disney marathon weekend
The Disney marathon weekend was held on January 7th and 8th this year (2006) at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. For the first time ever, during this prestigious 13th annual event, this year participants were given an opportunity to get a little “goofy.” Nevertheless, the main point here is for participants to either participate in the marathon or the half-marathon, both of which are ran on different days. This is a new format for this marathon as of this year. It was done so that if someone wanted to run both of the races they could.
During the Disney marathon weekend, participants have the opportunity to run a total of 39.3 miles in only 2 days. There were almost 30,000 athletes who actually participated in this challenge, which is a 6.25% increase from 2005. There were 16,000 of these people who only participating in the half-marathon that was held on January 7th. This means that 14,000 of them ran the full marathon. The finishers of both of these marathons then received a medal. This was a new medal this year, which was specially designed with Goofy on it. As you can see, this is a favorite for distance runners.
Those who ran in the Disney marathon weekend also enjoy special packages for themselves, their family members and their friends. This is part of what makes this marathon so popular. The other part is the fact that just as soon as this 26.2 mile race is over, promotion for the next year's race begins, which means that there is a lot of time for Disney World to promote this marathon. Of course, there are also a lot of great events planned around this truly scenic marathon such as kids races and a health and fitness expo with celebrity appearances.