The runDisney Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend and Dopey Challenge Recap 2018

Thank you to Hilton Bonnet Creek for hosting me during WDW Marathon week.  All opinions are always my own.  I am a brand ambassador for Raw Threads and receive free product, again all opinions are always my own. 

2018 marked the 25th Walt Disney World Marathon and the 5th year running the Dopey Challenge.  I always love WDW Marathon week because I get to see friends, spend time at Disney World, and do lots of running.  For those that don’t know what the Dopey Challenge is it’s running the 5k on Thursday, 10k Friday, half marathon Saturday, and full marathon Sunday. It is a lot of really early mornings and miles, but no pain no gain right?  And in this case the gain is the feeling of accomplishment and 6 shiny new medals.  Race weekend always kicks off with the expo.  If you are running Dopey you have to go one Wednesday to pick up your bibs and shirts.  

I discovered that runDisney has smooshed pennies! I have collected these pennies from Disneyland since I was 4 years old, so this was pretty exciting to me. 

This year’s races were exceptionally cold.  Really really really cold.  Did I mention it was cold?  Disney World is in Florida, so you don’t typically expect to have weather of 30 degrees with a “feels like” temp of 22.  I ran the 5k on Thursday morning in 7 layers of clothing.  Not even joking.  I was still cold.  On top of all my layers I wore my rose gold spirit jersey and Minnie ears because I’m so basic like that. ? 

I stopped a couple times for pictures along the way. You can tell how many layers I have on because I look like I’m wearing football padding.  haha 

The runDisney medals are always great.  As soon as I finished I went back to the room and cranked up the heat. 

The next morning was the 10k.  I decided to channel my inner mermaid for this race.  I love the “Leg Day” tank from Raw Threads. 

The 10k starts in the Epcot parking lot, just like the 5k.  I stopped for a bunch of pictures along the course.  One of my favorites is always Genie though. 

I also love some bear hugs from Duffy. 

The 10k was cold, but fun.  I loved the Minnie themed medal this year with the polkadot lanyard. 

On Friday afternoon I went to the Cigna Blogger Meetup, which is a great way to hang out with some of my friends and get really competitive playing games. 

For the half marathon I went with a Dole Whip theme.  The Will Run for Dole Whip tank from Raw Threads is another one of my favorites. 

It was once again a really cold morning, but luckily a nice perk of staying at Hilton Bonnet Creek is that they set up a whole snack and coffee section free for runners at 3am.  They also cheer us on as we leave to go to the race.  So awesome! 

Of course I stopped for pics, especially in the Magic Kingdom. 

Gus Gus’s friends were out!

A pic with the castle is a must, especially with all the lights on it still from Christmas.  

The prince and princesses were backstage right before we exited Magic Kingdom. 

The medal this year is cute.  I love the color they added to it.  

That afternoon I went to the runners reception at Hilton Bonnet Creek where they showered us with delicious food and a glass of wine.  It was just what I needed. After the reception I headed to Pandora in Animal Kingdom.  I hadn’t been there since it opened and it was beautiful, crowded, but beautiful.  

This marked my 5th Dopey Challenge, so I went with a Dopey theme for the marathon.  I wore my Raw Threads 48.6 tank with my Sparkle Athletic green skirt and purple visor.

Again, it was cold.  I didn’t actually throw away my throw away layer until mile 17. BUT even in the cold, runDisney still puts on the best starting line.

I snapped a pic with Buzz at Magic Kingdom. 

Animal Kingdom was next on the course.  The sun came out, but it was still chilly.  I got there just as Everest was opening.  Always fun that they let runners ride the coaster. 

From Animal Kingdom we ran through ESPN Wide World of Sports and then onto Hollywood Studios where I ran into Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. 

We made our way passed Boardwalk and on into Epcot.  I found Sleeping Beauty in World Showcase. 

After that is was smooth sailing to the finish line where we not only got medals, but also 25th Marathon Mickey ears.  ? 

I came home 6 medals heavier and with a ton of great memories.  

I can’t wait to do it all again next year!

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