A Half Marathon/Marathon or Just a Girl’s Weekend?

By: Sari PalmeriJune 13, 2017I’m no stranger to runDisney events. Over the years I have been able to run in a few races with friends and family. If you’ve never signed up for a runDisney event let me tell you that you plan VERY FAR in advance! You register for the race a minimum of 9 months ahead of time, lace up your sneakers to get your miles in and some days the only thing that gets you through is the high anticipation of your favorite things wrapped up in one weekend: friends, family, running, Disney and food! Since I’m hooked I’m always on the look out to recruit new victims (I mean running buddies) to go with me. The Walt Disney World 2017 Marathon weekend races were where I got the latest newbies to join in on the fun.Just like many of my other runDisney events we had some fun in the parks, ate too much delicious food, had amazing laughs and snapped awesome pictures. The 6 of us went to a typical pre-run, carb loading dinner early the night before the race, since we knew we had to get to sleep for the super early wake up time (2 am).Well, so much for that idea! We didn’t need to go to sleep early. The half marathon was cancelled due to lightning predictions. So, we got some cupcakes from Sprinkles at Disney Springs and went to one of the bars to have a few drinks. Lots more laughs and a great time, but also some disappointment because it was supposed to be the first runDisney event for 3 of my friends.runDisney did an amazing job with how they handled the cancelling of the race. By being responsible and letting runners know the evening prior we were able to have a wonderful night. In an unprecedented turn of events they had multiple compensation options. Each runner had the opportunity to choose between a refund in the form of a gift card, deferring to a different runDisney event in the future, 2 1 day park hopper tickets or switching to the full marathon scheduled for Sunday. Keep in mind that when you sign up for races there are no refunds even in the event of weather cancellations. I felt that runDisney handled something that was out of their control (weather) in the best way they could.Our plan is to all get together again and run the Wine and Dine half marathon in November 2018. It’s far away, but we know there will be more miles, more laughs, more food and more amazing memories made when we go for Take II.If you would like any information or have any questions about runDisney events, send me an e-mail at sari@wishesfamilytravel.com and I will be happy to answer your questions or help you plan your race vacation.