{"id":70762,"date":"2019-04-25T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T12:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/?p=70762"},"modified":"2022-04-08T22:43:33","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T02:43:33","slug":"rundisney-star-wars-rival-run-race-weekend-2019-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/rundisney-star-wars-rival-run-race-weekend-2019-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"runDisney Star Wars Rival Run Race Weekend 2019 Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"Star
Star Wars Rival Run Recap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the hiatus of runDisney races at Disneyland, runDisney re-branded the prior Star Wars Darkside Weekend as the Star Wars Rival Run Weekend<\/a>.\u00a0 Each runner was permitted to select their side- either Darkside or Lightside during registration and their race bib reflected their choice.<\/p>\n

All runners received the same race shirts, which featured two Star Wars characters, one from the Lightside, and another from the Darkside.\u00a0 The same was true of the medals that runners earned at the finish line.<\/p>\n

The race weekend was composed of 3 race distances- a 5k on Friday, a 10k on Saturday, and the half marathon on Sunday.\u00a0 There was also a unique challenge available to runners of the Half Marathon- the Kessel Challenge<\/p>\n

5K<\/h3>\n

While I was not a participant in the 5k, I did anxiously follow the race as I made my trek to Disney World.\u00a0 Moments before the first runners were sent off, runners were evacuated from the race course as thunderstorms came into the area.<\/p>\n

Runners were evacuated back to their cars, the race buses, or into EPCOT to await the passing of the storms.\u00a0 Approximately 90 minutes later the storm passed, and runners were sent back to the race course.\u00a0 The race was shortened from 3.1 miles to approximately 2.7 miles and all runners started the race in a mass start rather than the normal corral system runDisney usually employs.<\/p>\n

Despite the shortened race course, runners had a great time and those who completed the race earned a medal featuring Finn and Captain Phasma.<\/p>\n

10k<\/h3>\n

The 10k brought much better weather, as not a drop of rain was visible.\u00a0 The course featured a lot of road mileage, but also over a mile through EPCOT.\u00a0 There were two unique character photo stops on the course featuring the 501st<\/sup>– a group of Star Wars fans who create their own costumes featuring Star Wars characters.\u00a0 These characters include Stormtroopers, bounty hunters, etc.\u00a0 With these characters not being Disney sponsored, there was no PhotoPass, but as long as you brought your own camera, these photo stops were some of the most unique and featured the shortest lines on course.<\/p>\n

\"501st
501st Picture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After crossing the finish line, runners earned a medal featuring Han Solo and Boba Fett.<\/p>\n

Half Marathon<\/h3>\n

The morning of the half marathon was warm and humid, but a steady breeze helped keep race temperatures bearable.\u00a0 The first park that the course went through was Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and with it being early morning, unique shots in Pandora and in front of the Tree of Life were available, if you were willing to stop and use your own camera or phone for pictures.<\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the most unique character stops on course was brought by the 501st<\/sup>– when just outside of Animal Kingdom- but before the parking lot mile, I found Chewie and Han waiting for me!<\/p>\n

\"Han
Han Solo and Chewie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once I crossed the finish line, I had earned a medal featuring Rey and Kylo Ren.<\/p>\n

Race Challenges<\/h3>\n

Also unique to Star Wars Rival Run Weekend is the Star Wars Virtual Half Marathon.\u00a0 This is where runners completed a half marathon at home prior to the race weekend.\u00a0 This medal featured R2-D2- and could be completed by any runner, not just those who ran the Rival Run.<\/p>\n

Runners who completed the Star Wars Virtual Half Marathon and the Rival Run completed the Kessel Run Challenge, which of featured the Millennium Falcon.<\/p>\n

There was also the Star Wars Rival Run Challenge consisting of both the 10k and the half marathon that earned a medal which featured Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in a unique spinner format.<\/p>\n

\"Medal
Medal Picture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Overall, the weekend was another fantastic job done by runDisney, even with the shortened 5k.\u00a0 Next year, will be the 5th<\/sup> year, and if you know runDisney, you know that means even more awesome medals and shirts are in store.\u00a0 Until then, May the Force be with you!<\/p>\n

Did you run in the Star Wars Rival Run race weekend? What were your thoughts of the updated race?<\/em> Share yours in the comments below<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n

Did you like this article? Make sure to share it with your friends! Check below for easy ways to share!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Want to run a runDisney race? Contact The Magic for Less Travel<\/a>\u00a0for more information and a free, no-obligation quote.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  With the hiatus of runDisney races at Disneyland, runDisney re-branded the prior Star Wars Darkside Weekend as the Star Wars Rival Run Weekend.\u00a0 Each runner was permitted to select their side- either Darkside or Lightside during registration and their race bib reflected their choice. All runners received the same race shirts, which featured two…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":70770,"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-70762","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\/70762","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\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70762"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70859,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70762\/revisions\/70859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}