Runners of the Week and featured guests, Tom Kreider and daughter Kristen, give pre- and post-race stories/reviews of their recent Disney races in January 2016. Serena Marie takes off her registered dietitian hat and reviews Sparkle Skirts, alongside dear TRLS friend Tracy Slayton. Kari also chats with Serena and shares her fun weekend meet up experience.
Featured Guests and Runners of the Week: Tom and Kristen Kreider
Tom Kreider, top individual donor to Kari and Serena’s Action for Healthy Kids campaign to run the Chicago and NYC Marathons, joins his daughter Kristen to talk about their recent pre- and post-Disney race experiences.
The Lay of the Land

In 11 days, they completed seven races (71 miles total) around Disney World, a Disney Cruise Line, and Disneyland—all nonstop—and received a whopping 13 medals!
In Disney World, they attended January marathon weekend and ran the Dopey Challenge, which consists of the following:

Thursday: 5K
Friday: 10K
Saturday: Half marathon (~25,000 runners)
Sunday: Full marathon


Most run to experience the atmosphere of the parks, and Tom says it’s a “really nice four-day party.”
Tom and Kristen ran the half two years ago, and last year they ran the Dopey Challenge.
In the marathon, you run through all four parks that include some special challenges:

You can choose to ride the Expedition Everest roller coaster (around Mile 12.5) in the Animal Kingdom.
When you run through Epcot and the World Showcase, you can stop at the various kiosks and pick up beverages (around Mile 25).
The marathon starts around 5:30 a.m. (with corrals from A–P and waves that start every five minutes).
The 16-minute-per-mile maximum pace allows for stops to take pictures with characters or ride Everest.


There are water stops about every mile and a half, and at every single water stop there are lines of Porta-Potties.

Cruise Experience

On Monday morning, they went to Disney Cruise Lines at Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral for a four-day cruise.
On Wednesday, they stopped at Castaway Cay for a 5K race (~800 people registered), which is a special race for those who ran Marathon Weekend.

Participants receive a 5K race medal, along with a special challenge medal.



Disneyland

Friday of that week, they leave the cruise to fly over to Disneyland for the Rebel Challenge.

The Star Wars: Light Side—which is a 10K on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday.
Once they complete the challenge, they receive the Coast to Coast medal as well.



Part 1: Before the Race

Before the race, Kristen was most looking forward to the cruise itself and also the half marathon, because Tom and Kristen ran their first half marathon together.
Kristen’s biggest concern was transportation due to closed roads while she cheered Tom on.
Tom’s concern was not getting on the cruise ship in time for a good massage appointment (because that’s a MUST after so much racing).
Tom talks about dialing back his pace which led him to a better mindset and feeling better physically.

Part 2: After the Race

Tom and Kristen sum up their experience in a couple words: work and logistics (traveling for 12 days straight)
They loved the races, meeting up with people, and the following:

The race expos
The race start. which is highly organized, great announcers (like Rudy Novotney and Creigh Kelley), there’s a DJ/music, they show videos, and so on.
For example, at the Star Wars half they had Stormtroopers, and the race announcers were in costume!
The water stops were well stocked, along the course they have characters, high school marching bands, and the like.


Best magical moment: Kristen and Tom at the end of the Castaway Cay 5K (gentle was their mantra for that race).
The pain after running the Dopey Challenge wasn’t as bad as after the entire trip for Tom.
They traveled with about 80 people who were part of the Mickey Milers that focus on runDisney races.
Only about 200 people did all seven races.
For the Dopey Challenge, the bus transportation from the resorts st