It’s been 7 years since I ran my first (and only other) RunDisney event, the Wine & Dine Two-Course Challenge back in 2019. Why? It’s pricey as all get-out, and my running goals shifted to the full marathon distance post-COVID. While I had enough fun to agree to do it again at *some* point, I didn’t really make it a priority since then.
Once 2026’s themes were released, my friend Krystle reached out, asking if I wanted to give Disney another go. Sure why not, so into the registration gauntlet we went. Krystle was fortunate enough to get us both into the Two-Course Challenge (10K+13.1M) and the 5K, while I was stuck in the waiting room.
The total for all 3 race registrations? $574 USD. Per person.
Woof. Maybe that’s why I don’t do these things multiple times a year. I don’t have an OnlyFans account, or a money tree out back.
While I’m privileged to receive several perks as a full-time employee of the Walt Disney company, discounts and special access to RunDisney events are NOT included.
ANYHOW… hop in, we’re taking the scenic route for a long-winded race weekend recap.
Day 1: Epcot & the Expo
I drove over to Disney on Thursday morning, after staying at my Dad’s for a few nights. Dropped the car at the hotel and met Krystle in Epcot for some park time.
I wasn’t going to be in the required 45mi radius early enough to get into the 7am Virtual Queue for merch at the expo, so we waited until the 1pm signup. I had that screen locked and loaded as the clock turned, so we got fairly short wait to return. Once your wait is up, you have something like 60 or 90 minutes to get over to WWOS before you get punted to the standby line.
Once we got over there, we decided to do merch (shoes!!!) before bibs. In true Disney fashion, it was an overstimulating runaround. Go into this building, wind all the way around the corridor. Wait your turn to get into the try-on area so you can figure out if you like how a certain model feels/fits and know your size in advance.
Wait in ANOTHER line for your turn to get to the main floor.
Once you’re on the main floor, queue up AGAIN to wait your turn at the shoe counter.
At this point, you can see that there are SOLD OUT signs on the shelf, but you can’t really tell which sizes/styles. I was leveraging the 40x zoom on my iPhone to its full potential to try and read the shelves from my place in the sea of shoppers.
By the time I got to the front, the only shoe I wanted was sold out in my size. While I was disappointed, I need more running shoes like I need a hole in the head. Truth be told, I was more sour grapes about having to expend energy standing in line for nothing, than I was about actually getting nothing.
IMHO a video board with live inventory would have done wonders to prevent people from standing in line for nothing, but I’m willing to bet they will never do that. Good ol’ sunk cost fallacy. The time and energy to get to the front of the line likely influences people to buy a less-preferred style so that they don’t walk away feeling like I did, having spent all that time and effort in line for nothing. The girl behind the counter seemed genuinely surprised that I politely said that I wasn’t interested in anything else upon finding out the pair I wanted was sold out.
After that, we went into the general merch area. While I’m happy to flex my NYC Marathon merch any time I can, RunDisney’s offerings don’t really do it for me, personally. I ended up getting a spirit jersey and a runner Mickey bag charm/keychain for the mems. Thankfully, my employee discount worked on general race merch, so I managed to escape the expo for less than $65.
After the merch madness in the Cheer Arena, we had to snake through the concourse of the Baseball Stadium before entering State Farm Fieldhouse, snaking all the way around the main concourse before getting down to event level to grab our bibs.
Once we were out the door, we then had to go across the way into the Athletic Center and snake our way down to the event floor to the vendor expo and shirt pickup all the way in the back.
Yes, we had to go through FOUR (!!!) different buildings, with stops in 3 of them, to get merch, bibs, and race shirts. It was sensory overload, and the place was mobbed. There was no race day bib pickup and 20,000 people running a 5K the next morning, so it was absolutely insane.
Once we got our shirts and I grabbed 2 Maurtens for the half, we were outta there and back to the hotel for some “resty time” before going back into Epcot. Needed food, and we had Lightning Lanes booked at Test Track around 8pm.
What I Ate at Food & Wine: Day 1
Mexico
- Chips & Guacamole
- Frozen Margarita
Flavors from Fire
- Rodizio-style Grilled Beef Skewer – Om nom, not pictured
- 1000 Stories Bourbon Barrel-Aged Zinfandel
- Smoked Corned Beef
- Swine Brine
Earth Eats
- Red Wine-braised Beef Short Rib – Delicious!
- Harken Barrel Fermented Chardonnay
Mexico
- Taco de Camarón – Meh, wouldn’t get again
- Mexican Craft Beer
Good Night
We finally left Epcot at 8:44pm. Much too late to be out, given the 4:30a race start staring us in the face the next morning. We hadn’t unpacked yet, and didn’t get to bed until 11pm. Waking up for the 5K was going to be… something.
