy it (but I'm not Goofy enough for Goofy). We make a 4 day weekend out of it with our girls. They are already looking forward to it.