{"id":44973,"date":"2016-04-04T13:00:56","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T17:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/?p=44973"},"modified":"2022-05-04T22:24:14","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T02:24:14","slug":"the-pre-race-at-rundisney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/the-pre-race-at-rundisney\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiencing The Pre-Race of a runDisney Event"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RD<\/p>\n

One of the best parts about participating in a runDisney event is not what happens on the course, but what happens off the curse, more specifically, what happens pre-race at runDisney.<\/p>\n

runDisney knows most people don\u2019t want to get up at three in the morning to run twenty six miles so they\u2019ve created a pre-race atmosphere that not only wakes you up, but makes you excited to run. They do this by offering a plethora of visual and audial stimulation.<\/p>\n

\"RD<\/p>\n

Welcome to the most magical run of your life<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a moment before you arrive at the event where you first lay eyes and ears on the lights and the music\u00a0that set in motion the magical experience about to be had.\u00a0I haven\u2019t participated in many runs outside of runDisney, but most of them have you show up, get to the starting line, and go. Luckily with runDisney that\u2019s not the case. As mentioned, before you even arrive you can hear the dance party that awaits with a DJ blasting dance music. They play Disney themed music and allow guests to dance the night\u2026er\u2026 morning away, until the race begins. The music, along with the people, helps fill the air with a palpable excitement that surrounds the event.<\/p>\n

\"RD<\/p>\n

The morning DJ<\/em><\/p>\n

If music isn\u2019t your thing there\u2019s plenty of visual stimulation in the way of costumed runners. You could spend hours; maybe even days looking at all the unique and fun costumes people have created. And when I say created, I mean it. There are a few store bought costumes, but many of the participants sport homemade character costumes or props that make it feel like a maker space instead of a marathon. (Keep in mind, there are new costume guidelines<\/a> in place for runDisney races.)<\/p>\n

\"RD<\/p>\n

The crowd<\/em><\/p>\n

\"RD<\/p>\n

More crowds<\/em>
\n\"RD<\/p>\n

Even more<\/em><\/p>\n

\"RunDisney<\/p>\n

Bag check tents<\/em><\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re done ogling your costumed brethren you can either take advantage of the bag tents (where you can store whatever you might need for post-race) or head down to the corrals where the race starts. The walk from the pre-race area to the corrals is unique in and of itself because it\u2019s the last bastion of relative solitude you\u2019re likely to experience for the rest of the day and as the music dissipates you\u2019re left with the quiet murmurings of the crowd around you, a la a grade school cafeteria. In addition, make sure you stop at the porta potties, just in case.<\/p>\n

\"RD<\/p>\n

It’s so bright you wound’t even know it’s 4 A.M.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"RD<\/p>\n

Eventually you\u2019ll round a corner and the excitement picks up again as the corrals come into view. Throngs of people stretch, stand, and mentally prepare themselves for the race at hand, but don\u2019t fear, there\u2019s still more fun to be had before the race begins. Event announcers play with the crowd and psyche everyone up just a little more; nudging\u00a0the dial to eleven. Sometimes they play clips from movies and of course, music is pumped in.<\/p>\n

\"RD<\/p>\n

Close up of the announcers<\/em><\/p>\n

At the start of the race the national anthem is sung and the first burst of fireworks goes off, signaling the start of the run. As each corral is released onto the course (corrals are released in two to five minute intervals) more fireworks explode, making the crowd go nuts. This energy creates a feedback loop where everyone’s excitement makes everyone even more excited thus\u00a0perpetuating the adrenaline fueled atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\"RD<\/p>\n

What Disney even is complete without fireworks?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"RD<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re let loose on the course the first mile is magic, not because there\u2019s loads of entertainment or character meets stationed there, but because you did it; after months of planning, making costumes, and preparing you\u2019re in it. On top of the personal success of participating in a runDisney event, the pre-race environment that coordinators\u00a0create helps bring out the best in everyone and that positive feedback loop comes back into play.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not many places I feel are more supportive, more joyous, or funner then the entirety of a runDisney event so if you\u2019ve ever been apprehensive about signing up for whatever reason, throw those by the wayside and sign up, you won\u2019t regret it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the best parts about participating in a runDisney event is not what happens on the course, but what happens off the curse, more specifically, what happens pre-race at runDisney. runDisney knows most people don\u2019t want to get up at three in the morning to run twenty six miles so they\u2019ve created a pre-race…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":45090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4642],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rundisney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44973"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85425,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44973\/revisions\/85425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}