Snow White and her Dwarfs: freshly showered and all smiles!
Completing Disney’s Dopey Challenge—running a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon on four consecutive days—is tough enough. This year, though, there was an added obstacle: weather on the morning of the half marathon so troublesome, race organizers turned the 13.1 miles into a 7.2 “Minnie” half marathon. (Props for putting a snappy name to a disappointing turn of events.)
A group of 8 BAMR roommates, however were not deterred. While not all of them were running the full Dopey (or the half marathon), they figured out a way to make the whole weekend, including unplanned laps around the port-a-potties, magical.
Kristen Genet and Becca Atkinson, two BAMRbassadors, both went Dopey. Here, the pair recount four days of laughing, running 48.6 miles, racking up medals, and making memories in the shape of mouse ears.
Yes, there were plenty of miles, but also plenty of chill—or hot tub—time.
Becca: Kristen was the hub of our little eight-woman villa. Each of us were from a different spoke of her world; our common threads were that we were all runners and working mothers.
Kristen: I feel like our group represents what the AMR community stands for as a whole. We were a diverse group representing different ages, running experiences, and 3 different states, all brought together for the common goal of supporting each other to do something incredibly fun, yet also incredibly hard. Two in our group completed their first ever marathons, and everyone crushed her own race goals.
INSPO TO GO DOPEY
Kristen: I just turned 50, and I wanted to mark that milestone. I first learned of the Dopey Challenge about 10 years ago when I struck up a conversation with a guy in a Disney Marathon shirt when I was at Disney World. I added it to the bucket list. It took that long to get the logistics worked out and save up the cash—and to gain buy-in from my husband! Plus, I’m a biology professor at a community college, and my schedule is tough because I can only make it work once every 7 years when I’m on sabbatical. There was a LOT of thought and planning that went into doing Dopey, and I’m so grateful that it all came together so magically!
Becca: In 2017 I was on a work trip at Disney and learned about the RunDisney events. Flash forward 12 months, I ran my first marathon: the 2018 Walt Disney World Marathon. At that race, I learned there were these crazy challenges like Dopey. When Kristen reached out to the AMR community looking for other people to register for Dopey and share a hotel room, I felt it was the right place, right time to go for it!
Roll call: Eight BAMRS in one villa, with art made by Becca’s daughter helping them tally their races.
COSTUME DETAILS, PLEASE
Kristen: The only theme I had was Disney characters. I wanted to wear what I could put together with things I already had or could acquire cheaply or borrow.
Becca: I wore themed shirts and not full on costumes. I didn’t want to deal with the burden of creating and training in full big costumes: some people REALLY go all out with their costumes (think wings and wigs!). Our best costume was for the 5K. Since there were 8 of us, we went with the Snow White and Seven Dwarfs.
Kristen: All of my costumes needed to be cute (obviously!) yet functional, so I made sure that I could also wear my tried and true bottoms and favorite sports bras as base layers!
DAY 1: THE 5K
Kristen: 5K: There were SO MANY PEOPLE and such amazing costumes! My favorite was a huge group of Dalmatians (although not quite 101 of them!). This race was extremely crowded and it’s untimed, so there’s really no incentive for anything except to soak it in and have fun.
Missing one dwarf, who might be already on her way to work.
Becca: We actually spent more time waiting in line for a picture with Snow White than we did running!
DAY 2: THE 10K
Kristen: My favorite part was watching the sunrise from World Showcase at Epcot. I also really enjoyed running the Boardwalk section, as I had never been over in that part of Disney!
Becca: We kept a nice, consistent pace.
DAY 3: THE HALF(ISH) MARATHON
Kinda heeding the warning to make their way to transportation.
Becca: As soon as we got the message on Friday night that the half marathon was going to be cut short because of impending thunderstorms, our strategizing began. We were bound and determined to do the 13.1 miles one way or another; it was a matter of figuring out safely when and where.
We decided mileage before would be best since the weather patterns were getting worse later in the morning. We got up at 2:30 am to be ready to run as much as possible by 3:30ish, then we’d head to the start area to see if we could get a bit more in before the official 7.2-mile race.. Any remaining mileage would fall after the race.
When we arrived at the start, it was clear we weren’t the only ones with this plan. There were hundreds of other runners looking for any stretch and curve to create a loop for more covered distance!
Very practical route if you have to use the loo.
Kristen: It was absolutely absurd what we did to get in the miles, and it was the most fun and memorable half that none of us had planned for or wanted!
My Garmin map was hilarious, as it involved early running at the resort. I then paused my watch when we got on the bus to the start line, started it again to run laps in the parking lot and starting corral before crossing the start line for the shortened course. Then we had a few MORE laps in the parking lot (hey look, there’s the bank of portopotties AGAIN!) until we finished up all 13.1 miles!
Celebrating 13.1 mismatched miles with flights of mimosas. Sounds about right.
DAY 4: THE MARATHON
Kristen: The marathon day will always be one of my absolutely favorite days. To quote Rapunzel from Tangled: it was the BEST DAY EVER! I had every intention of soaking up each and every minute and taking advantage of every opportunity to have fun.
As we waited in the start corrals, Jeff Galloway gave some very sage advice: “If you PR at the Disney World Marathon, you’re doing it wrong!”
A few of my highlights:
Getting to the start line early enough to take photos with my fellow BAMR Dopey Challengers and Disney characters (including Dopey of course!).
Hopping off the marathon course in Animal Kingdom to ride Expedition Everest (one of my all time favorite roller coasters!) at Mile 15! The cast members funneled runners into the Lightning Lane and we got right on. The amount of energy and adrenaline you get from riding a roller coaster at that point in a marathon is absolutely unparalleled. 5 stars; highly recommended!
As we passed Mexico in World Showcase in the final mile of the course, I stopped and picked up a margarita! I sipped enough of it so I was less likely to spill it and ran the final mile with margarita in hand across the finish line. Where else can you do that, but at Disney World?
Becca: The biggest thing that stood out to me—besides the fact that 26.2 miles was the culmination of the entire weekend—was that I had someone to run it with. I promised I would stay with fellow BAMR Michelle Brooks, who was completing her first marathon during the Dopey Challenge. The goal was slow and steady!
This marathon was my 6th marathon, but first that I had ever run with someone. That alone made it so fun and memorable. The camaraderie was just so nice even if we weren’t chatting the entire way. We’d pop in a comment or joke here and there, touch base on the intervals and how we were doing. Having a running partner was a breath of fresh air!
Legs up the wall for days after the Dopey adventure!
Kristen: It was hard to get up in the middle of the night four days in a row to get to a starting line, but I was running on pure adrenaline (and pixie dust!) all weekend. The five days of the Dopey Challenge felt like the most fun days long slumber party a bunch of grown ups could possibly have!
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