Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 2026: 4 Races, Two Challenges, 48.6 Miles & 6 Medals

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“Thank You For Your Registration”

Just like that, I had secured a spot in the 2026 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, January 7-11, 2026, to run the Dopey Challenge.

As some Disney-loving marathon runners may know, runDisney hosts a collection of running events, even some where you can run through the Disney theme parks. To name just a few, there’s the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February, Disney’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend in October, and the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in January. The Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend is the largest event, as it is the only weekend race event that offers four races: 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, and Full Marathon.

Runners can choose to sign up for single races, but to make things even more fun, runDisney also has two multi-race challenges that were available during January’s event only: the Goofy Challenge (combining the Half and Full Marathons, totaling 39.3 miles) and the Dopey Challenge (combining all 4 races, totaling 48.6 miles).

I registered for the Dopey Challenge because I thought “well, YOLO!” My sister had also been texting me every day for a few weeks, checking to see if I had changed my mind about doing the Dopey Challenge sooner rather than later, which gave me an extra push! 

When it comes to preparing for these events, following a training schedule is a given to make sure that you are physically ready on race day. Thankfully, runDisney provides training guidelines for each race to help participants prepare. These training programs were created by Jeff Galloway, who is a former Olympian and the official runDisney trainer!

With my training schedule laid out, the next challenge was deciding where to stay. As a team member at David’s Vacation Club Rentals, I have learned that booking your resort stay for these events should not be left on the back burner for too long, as resorts tend to lose availability very quickly for race weekend dates.

For a typical Disney vacation, the modes of transportation offered at each resort can heavily influence a guest’s decision in terms of where to stay. Disney offers complimentary shuttles for race weekends; however, it is good to note that the monorail is the only alternative transportation that typically operates on those mornings. If you are not staying at a resort along the monorail route, the only mode of transportation available between the resorts and the start/finish line at EPCOT is the complimentary shuttle bus. If you have your own car, driving is also an available option; however, make sure you give yourself plenty of time for traffic.

We finally decided on Disney’s Old Key West Resort and stayed in a Deluxe Studio. I loved it! The Deluxe Studios at Old Key West are a bit larger than other resorts, and having the extra space was really helpful as my sister and I got ready for each race.

Personally, I felt the events were very organized! As soon as I walked into the resort lobby, there was a large sign explaining the transportation between the resort and the start/finish line, the resort’s bus route number, how frequently the bus comes, and the start time of each race. It had pretty much everything I needed to know to stay on top of things!

But before I get into how exceptionally early I had to wake up for these races, let’s talk about picking up race bibs at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Each resort will have its own shuttle bus to take participants to this location. Once I arrived, there were three key stops that I had to make: bib pickup, race shirt pickup, and the runDisney merchandise shop. Because it was the first day, the line to pick up my bib was intimidatingly long! That said, I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the line moved. 

After picking up my bib, there were also a few photo opportunities with characters in the same area. Unlike the line to pick up your bib, however, the lines for these photo opportunities moved slowly, and some had waits of an hour and a half! I would have loved a picture with Dopey since I was doing the Dopey Challenge; however, I did not want to wait that long. 

The next stop was the Athletic Center to pick up my race shirts. Participants are given one race shirt per race and challenge. Because I was doing the Dopey Challenge, I got all six shirts!

The Athletic Center also had a ton of pop-up booths from third-party companies selling sports equipment, sportswear, race fuel, and more! It was so much fun browsing the booths, making sure I had everything I needed to get me through the races.

The third and final stop at the expo was the runDisney Merchandise Shop, which sold merchandise such as pins, Spirit Jerseys, and more with the runDisney branding and this year’s theming! Unfortunately, I was not able to get into the merchandise shop on the first day because joining a virtual queue was required. This year, the virtual queue opened at 2 different times: 8:30 AM and 1:00 PM. I missed entering the 8:30 AM queue and was ready to snag a spot for the 1:00 PM queue. However, it closed back up extremely fast! I logged in at 1:07 PM, and all time slots had already been taken. Because joining the virtual queue was required to enter the merchandise shop on the first day, I had to come back on a later day when it was no longer required.

While I was disappointed to be unable to enter the merchandise shop on the first day, I concluded that it was for the better, since I would have had to wake up at 2:30 AM to run the first race of the weekend, the 5K!

“Beep! Beep! Beep!” My alarm went off. 

While I did not enjoy waking up so early, the events typically begin before sunrise to help avoid the heat. That said, I was happy with the weather for this year’s event. As temperatures typically drop in January in Florida, it is often recommended to wear a “throw-away layer” or a mylar blanket in the morning while you wait for your race to start. Having participated in the Full Marathon in 2025, I can confirm that this is sound advice. However, with the weather being warmer this year, I did not need any additional layers. As a result, having to sit and wait on the cold pavement every morning at 3:30 AM to start a race at either 4:30 AM or 5:00 AM was not so bad! If I had done the Dopey Challenge last year, I might have said otherwise.

To manage the crowd, participants are divided into different corrals. These are organized by letter, and each corral group has a different start time to help avoid congestion on the course. Corral placement is determined by your estimated finish time, which you must provide at registration. Submitting proof-of-time is not required unless you think you will complete the Half Marathon and Full Marathon in less than 2 hours and 5 hours, respectively. Since I did not provide proof-of-time in advance, I was placed in Corral G, the last corral to start.

RunDisney is very strict when it comes to a corral’s cut-off time. If you arrive late, you will be bumped to a later corral. Because of this, arriving at least an hour before your corral start time is highly recommended. Though it’s early, runDisney tries their best to keep everyone awake and in high spirits during this waiting period with pre-race entertainment, such as live DJs and characters. Each corral is then sent off with fireworks, creating a well-deserved big moment for each runner as they begin! 

This year’s marathon event theme was storybook genres and the celebration of personal journeys. As such, each race was given a genre: Sci-Fi Adventure for the 5K (Pluto), Mystery Adventure for the 10K (Chip’n Dale), Romantic Charm for the Half Marathon (Donald and Daisy), and Fantasy & Reign for the Full Marathon (Mickey and Minnie). Keeping with this theme, participants were interviewed about their personal stories while waiting to start. It was really inspiring to hear everyone’s experiences!

There were more live DJs and many character opportunities to keep us motivated through each race. Additionally, to help me keep track of the distance I ran, Disney-themed markers were placed at every mile. In addition to the live entertainment, runDisney also set up a few water and food stops along the Half and Full Marathon routes.

Unfortunately, I could not stop for every character photo along the way because I had to keep an eye on my time to avoid the “Balloon Ladies”! These are the absolute last people on the route as they maintain the absolute slowest pace allowed (16 minutes per mile). If you fall far enough behind the Balloon Ladies, you will eventually get swept (AKA: loaded onto a bus) and brought back to the family & friends reunion area, bringing your race to a close.

As previously mentioned, the theme parks you run through depend on the distance of your race. For both the 5K and 10K, I only ran through EPCOT. For the Half Marathon, I ran through both EPCOT and Magic Kingdom. For the Full Marathon, I ran through all four theme parks: EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.

While I admit my feet were in absolute agony by the end of the Full Marathon (and understandably so), I look back on this experience and think I would definitely do it again! I mean, where else would you be able to run through a nearly-empty EPCOT at night?! 

How about that moment when you turn around the bend to run down Main Street USA towards Cinderella’s castle while having spectators cheer you on?! And let’s not forget about the fun motivational signs that spectators will hold up, which will undoubtedly put a smile on your face at least once!

Just as runDisney puts it, “Every Mile [was] Magic,” and I look forward to doing it again someday!

~Joanne