This is a super fun 5k put on by Track Shack usually in September. Given the time it can still be…read moreuncomfortably hot, but that's the price we pay living in Florida. The course is beautiful and given the title there are 3 bands that play at different markers. After the race participants vote on their favorite band. I mean how much fun is that? As with all track Shack events the race is very walker friendly, and I would definitely recommend it as a first time race for someone. The Bands offer a nice distraction from the fact that you are running or walking (or any combination thereof) for 3.1 miles

I ran my first Disney half marathon this past weekend and it was quite the experience! From start…read moreto finish, there were lots of different emotions. Let me break it down for ya... The Good: - In true Disney fashion, the organization was impressive. I arrived at the Expo the afternoon before the race and it didn't feel crowded, taking about 20 minutes to get through the entire process. - I stayed at the All Star Sports resort which was great for snagging transportation to/from the race on the shuttles. They even had coffee and concessions open at 3:00 am for the runners! - There were a couple of bands and some speakers playing Disney tunes along the way. A good excuse to turn off my headphones and tune into my surroundings. The Great: - I got my best time on a half marathon yet! Mostly due to the cold I'm sure, but I was also in Corral B so didn't have too many people to weave through. - Snacks at the end were clutch, with lots of water and Powerade provided. Water and Powerade were also available throughout the race at regular intervals by so many volunteers who I applaud! - The medal is super cute! There were also photo opps at the end with certain characters like Dopey, Goofy and Donald, the race mascots. - The fireworks at the start of each corral was a pleasant surprise! - It's fun to see how into the race and theme people get with their attire. Whether you want to wear a princess tutu or go full out in a costume, you'll see a little bit of everything! The Meh: - $188 entry fee and no, that doesn't get you entry into the park afterwards like some would assume. - The race starts at 5:30 am and they said you have to be on the buses by 3:30 am to make it there in time. Don't be scared and hop on that 4:30 am bus... I promise you'll make it in time and be thankful for that extra hour of sleep. - I wasn't a huge fan of the course. You really only run through Magic Kingdom and that doesn't feel like a very long time. It is magical when you make it there though. Besides that, you're stuck on the highway and roads that can get a little boring. There are characters for photo opps along the way but I was too worried about making it through to stop and wait in line. Overall, I'm very happy I did it! I wouldn't rush to do another Disney race though. When you add up the cost of entry, cost of park tickets later on, and hotel, coupled with the lackluster scenery, it's hard to justify. Even so, there's something special about the Happiest Place on Earth that keeps ya coming back for more.

Orlando's January is cold!…read more Besides that, I love the Walt Disney Marathon Weekend. I love the courses, the medals, the entertainment, the Parks, the excitement! But there was something at the WDW Marathon Weekend, something really special that, had I known about it beforehand, I would have registered my daughter for: A Diaper Dash! Come to find out, all of the Disney races, whether in Orlando or Anaheim, promote Diaper Dashes. I'd known there were kids races, but I hadn't known that babies were also included in the fun! Now, this was exciting: little ones, dressed in their best Disney "running" attire, crouched at the starting line in ready position, while Mickey Mouse himself encouraged all dashers from the finish line, 10-or-so yards away! All of the dashers received not only hugs from the Big Cheese, but were awarded medals as well. We loved it!

This is my 3rd year participating in this womens only race and one that I always look forward to…read more It's a chance to connect with girlfriends and get some fresh air and exercise for a good cause. Raw Threads always collaborates with TS to design a cute race shirt especially for the event. There is also a virtual run option for those who want to participate but can't do so on that date or who live out of town. There is always special events at the store in the week leading up to the race. They range from special bra fittings to experts coming to speak on a variety of running topics. Funds from the race help to fund mammograms for underprivileged women in Central FL so know that your race fee is going to a good cause. This race is always super duper packed so get there early( I usually park in one of the assigned FL Hospital parking garages) and make sure to enjoy all that the post race festivities offer (Hello, Krispy Kreme!). Also, this race gives out one of the prettiest medals I've seen and this year, we also got our choice of a free plant!

Track Shack puts on some amazing races. With a great variety of post race food and drinks. If…read moreyou're looking for a great first time 5k in Orlando this is perfect.

