The runDisney Marathon Weekend is the longest weekend and brings out some wild runners! We completed the 5K and 10K distance. Runners can continue their journey with a Half Marathon and Full Marathon. This is the only Full Marathon on Disney property! If you’re feeling Goofy, you can run the Half and the Full Marathon. Runners who are Dopey can complete all four races for a total of 48.6 miles! The 2020 Walt Disney World 10K is the second leg of the Dopey Challenge.
2020 Walt Disney World 10K Course
Like the 5K course, runners begin and end at the EPCOT parking lot. The main differences are a little there and back section in the front and the addition of the Boardwalk Resort loop. In the beginning, the there and back is separated by an overpass, so you can see other runners but you aren’t close enough to be inconvenienced! The first half of the course is parking lot, but again we are happy to have the boring part done first.
The second half of the course is around the World Showcase in EPCOT, exiting around the Boardwalk Resorts. This is always a fun extra loop as there are often spectators, characters, and a beautiful sunrise over the water. For whatever reason, the loop always looks bigger than it really is to us – so don’t let that scare you! After that, it is a quick jaunt through a few more countries of the World Showcase and out to the finish line. For now, construction prevents runners from exiting through Future World.
2020 Walt Disney World 10K Entertainment
It seems like crews worked to fix the dark areas from the 5K so we could actually see more around us! Aside from some street lamps burning out, the effort was made. Again, we appreciated the use of video screens along the course. We loved seeing old Oswald cartoons! How fun!
Characters for this race weekend are always up in the air. With no set theme, any character could be out! In the first half of the course, we passed the Mad Hatter at the first turn in the course. The remaining characters were inside EPCOT or around the Boardwalk area. Pinocchio was in the same spot as Geppetto the day prior. Ironic that they still seem to be missing each other after all these years! One of the characters we were thrilled to see was Abu in Morocco! We have only seen him out at special events and holiday parties!
Around the Boardwalk area we stopped for Roadster Goofy! We love when they bring out the Fab 5 Characters in their different themed outfits! Even though we’ve met Goofy dozens of times, we had never seen this outfit! Rounding out the area was DVC Donald wearing his vacation wear! The final entertainment stop was the constructions workers as we left EPCOT. They are always funny and enjoyable, but we wish the construction was over so we didn’t have to see them!
2020 Walt Disney World 10K Medal
Oswald shifted up from the 5K last year to the 10K medal this year! Minnie and Mickey now share the Full Marathon medal. This switch garnered some mixed reactions. Some runners are unaware of Oswald and his history as the original animated character for Walt Disney. Some are upset that Minnie doesn’t have her own race. Ultimately, this just seems like some weird move for marketing and merchandise.
The Oswald medal was adorable to us. It has kind of a technology Tron feel to the design. Even though it lacks features like a spinner, it is a great design with quality work. We think the medal provider might’ve switched for this races – for good reason! Pus, we have less reason to be nervous with a stationary medal when we wear them into the parks!
Overall, the 10K distance continues to be a favorite for us. We love starting and finishing in the same area. It is long enough that runners can really feel accomplished after all their training, but short enough to allow for character stops and photos without feeling rushed. This is a great option for runners who are ready to move up from the 5K distance or for runners who want to take a break from Half Marathons!