5 Things You Need to Know About runDisney Before Your First Race
If you’re a Disney Parks fan, you may have heard about these events called runDisney race weekends. In fact, registration for the next race weekend — the 2025 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend — is coming up very soon!
Photo: Disney
Disney just shared some info for people who have never done a runDisney event and are getting ready to participate in one for the first time — let’s take a look!
5 Things You Need to Know About runDisney
Disney shed some light on 5 important areas first-time runDisney participants need to know on their recent planDisney podcast.
What is runDisney?
runDisney is the organization that puts on the race weekends at Disney World and Disneyland. It had its first race at Disney World over 30 years ago.
Photo: Disney
Since then, there are now six onsite race weekends at Disney World and Disneyland, along with things like the coast-to-coast challenges and the virtual races.
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These races follow different themes and are complete with photo ops and character sightings while you run through the Disney parks and other spots on property!
Race Training
Disney stresses that a good training program is important whether you’re running a 5K or a full marathon. Luckily, runDisney provides some free resources to help your training!
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You can do things like the run/walk/run strategy and use the free Jeff Galloway training programs on the runDisney website.
What to Wear
People get dressed up for runDisney races! Some people try to do something that goes along with the theme of the race, while others just pick their favorite Disney characters.
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Planning your costume in advance is a fun part of getting ready for your race. Just make sure that you can run in your costume and follow those runDisney costume guidelines!
runDisney Health & Fitness Expo
The runDisney Health & Fitness Expo happens during the race weekends and it’s where you can pick up your race bibs and T-shirts. There is also some race-exclusive merchandise you can buy here!
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The expo is free for the public, so even if you’re not running in a race, you can go and check out the merchandise.
Post-Race Celebration
After you complete your race(s), it’s time to celebrate! You will get a finisher medal that you can pose with for pictures. Many of the race weekends even have their own post-race parties that you can register for to celebrate.
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Another great way to celebrate is to hang out at your hotel pool, eat your favorite Disney meal, or go on some rides in the parks! Just know that you do have to have a ticket to visit the parks, it’s not included in the cost of your race.
Photo: Disney
You can check out the full podcast from the planDisney panel below:
Stay tuned for more Disney news and updates!
