Dopey Challenge Recap

I did it! When they debuted this challenge in 2014 I never thought I would actually do it.

2018 marked the 5 year anniversary of the Dopey Challenge and 25 year anniversary of the Marathon, so when the registration opened in February of 2017, I thought why not?

It’s crazy to think that I finished a 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon in four consecutive days in an upright position and have recovered pretty well. Although I found out that I needed to replenish my electrolytes because I had some stomach issues the following days. Luckily we brought extra Gatorade and that fixed me up right away.

By completing this challenge I also completed the Goofy’s race and a half challenge and received a medal for that too. Over the weekend I obtained 6 medals.

Since the Chicago Marathon I’ve been telling myself that this is the last Marathon, and after this weekend I believe it is. i am hanging up my Marathon shoes and sticking to Half Marathons instead.

I had a great experience with the races, I always have fun in a Disney race. Probably will not do this challenge again, once is more than enough for me!

2018 Event Guide

Dopey Challenge – WDW Marathon

The final day of the challenge, the Marathon hosted by Mickey Mouse.

I’ve entered this challenge with the mindset of having fun and to listen to my body and take it easy when it is telling me not to push too hard. The week before we arrived at WDW both Rick and I were really sick with a very bad cold that we caught over Christmas. Prior to traveling we got meds and rested a lot. This totally messed up my training, where I didn’t run at all a week and half before our trip. So I came down to Florida, barely recovered and very under trained.

The final 2:50 wake up was filled with anticipation, I felt really good and was determined to complete this challenge. We got our ride to the start and lo and behold we were stuck in traffic. I started to get nervous, we didn’t arrive to the drop off station until almost 5:00 and the race started at 5:30!

Rick dropped me off at the security and I made my way to the corrals. During my long walk to the corrals I missed the National Anthem and the first wave start. I was in corral E so I had time to get to my corral. Just a few minutes when I got in my corral they closed it! The wait was very minimal and the start of my 26.2 mile tour around WDW began.

Mile 1-6

We followed the same route we took during the half the day before. Surprisingly I felt really good during this portion. Maybe it helped that I knew the route and knew the distance that was coming up. Around mile two it was pretty dark and I felt bad for a woman that must have tripped on a road reflector because she was wailing and I saw the medical bikes heading towards her. In the Magic Kingdom, i saw Rick by the castle, got a picture with Donald, Lady Tremaine and the step-sisters and with the castle.

Mile 7-14

Outside of the Magic Kingdom we made our way to the next park Animal Kingdom. We passed through some resorts and golf courses. During this stretch there was a guy that was dressed as Maui from Moana and had the soundtrack playing. When the song “Your Welcome” came up he sang along really loud. When we entered the Animal Kingdom we were at the service entrance so we got to see the back of the park. When we arrived at the 13 mile marker we were close to Expedition Everest. The balloon ladies were approximately 4 miles back I thought it would be safe to ride it. I went to the single rider line and got on the ride fairly quickly. When we exited the park I saw Rick again and he was by the haunted mansion grave diggers where I stopped to take a picture.

Mile 15-20

This stretch brought us to the dreaded section Wide World of Sports Complex. This area consisted of 3 miles of boring landscape of the complex. The only bright side of the complex was taking a picture with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in their baseball uniforms. It was here when an announcer said that the balloon ladies were 25 minutes away. At this point I was mostly walking and now I was concerned that I would be passed up by the balloons. But the announcer said that if we make it to the Boardwalk we are home free and would not be swept up.

Mile 21-24

I was so glad to get out of the Sports complex, but now worried about being swept up. I did stop for a quick photo with Clarabelle. The next park was Hollywood Studios, when we entered the park there was no one waiting for a photo with Oswald so I took the opportunity to snap a photo with him. We didn’t stay too long in Hollywood Studios and we were close to the point of safety, mile 24 where there are no more sweeper busses. We followed the path towards the Yacht Club resort and the Boardwalk before we entered Epcot through the United Kingdom.