My first Walt Disney World race - the Springtime Surprise 2025 10k!! The 10k was on a Saturday,…read moreearly morning start time at 5:00 A.M EST in early April! Packet pick-up was required prior to the race day. The Health and Fitness Expo was located at the ESPN World Wide Complex in Disney World. The 10k was hosted in Epcot. My mom and I left our hotel around 3:30 A.M. The traffic wasn't too bad and we were able to get a parking spot around 4:20 A.M. The parking lot was starting to get full though! There was plenty of cast members helping runners get to the starting line. Each section had a different start coral. The corals for the Springtime Surprise 10k race was from A-F. I ended up getting in the E coral! Unfortunately, I didn't realize they release in several waves for the race. I ended up getting towards the middle of the E coral! Even though the race started at 5:00 A.M, the E Coral didn't get released until around 5:40 A.M! The course initially started on the roads going into Epcot for the first 2 miles, and then by mile 3 you were inside the Epcot theme park! The race took you through Epcot and then along boardwalk where there are multiple Disney themed hotels, and then back into Epcot to finish the race! The Springtime Surprise 2025 was superhero themed, and one of my favorite movies, Hercules, was the theme for the 10k! There were so many photo opportunities on this race with Hades, The Muses, Merida, and so much more! I didn't stop for photos as I didn't want to get swept! I finished the 10k race! Hercules was the theme for the medal. Rundisney provided a meal box to go for a recovery meal, which also included a banana and water bottle. There were also food trucks in the parking lot too! I had so much fun at the RunDisney Springtime Surprise 2025! Hopefully I'll be able to register for the 2026 race!

This is the first full Marathon that I've ran, and my friends and I agree that Disney should make a…read morecouple changes. First off, fix the bottle neck getting into the parking lot of Epcot where it started. Even though we left at 2:30 a.m. and we're only half an hour away we didn't arrive in till 4:30am the Epcot parking lot. They had hundreds of cars squeeze into turning lanes and allowed vehicles to illegally drive up on the grass and cut people off even though security vehicles were right there. We saw runners dangerously jump out of their vehicles and run in and out of traffic to get to their starting corrals at 5:00 a.m. without any security guards stopping them. It would be nice if instead of having everybody arrive at 5:00 a.m. if they would tell you specifically that different corral start at different times. Are corral which was "H" didn't start until 6:00 a.m. which is an hour later. Also most of the course was not spent in the parks, but the majority of the race was spent running on city streets or back roads. And since the park opened early for visitors who had early access so those looking to take pictures with characters had to wait in a longer queue with those who were already in the park. So if you wanted to get a good run time not only did you have to wait in line but now you have to wait in line with Disney guests as well. Don't get me started on the bathrooms, there were only about a dozen or so Portable restrooms available every 5 miles or so. They were extremely crowded and did not have hand washing stations which cut into the minimum pace of 16 minutes per mile. A lot of people lost good pacing/racing time waiting for the toilets. I can't honestly say that I had fun on this race since most of the time we were funneled into narrow spaces, had to face hot temperature and high humidity and people's racing etiquette was atrocious. People disgarded what they were wearing in the middle of the street, causing a tripping hazard, instead of on the side to be collected. Banana peels were thrown on the pavement causing people to nearly trip, and people constantly threw ice on the floor which is a slipping hazard. I saw multiple people trip over street cones or pavement reflectors and no one offered to help. We found this race to be the opposite of what Disney should be. The only pros were seeing the characters along the way and the good people who cheered us on and/or played music (such as the many bands we saw). I felt this race was poorly organized, regardless of the weather which was out of their control they should plan for more restrooms, more water breaks when they know it's high humidity, and better overall organization of the course itself so runners don't have to funnel into a narrow corral behind walkers, and get stuck, or visa versa. People were literally stepping on each other's shoes near the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom routes. This year's course is the 1st time in 20 years that marathon runners could race through blizzard beach which would have been a treat to all runners but due to weather and safety a lot of runners were diverted away I heard.

I had such an amazing experience at the Disney Wine & Dine 2025 Half Marathon race. I had…read moreregistered for the 5k which was on a Friday morning at 5:00 A.M! My mom also ran the race with me! The flight was from Las Vegas to Orlando Florida. We ended up going to the Expo hall on Thursday, a few hours after it had opened around 1:00 P.M. We were also able to get into the virtual queue for the official RunDisney Merchandise and Brooks Shoes. This year's 5k theme was Mulan! Mulan was one of my favorite Disney movies growing up. I was super excited! The Bib and shirt pickup was at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The first stop was to pick up the bib. There was a queue line. It took us approximately 20 minutes to get our bib. There were a few photo ops with characters, but the wait time was about an hour each. After picking up our bib, we had decided to go get the shirts in the Expo Hall. It was super busy inside, but we had no issues getting our RunDisney 5k shirts. There were lots of vendors inside the Expo Hall. You could easily spend a few hours just shopping at all of the vendor booths! The 5k race was on a Friday morning. We drove to Epcot and parked in the parking lot. The walk to the start line wasn't too long. You did have to go through a security check and then walk over to the starting Corral. I was placed in E and my mom was in F. I ended up running the race in Corral F! We ended up not starting the race until 5:40! There were plenty of character picture opportunities throughout the race though! The path ran directly through Epcot and the World Showcase, ending very close to the start of the race! Afterwards, RunDisney provided a snack box and drinks! There were some food trucks too! I'm looking forward to seeing the RunDisney calendar release for 2026! Hopefully I'll be able to register for this race again!

