Hi there.
I just recently completed my first virtual running race!
I have never really thought much about doing virtual races as part of the fun of races is actually being at the event – and you don’t really get that feeling running around the local neighborhood, unfortunately.
That being said, I have generally really liked the medals that Disney has been putting out for their virtual race series especially their Star Wars Virtual Half Marathon. Without the magic of the location though, I didn’t really think I would ever do one of these virtual runs.
But then I realized that besides the 2019 Dopey Challenge trip I did with my brother, we also had a family trip planned to Disney World at the end of January. And I hit upon an idea!
runDisney rules for the virtual race are very open, you can run over multiple days, multiple locations, etc as long as you have done all your running between January 3rd and March 31st….so what if I were to run the virtual half marathon at Disney World on the New Balance Running trails?
That seemed like a pretty cool idea – especially since I would be able to do more than one of the running trails over the two planned trips. During the Dopey Challenge trip I was staying the Pop Century resort where there is a trail that loops between the Pop Century and the Art of Animation resorts – I would have to do that one after finishing the Dopey Challenge though, so there was some expected difficulty there. And then for the family trip, we were staying at the Boardwalk Villas – there is a New Balance Running Trail there that gets you around the Boardwalk, Yacht Club and Beach Club areas as well as out to Hollywood Studios – plus some other running options.
I figured it made some sense and could make for some interesting videos and stories so went ahead and signed up!
The first leg of the race was done at the Pop Century and Art of Animation resorts – in the video linked below the first part shows the loop around Hourglass Lake between those two resorts. It was a beautiful morning the day after the Dopey Challenge was complete so I took my time and looked at all the various trivia signs around the two hotels and spent some time admiring the new Disney’s Skyliner station going in attached to Generation Gap Bridge. Looks like it is going to be a very nice addition to those resorts for sure. (1.25 miles done)
The second leg was done during the family trip a few weeks later. This leg is shown in the second part of the video linked below. This was another lovely sunny morning and I did the New Balance Running Trail that took me around the Boardwalk area, out past the Dolphin and Swan resorts, in front of the Yacht Club and Beach Club resorts and looped back to the Boardwalk Inn. I did one loop of that and then did the add on portion running out to Hollywood Studios and back after a quick glance at the new Disney’s Skyliner station there. It is harder to see how that is all going to look since there is so much construction going on with a new bus depot also going in. Coming back from Hollywood Studios we get a quick look at a turning location for the gondolas on the Skyliner line that is in the parking lot of the Boardwalk Inn. After getting back to the Boardwalk, I did a second loop around the running trail to end the run for that day. (another 3.25 miles done – total = 4.5 miles)
In this next video I get my third run done, eventually. The first day I went out to run was raining too hard to take the gimbal out with my camera on it so I went and did a weights workout at the Boardwalk Inn gym (Muscles and Bustles). The family then got hit by a bit of a bug and I had to put off running for a few days but I finally managed to get the third run done. For this one I went to the sidewalks that are around the Boardwalk, Swan, Dolphin, Yacht Club, and Beach Club resorts. The sidewalk doesn’t complete a whole loop around this area but if you start at one end and go to the other it is a 2 mile run which also includes some views of the Fantasia Gardens mini golf. I did that length starting at the Boardwalk side and ran it back and then doubled back again to do some running on the path between Hollywood Studios and the Boardwalk. I ended this one by meeting up with Heather and the kids at the DVC pool at the Boardwalk Villas. The pool felt good after this one!! (4.6 more miles = 9.1 total – 4 to go!)
In the third video / fourth run things get interesting and I make some mistakes (please don’t do what I did). I started out by doing the same outside sidewalk paths that I did in second video / third run but when I got to the end of the sidewalk by the Beach Club Villas I wanted to show everyone how the sidewalk ended but also try to point out the bridge/tunnel that you don’t get to see from the side walks. This tunnel goes under the walk way and water way that gets people and Friendship boats from the resort area to the International Gateway at Epcot. I wanted to do a quick talk about that so I got a bit closer to it on the road and noticed that there was actually a sidewalk area under the bridge / through the tunnel. So at 5:12 I make the dumb decision to run through the tunnel on this sidewalk. It was loud, it was noisy and you should definitely not do this.
Once out the other side of the tunnel, I ran into the next issue which was that I had to run on the grass until I could get back to where the sidewalk began at the Boardwalk Inn. Once I got back there I continued on the sidewalks and headed out to the path between the Boardwalk and Hollywood Studios and did a lap by the other Epcot resorts before ending by the Atlantic Dance Hall for my last 4 miles of the 2019 Star Wars Virtual Half Marathon.
This was a super fun way to do the virtual race and really enjoyed myself. I hope everyone enjoyed the videos and you should soon see more detailed videos on the running trails and the resort sidewalk tour. Stay tuned for those!!
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