Mile 25-26.2

At mile 25 they had a special mile marker to signify the 25 year anniversary of the Marathon. Of course I had to stop and take a picture. This is when I saw the balloon ladies pass me! When I took my picture, I started a light jog to catch up to the ladies. Now my goal was to finish the race before the balloon ladies. We went through the countries the opposite way that we went previously and made our way through Future World and past Spaceship Earth. The choir was there in full force on both sides of the road. i quickly took a picture with them and then proceeded to the end. I finished well before the balloon ladies and this marks my 5th Marathon!

I finished in 7hrs 39min 47sec. I am very happy that I finished the Marathon and completed the Dopey Challenge. Considering how sick I was prior to arriving in Florida, I am satisfied with my finish times. I did what I set my goal to be, have fun and taking my time.

Dopey Challenge – WDW Half Marathon

Saturday morning Donald Duck hosted the Half Marathon, we could see how popular the race is by seeing how the traffic was just getting to the park. We got there early and realized that they moved the start corrals to the main road. Rick departed to go to the Magic Kingdom because they allowed the spectators to enter the park to cheer the runners.

As I remembered from the first marathon the trek to the starting corrals is very long. That should of been counted as part of our mileage because it was long walk! For the last half of the challenge they placed me in corral E. When I got to the corral I made my way to the front so I could have more of a cushion so I can try to get more photos with characters.

They released the corrals with fireworks, which was a nice touch. Once they released our corral we started off on the main road of EPCOT. When we passed the first mile marker we ran a little further and then turned north towards the Magic Kingdom. That was a long stretch between the two parks. With the Disney races they have a lot of thing to see, such as billboards with movie clips, characters and entertainment. On this stretch one notable sight was a large Mickey Mouse head that was a hot air balloon just before the entrance o the Magic Kingdom.

By mile four we ran through the transportation center where you can take the monorail or ferry into the Magic Kingdom. Since we are running the router us to the street where the resort busses take to the passenger drop off. As we pass the Contemporary Hotel we could see the lighted Space Mountain and also the lighted Cinderella Castle. The castle still had it Christmas light so it was very bright. Just as we passed the five mile mark we are entering the gates to the park!

We entered the park where we saw the plaque “Here You Leave Today and Enter the World of Yesterday, Tomorrow and Fantasy” and that made me smile. We proceeded to Main Street where we were greeted by a lot of spectators and a great view of the castle. Rick texted me where he was so I was able to see him by the castle just before we turned right towards Tomorrowland.

We ran through the Circus area and made our way to Fantasyland, where we ran through the castle. When we exited the castle, I took my picture with the castle and the continued towards Liberty Square. We were the routed to Frontierland where we ran towards Big Thunder Mountain and the turned around, took a right turn at Splash Mountain and then exited the park and made our way back to EPCOT.

On our return route to EPCOT we passed a few resorts and golf courses, by then the sun was up and bright. On some of the ramps that we ran on, were quite narrow and were on a slight angle. This was a bit and to run on, but I got it done. By mile 12 we were entering the entrance of EPCOT, and I believe the park started to be open to the public because there was a lot of people there. To finish the last mile, the routed us up Tomorrow World and made a hairpin turn just at the entrance of World Showcase and back towards Spaceship Earth and the usual exit out of the park to the Finish. They added the choir just before the last turn singing Hallelujah, an indication that the finish is near!

I completed the Half in 3hrs 33min 16min, definitely not my best time, but definitely a fun time. The lines to the characters were not too long so I was able to take pictures with Sebastian, Woody and Bullseye, Cinderella & Prince Charming and Aurora & Prince Philip, and the Genie from Aladdin.

We had breakfast reservations at Boma with the relatives so we quickly freshened up at the hotel and met Nanette, Nicholas, Jean, Kainoa and Jaiden for breakfast before we spent a few hours at Animal Kingdom. Left the park around 7:00 so we can relax and rest up for the last race of the challenge.

Dopey Challenge – WDW 10K

Day two of the challenge entailed running around the vicinity of EPCOT to complete the 10K hosted by Minnie Mouse.

Once again woke up at 2:50 to get ready and travel to the start. Rick only participated in the 5K, but he got up with me and also went to the start area. I was able to wear my Canada Goose coat to keep me warm while we travelled to the start. It seemed to be a bit warmer than the day before, but having my big coat was a nice treat.