It was in 2016 I signed up for a Disney race...and I didnt go because work was busy. And I…read moreregretted it since. So, when I started working out again, I remembered the Disney race and signed up for the half marathon in Disney World. I didn't know what to expect...but I was ready for the challenge. I arrived in Orlando on Friday afternoon...too late to go to the expo so I went to pick up my bib and check out the expo as soon as it opened on Saturday. The line to pick up my bib wasn't too long so it didn't take longer than 15 min to get my bib and pick up my shirt, but I took some time to check out all the vendors. Then, there's a whole other part with the Disney race merchandise. Since it was the last day, there wasn't much variety. For my accommodations, I stayed on property...best planning ever since Disney arranged for shuttles to get you to and from the expo and the start and finish lines, so I didn't have to worry about transportation (if you've never been to Disney World, it is HUGE). Not to mention, they had tables set up for the finishers at the hotel to be able to get a celebration button...after all, we just ran a half marathon. The race path was great and not so bad for a beginner runner as it's mostly flat ground and the weather wasn't too cold or hot. The race goes through Epcot and Hollywood Studios, so you get to see the parks "after hours". Disney knows how to entertain as they had characters throughout the course (yes, people would wait in line for a picture) and had various types of musicians throughout the course...plus many employees would be in the parks cheering us on. Added bonus, if you had to use the bathroom, the bathrooms in the park by the race path were open so you didn't have to use the portopotty. Overall, it's a fun experience and worth the money for the registration fee.

I participated in the half marathon in 2017 for the first time and found it to be a very well-run…read moreevent. The main location was Lake Eola Park, where the race started and ended. I checked in the day of the event and picked up my bib, shirt and tote bag. Also, arriving early was helpful for finding street parking nearby. The volunteers were very cheerful at the water/Gatorade stops and along the entire race path, holding up humorous and inspirational signs by OUC. The event after the run had food from Sweet Tomatoes, milk products and two tickets for beer. The half marathon also offered text message updates and official race timing. I had a great experience and would participate again.

So this has been an Orlando tradition for sometime now. I just have the fortunate opportunity to…read moreparticipate this year in the 5k. Not sure of the half route, but 5k route had tons of girls on the run group and other 5k groups. Everything was organized and straight forward. Race swag including tee shirts, beer, chocolate milk race bags and other what nots. I have no idea who the beneficiary is for this race if any. However happy for the choice of short or long race. Gives me plenty of time to write review while friend finishes half. Anyone that runs a half is crazy. . .I should know, ive done it 3 times.

The energy The people…read moreInspiring stories The personalized tee shirts and costumes The fun!!! The medals! So glad Track Shack has done it again--managed to organize thousands of people together to run and walk. The excitement and energy is always wonderful. Packet pickup for 2013 race was a true fustercluck since the few parking spots at the track shack were being used for clearance items. Otherwise, this was a well organized race that took us through the Mills 50 area, giving me the opportunity to take a look at businesses and neighborhoods I would have never have walked through otherwise. Sponsors and promotions for future events were on site afterward. Loved the free smoothies!

Great race! Anytime a 5k is chip timed, it's a plus. Then when you add on a medal, it gets even…read morebetter. Throw in a free beer, and I'm sold! This race was great. Not to big, not too small. I look forward to running it again next year

Although the day started off cold, the sun did come out and it warmed up. It was a beautiful day…read morefor a 5K walk. There were vendors with goodies and giveaways for race participants. Shout out to AdventHealth, Orlando Magic, Chris of Orange Theory, Suncoast Credit Union, and 4EverYoung for their friendliness and smiles. Lululemon staff cheered runners and walkers along the race course. I loved their signs. The other highlight of my walk was the violinist! He played well. It was music to my ears! I could have stayed and listened to him play all day long. There were tabs on the race bibs for complimentary samples from restaurants such as Craft and Common and Lazy Moon Pizza. I decided on a sample of Overnight Oats and Black Coffee from Craft and Common. I then chose a sample of Cheese Pizza from Lazy Moon. This was my first time participating in the Park Ave 5K. I look forward to signing up for next year's race.

Well, this is the second time I do the Season's 52 race and this time around it was better than in…read moreprevious years. The last time I attended the race, you wouldn't know that it was a restaurant that was hosting the event as they didn't have any of those delish desserts, and this time around they also had nice little drawstring bags as souvenirs so it's good to see they're not as stingy as before. Yes, it's still well organized, they start on time, tracking of race time also seems accurate and overall I'd say it's worth it as the community comes together as a whole to stay fit.