runDisney

runDisney
Formerly called
 Disney Endurance Series
Division of a whole owned subsidiary of a public conglomerate
Industry Sports
Headquarters ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Kissimmee, Florida, US
Areas served
 US, France
Services road races
Owner Disney Sports Enterprises
(Walt Disney Parks and Resorts)
Website rundisney.com

runDisney (formerly Disney Endurance Series and The Endurance Series at Walt Disney World Resort), is the road race division of Disney Sports Enterprises, a unit of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, a segment and subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The division is designed to get runners to plan a "runcation", a vacation planned to coincide with the race they signed up for.[1]

runDisney consists of 26 individual races with 163,000 runners.[2]

History

In 1994, Disney held the Walt Disney World Marathon, its first road race while adding addition races later.[3] There were only 5,588 runners at this inaugural race of what became the Disney Endurance Series.[4]

Disneyland Marathon and 5K were run in 1995 three weeks after the LA Marathon on March 26, 1995. The marathon included Anaheim Stadium and a loop around The Pond of Anaheim, while its 5K stuck to Disneyland taking in six of seven of the theme lands.[5]

By 1998, Williams was named Vice President of Disney Sports Attractions, overseeing a newly created sports & recreation division including its races.[6] In 1998, the first Donald Half Marathon is run at the same day as the WDW Marathon.[4] The first 10K Disney Classic race on October 3, 1999 kicked off Disney World's 15-month Millennium Celebration.[7]

On March 30, 2003, Sports Attractions held the first Disney Inline Marathon at the request of the International Inline Skating Association.[8] By 2005, a half marathon was added to this weekend.[9]

In 2004, Florida Half-Ironman Triathlon and Family Festival was started by Ironman North America and Disney Sports Attraction and was schedule only for two years. The festival was held May 22 to 23 which include the Florida Half-Ironman, a Kids Race, and an expo.[10]

Disney's 10K Classic was renamed the Race for the Taste 10K in 2005 and moved to October 9 to coincide with the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, which then ran from September 30 to November 13. The Race for the Cure 5K was schedule for October 8 with proceeds benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Foundation while the Disney's Cross Country Classic was schedule on the seventh.[9]

In 2006, the Goofy race challenge was inaugurated[4] as the half and marathon were scheduled for separated days for the first time at the World Weekend. 3,000 runners applied for the challenge. By that year, a Fun Run 5K and Kids’ Races were added on Saturday, while a Health and Fitness Expo was held Thursday to Friday at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.[11]

From May 5 to 7, 2006, the inaugural Disney Minnie Marathon Weekend was held but no race was a marathon.[12] The first Wine & Dine Half-Marathon was run in 2010.[4]

The 2014 World Marathon Weekend added the Walt Disney World 10K plus the Dopey Challenge for completing all four weekend races.[13] An additional race, Castaway Cay Challenge, was added to the weekend series in 2015 with the 5K race taking place on Disney Cruise Line's Castaway Cay.[14]

Weekend series

Weekend series[15][16] month location Inaugurated Discontinued
Walt Disney World Marathon January Disney World 1994[3] N/A
Princess Half-Marathon February 2009[17] N/A
Star Wars Half Marathon
— The Dark Side 		April 2016[17] N/A
Walt Disney World Inline March/April 2003[8][9] 2007
Florida Half-Ironman Triathlon and Family Festival May 2004 2005[10]
Tri-America Series Finale[10]
Danskin Women’s Triathlon Series[10]
Minnie Marathon Weekend May 2006[12] 2008
Expedition Everest Challenge May Disney's Animal Kingdom 2012 2015[18]
Walt Disney World Triathlon September[12] Disney World
Food & Wine Festival November 2010[4] N/A
Star Wars Half Marathon
— The Light Side 		January Disneyland 2015[3] N/A
Tinker Bell Half-Marathon May 2012[4] N/A
Disneyland Half-Marathon September
(Labor Day weekend) 		N/A
Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon November 2014[3] N/A
Disneyland Paris Half Marathon September Disneyland Paris 2016[3] N/A
Virtual Running Shorts Series May–June virtual/anywhere 2016 N/A