As the day before the corrals were located just left of the main stage. I joined corral C and the waiting began. Once they Released our corral, we started running on the access road where guest of EPCOT use to enter the park. When we passed mile one we had a hairpin turn and was routed on a road that began to narrow. This is where it started to get congested and was weaving around people to get through. Along this stretch I had my first character stop the hag witch from Snow White, the line was a bit long, but I have never seen this character on a course before.

When we passed mile three we could see that we were approaching the park and soon we entered the park again by Mexico and Norway. We ran through World Showcase as we did the previous day. I did stop at Germany to take a photo with Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder (Eugene Fitzpatrick) and that line was very long, but Tangled is one of my favorite movies so I waited. People were saying that the balloon ladies were about three miles away, so I wasn’t too worried. I waited for almost 30 minutes for the picture so I knew I had to run!

We exited World Showcase by France and made our way to the Boardwalk. There was a photo op for the Genie from Aladdin just when we arrived at the Boardwalk. People were saying the balloon ladies were 5 minutes behind, so I ditched the line and continued on the course. We looped around the boardwalk and made our way back to EPCOT.

We entered the park by the United Kingdom and made our way to Future World. At this point I didn’t chance it and did not make anymore stops for pictures in the event the balloon ladies got closer. We ran right through the gardens and fountain and ran to the left of Spaceship Earth and ran by the main gate so we had a view of the metal pylons in front. We looped around there and made our exit of the park to the parking area towards the finish.

Finished in 2hrs 4min 11sec. The sun was out, but it was still a bit chilly, I was very happy that Rick had my coat! We headed black to the hotel and rested a bit before we spent the day with Nanette and Nicholas in Animal Kingdom.

Dopey Challenge – WDW 5K

January 4 was the beginning of the Dopey Challenge, starting with the 5K. Pluto was the host of the 5K and the medal depicted him and his best pal Mickey Mouse.

I participated this run with my best pal and husband Rick. By doing this Rick would have completed a coast to coast 5K.

The race started at 5:30 AM, but we had to travel to the start which is located at EPCOT. Since we stayed off resort we had to use the charted service of the hotel. We’ve used them to transport us from the hotel so we knew them well. We met a couple of runners in the lobby and they joined us for the ride to the park.

We arrived at EPCOT, and it was freezing. We were lucky to have packed warm clothes for the run. We went through security with no problem and also met up with Nanette before we headed to the corrals.

I was placed in corral C, Rick was in E. I joined him in his corral and the waiting began. Within the corrals they made mini corrals which they released every 2 minutes, which seemed to make it go faster. The quicker we started the better so that the blood would start pumping and get us warmer!

Once we went through the outskirts of the parking lot and a side street outside the EPCOT park for about a mile. Soon after the first mile we entered the park through World Showcase between Mexico and Norway. We passed through China, Germany, Italy, The American Adventure, Japan, Morocco and France. The routed us a little bit outside of the park, where we saw some construction and pass the second mile marker. We entered the park again through the United Kingdom and Canada to complete our tour around the countries at World Showcase.

We were then routed through Future World and saw Spaceship Earth. Just past the fountain we veered left and made our way to the Land, where you can find “Soaring around the World” and “Living the Land” rides and the Seas where the attractions are Finding Nemo/Dory themed and also houses the Coral Reef restaurant. After a short tour of the area we found ourselves back in Future World and made our way to Spaceship Earth and to the end.

We hit the three mile mark just outside the park, and finished the 5K back in the EPCOT parking lot. I finished in 1hr 11min 21sec and Rick finished a few seconds after. The lines were very long along the course for the characters so we just took some selfies along the course. The had characters at the finish area and we waited for Dopey before we headed back to the hotel, while we were waiting we saw Dave Mari. Besides the weather being very cold, I had a fun time and participating with Rick was a treat. After cleaning up at the hotel, we spent the day at EPCOT. We met up with my cousin Nanette and Our nephew Nicholas and had dinner with them before going back to the hotel and get some sleep before I have to do this all over again!