Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 2022- Dopey Challenge
The runDisney Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 2022 was the first one back after the lockdown. In 2021, the races were offered virtually. This was my 9th running of the Dopey Challenge. The Dopey Challenge consists of running all 4 races offered marathon weekend. This means challengers run the 5k on Thursday, 10k Friday, half marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday. That totals 48.6 miles. 
I always love running Disney World Marathon Weekend. There is something electric about it. The parks have runners proudly wearing their medals. The signage congratulating runnings is amazing. The restaurants offer runner pasta specials. The expo is filled with great products for runners. My favorite part though is getting to see friends I have made over the years at runDisney races.
The weather this year was some of the best we have ever had for marathon weekend. In years past we have had freezing temps as well as running on the face of the sun. This year was humid and marathon day was a little warm, but tolerable.
The 5k was the traditional course around Epcot, which is always fun. I dressed as Edna Mode.
The 10k course was different this year, taking runners through Hollywood Studios, along the path by Boardwalk, in front of Yacht and Beach Club and into the side of Epcot. This one I dressed as Bo Peep.
The half marathon course was the same as years past. This course is also the same as Princess Half Marathon. This one I wore my Ariel in spired mermaid gear. 
The full marathon course was very similar to the course of 2020. There is no more running through ESPN Wide World of Sports, but instead a little jaunt through the Blizzard Beach parking lot. 
All the races this year started at 5am, which is earlier than in years past. On the day of the full marathon they didn’t spread out the wave starts very much because they wanted to get people started ASAP due to the higher temperatures that day. Due to this the course felt a little more crowded than normal.
I ran all the races except for the 5k with my friend Kristin, who you might know on social as @BamaGirlRuns. We had a blast. Lots of laughs and there might even have been happy tears when we got to the bananas on the full marathon course.
As usual with runDisney races, there were lots of fun photos ops along the course. runDisney did not disappoint. 
While races are back, but Covid is still around, I was a little worried going into race weekend about A. how safe I would feel and B. how it might affect how the race weekend felt and was run. I am happy to report that I didn’t get Covid and felt totally safe and I also totally enjoyed the race weekend and didn’t feel like anything was different. (Except for inside the parks, mostly staffing issues, but that is a whole different conversation.)
I made sure to get my medal pics with the castle before I flew out early Monday morning. 
What races run at Disney World?
If you want to run at Disney World, currently runDisney offer 4 different race weekends at Walt Disney World.
- Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend- Beginning of January
- Princess Half Marathon Weekend- End of February
- Springtime Surprise- Beginning of April
- Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend- Beginning of November
Want to learn more? Visit runDisney.com
Here are some other posts you might like:
A Look Back At Past runDisney Walt Disney World Marathon Weekends
Top 10 Things To Do Disney World Marathon Weekend
Tips For Bringing Your Family With You To A runDisney Race
Running Costumes- Ideas, DIY, and Inspiration
Want to come back to this? Pin it for later!