Races

Race [15][16] Weekend Inaugurated Discontinued Additional info
Walt Disney World Marathon Walt Disney World Marathon 1994[3] N/A
WDW Half Marathon 1998 N/A originally called the Donald Half Marathon[4]
Family Fun Run 5-K[13] N/A
Walt Disney World 10K 2014[13] N/A
Castaway Cay Challenge 5K 2015[14] N/A
Inline Marathon WDW Inline 2003[8][9] 2007
Inline Half Marathon by 2005[9] 2007
Florida Half-Ironman Triathlon Florida Half-Ironman Triathlon and Family Festival 2004 2005 [10]
Kids Race
National Kidney Foundation of Florida Gift of Life 5K Fun Run/Walk[10] N/A N/A N/A
Women Run the World 15K Minnie Marathon Weekend 2006[12] 2008
Go Red For Women 5K
one-mile
Princess Half-Marathon Princess Half-Marathon 2009[17] N/A
Enchanted 10K N/A
Princess 5K N/A
Kids Dashes & One Mile N/A
Star Wars Half Marathon Star Wars Half Marathon
— The Dark Side 		2016[17] N/A
Star Wars 10K N/A
Star Wars 5K N/A
runDisney Kids Races N/A
Race for the Taste 10K Race for the Taste/Food & Wine Festival (October) 1999 2009 originally the 10K Disney Classic until 2005,[7][9] replaced by Wine & Dine Half
Disney's Cross Country Classic[9]
Wine & Dine Half-Marathon Food & Wine Festival 2010[4] N/A
Wine & Dine 10K 2016 N/A
Mickey's Holiday 5K 2005 N/A formerly Race for the Cure 5K,[9] Halloween 5K and Jingle Jungle 5K; ran in Animal Kingdom
runDisney Kids Races N/A N/A
Half Marathon Tinker Bell Half-Marathon 2012 N/A
Tinker Bell 10K N/A N/A
Never Land 5K N/A N/A
Kids Races N/A N/A
DL Half Marathon Disneyland Half-Marathon N/A N/A
Disneyland 10K N/A N/A
5K N/A N/A
Kids Races N/A N/A
Half Marathon Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon 2015[3] N/A
Dr. Strange 10K N/A N/A
Captain America 5K N/A N/A
Kids Races N/A N/A
Half Marathon Star Wars Half Marathon
— The Light Side 		2015[3] N/A
Star Wars 10K N/A N/A
Star Wars 5K N/A N/A
Kids Races N/A N/A
Paris Half Marathon Disneyland Paris (DLP) Half Marathon 2016[3] N/A
Paris 5K N/A N/A
Expedition Everest Challenge 2012 2015 nighttime 5K: part race, part obstacle course, and part scavenger hunt. The hunt clues lead to after race party.[18]
Yellow Shoes 5K Virtual Running Shorts Series 2016 N/A
Red Pants 5K N/A
White Glove 5K N/A

Race for the Taste

The Race for the Taste, formerly Disney Classic, was a 10K route that started at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, then went through Disney-MGM Studios' new attraction, Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, then went along Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, and finished at the World Showcase in Epcot, where the Food and Wine Festival is taking place. A ceremonial toast kicked off the race while music and entertainment lined the route. Runners were required to maintain a 15 minute mile.[9]

Athletes enjoyed a ceremonial toast to start the race. During the run, participants were entertained by festive music and entertainment. A "Go the Distance" Expo was held October 7–8 which in 2005 had a special wine debut, Miles of Magic, a California Syrah wine.[9]

Race Challenges

References

  1. ↑ Jesdanun, Anick (April 15, 2016). ""Runcation" at Disney World: Come to run, stay for the Disney magic". Denver Post. Digital First Media. AP. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  2. ↑ Bruning, Karla. "Why runDisney Races Are Such a Big Deal". Shape. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sylt, Christian (January 7, 2016). "Disney's Runaway Success". Forbes. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "runDisney: Then & Now". grandlegacyhotel.com. Grand Legacy At The Park. April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  5. ↑ VanderKnyff, Rick (March 23, 1995). "Disneyland's Magical Marathon". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  6. ↑ Solano, Javier (March 27, 1998). "Directing Sports Of Disney". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  7. 1 2 Carroll, Frank (September 24, 1999). "Disney Classic 10k Is Oct. 3". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 "Putting together skate event was a marathon itself". SportsBusiness Journal (October 14–20, 2002). American City Business Journals. October 14, 2002. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Disney Sports Attractions hosts Race for the Taste 10K". e-Sports. e-Sports Media Group, Inc. Disney Sports Attractions. September 3, 2005. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "New Florida Half-Ironman Set For Walt Disney World in May". Ironman.com. World Triathlon Corporation. November 11, 2003. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Disney's 2006 Marathon registration closed". e-Sport. e-Sport Media Group. Disney Sports Attractions. October 11, 2005. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Disney Sports opens registration for Minnie Marathon Weekend". e-Sports. eSports Media Group, Inc. Disney Sports Attractions. October 15, 2005. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 McGoldrick, Hannah (March 22, 2013). "Disney Announces New Race". Runners World. Rodale Inc. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Mauney, Matt (January 14, 2015). "Disney's private island hosts inaugural 5K challenge". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  15. 1 2 "Event Preview – RunDisney". Endurance Magazine. November 21, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  16. 1 2 "runDisney". rundisney.com. Disney Sports Enterprises. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Ruiz, Stephen (April 17, 2016). "Runners from Wisconsin, New York conquer Star Wars Half Marathon at Disney". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  18. 1 2 Levine, Arthur (April 20, 2015). "Run around the World: Marathons and more at Disney". USA Today Travel. Gannett. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
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