We’ve been RunDisney fans since our first half marathon, the Wine and Dine in 2015 – affectionately known as the “half of a half” by participants because the race was cut short due to weather. Over the years, we’ve answered a ton of questions from family and friends about these races and have come to find out there are a lot of RunDisney myths. We hope to clear up some of the confusion and questions you may have about running a race at Disney by playing a round of RunDisney Mythbusters!

RunDisney Myth #1 – You have to run the whole thing

False. As long as you maintain pace you can do whatever you want – run, walk, jump or skip. (Ok, skipping for 6 or 13 miles may be a bit much, but do whatever you have to do).

Need Proof? We walked almost the entirety of both the 2019 Walt Disney World half AND full marathons. It was a brisk walk, but it was a walk nonetheless. We see plenty of power walkers when doing the race and many people employ the beloved Jeff Galloway’s run-walk-run method.

The run-walk-run method is really great if you have trouble running for long periods of time. Having a little walking break helps you catch your breath and get back into your run pace. There are a lot of different variations you can take with this method – run for 90 seconds, walk for a minute or run for 30 seconds, walk for 30 seconds. This is where training really helps you figure out what works best for you.

RunDisney encourages all runners and walkers to be able to maintain a 16-minute mile pace. There are tens of thousands of participants and in order to open up the roads and parks back up, the course needs to be cleared at a certain point.

That brings us to the next myth …

RunDisney Myth #2 – You need to maintain a 16-minute mile pace in order to get your medal.

Technically false. The 16-minute per mile pace is maintained by the balloon ladies – the last participants who will cross the start line. As long as you stay in front of them you are fine no matter what your pace per mile is.

Say there are six starting waves and you are starting in the fourth wave. That means, you have two waves between you and the balloon ladies. This gives you an extra cushion of time in case you want to stop for characters or other photo opportunities. You could do 18-minute miles, for example, and as long as you are in front of the balloon ladies, you’ll finish and get your medal.

RunDisney Myth #3 – If the balloon ladies pass you, you’re automatically pulled from the race.

It depends. If the balloon ladies pass you at mile 2 and you are unable to keep up, then yes, you will, unfortunately, be picked up and driven to the finish line.

The official word from RunDisney is you run the risk of being pulled from any point on the course if you do not maintain the 16-minute per mile pace. In our first and only experience with the balloon ladies, we were passed and still able to finish.

During the 2019 Walt Disney World Marathon, the balloon ladies passed us in Epcot by the Germany pavilion. By this point, we had less than a mile to go and had the balloon ladies in sight. We ended up finishing a minute behind them, but we were able to finish nonetheless.

We’ve heard people say that as long as you make it to Epcot or Boardwalk you are safe, but we wouldn’t necessarily bank on that being true. Don’t get discouraged if you see them, just try and keep up.

RunDisney Myth #4 – Even if you don’t finish, you get a medal.

Technically true. The fact that you get a medal regardless of whether or not you cross the finish line at a RunDisney race is a bit controversial to some in the running community. Whatever your stance, if you do not finish a race and are pulled from the course either due to pace or injury, you still receive the medal for that race.

Note: If you are running a challenge, you will not earn your challenge medal if you are unable to complete either race(s).

RunDisney Myth #5 – The entire races are run through the parks.

False. While each race does include some park time, you do not spend the entirety of the time inside of the parks. There is a good amount of time on back access roads or main roads like Osceola Parkway. While these parts aren’t necessarily as fun as the parks, sometimes the course widens a bit so it’s a good opportunity to either catch your breath and go off to the side and walk or use it as a time to make up some time.

Also, you do not go through all of the parks or all of the same parks during each RunDisney race. The only race that will go through all four parks is the Walt Disney World marathon. If you are looking to run through the Magic Kingdom, then you’ll want to try and sign up either for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon or full marathon or the Princess Half Marathon. If you like Animal Kingdom, then Wine and Dine weekend is the one for you.

RunDisney Myth #6 – You get to meet special characters during the race.

True! While there’s no predicting when and where Disney is going to put their characters in the parks, there are many characters that come out to RunDisney races that you can’t find anywhere else. Different variations of the Big Five (Racecar Driver Donald, Football Goofy, etc.), villains (Jafar, Maleficent, the Evil Queen) and lesser-seen characters (Sebastian, Remy, White Rabbit and the Ostrich from Fantasia) will all entertain you during the race.

We were so sad when RunDisney made the decision to discontinue the Star Wars race weekends. We are both big Star Wars fans and thought it was one of the best themed weekends of the bunch. There were so many cool and unique photo ops. Here’s to hoping it will come back sometime in the future!

Half the fun of going to Disney is meeting characters and there is no better place for characters than during a run.

RunDisney Myth #7 – You have to be a runner in order to do a RunDisney event.

FALSE! One thing we’ve learned during our short running career is that there is a lot that goes into being a “runner.” RunDisney races are so inspirational because of the wide variety of people it attracts. We’ve been passed on the course by 10-year-olds and 80-year-olds and every other age in between. There are wheelchair athletes, visually-impaired athletes, cancer survivors, first-timers, world-class athletes. All shapes and sizes too.

So, you may not consider yourself a “runner” but the truth of the matter is, a runner can take on a lot of different forms. Don’t be discouraged because you may not look like what you think a runner looks like, or your pace is a little slow. Get out there, have fun and run your race.

We hope we’ve been able to dispel some of the RunDisney myths and rumors out there. Is there anything you would like to know? Leave us a comment or shoot us an email – we’d be happy to add to this list!