The History of Disney Races

Many of you may know that this week is registration week for The Disney Marathon.  I can't even begin to think about what this summer will be like let alone prepare myself to sign up for a race that isn't even taking place until 2021, so I will not be registering for any of those races.



However, as we are all wondering what the future of racing will look like,
I thought it might be a good time to take a look back at how far Disney has come with their endurance events. We thought that if we were curious, that others might be as well. Let's do a quick run down. 

Run Disney was not always called "Run Disney". It started out as Disney Endurance Series. There is SO much information out there about these event (and some of it we've found to be conflicting) that this is not intended to be a complete time line, just some fun facts. The text in red indicates events that have been eliminated. (Also I have not included all the DL events)



1994: The Inaugural Disney World Marathon (of course it only went through 3 parks back then)

1995: The Inaugural and ONLY Disneyland Marathon. Yes, there was actually a marathon at Disneyland. It wasn't actually called "The Disneyland Marathon", and it was only done that one time because there was such a problem with the route and the distance. The race actually had to be re-measured while runners were on it. This is actually a whole story in itself and I'm sure you could find more info on it if you Googled it.

Also in 1995 the WDW marathon course ran through Blizzard  Beach this year.

1996: The first time electronic timing chips were used.

1998: The Inaugural Donald Half Marathon is introduced. It takes place on the same day as the Full marathon and runners had to choose one or the other. The half marathon registration is only $25! Marathon registration is only 50!

1999: The Full marathon route now includes Animal Kingdom Park.

2005: Race for the Taste 10K (Which was formerly Disney's 10K Classic) and Race for the Cure 5K. These races took place in October and were the races that centered around the Food and Wine Festival. At the end of the 10K, runners got food tickets that could be redeemed at the food stands ( from the wine n dine festival) that were set up near the finish line area. In later years this race was of course replace by the Wine and Dine half Marathon.

2006: The Inaugural Minnie Marathon weekend took place in MayThis included the Women Run the World 15K, and the Go Red For Women 5K and 1 mile that both ran through Downtown Disney. This event only lasted 3 years before it was eliminated.

Also in 2006 the wdw full marathon and half marathon now take place on separate days. This is the start of the Inaugural Goofy Challenge!

2007: The Inaugural Tower of Terror 13K ( This race had no corrals).

2008: Inaugural Everest Challenge.

2009: Last Year for the TOT 13K -eliminated

2009: Inaugural Princess Half Marathon and Royal Family 5K. (Side note, when we first started running this race there were times when we didn't even register until late November for the race that took place in February. You wouldn't even DREAM of waiting that long now. Also, there were no corrals for the 5K).

2010: The Inaugural Wine and Dine half marathon AND there was also a half marathon relay this year.  This was held in October. The Halloween 5K actually ran through the Magic Kingdom!

2010: The pre- race Pasta in the parks party started. 

2011: The One and only Marathon Monday. Registration was so low for the marathon this year that Disney gave finishers a free park ticket as an incentive. People certainly don't need incentives now to run a Disney race!

2012: Inaugural Tower of Terror 10 Miler

The one and only Chip and Dale Marathon Relay also took place in 2012. I heard the logistics of this race did not work out very well.

2013: 20th anniversary of wdw marathon.

2014: Introduction of the Minnie 10K, Inaugural Dopey Challenge
          The last year of TOT 10 Miler

2015: 10th year of the Goofy Challenge. 
Also, this is the year for the Inaugural Disney Star Wars race.
The Tinkerbell Half Marathon in DL was now moved to May and the Inaugural Pixie Dust Challenge was introduced.



2016 - The Inaugural Wine and Dine 2 course Challenge ( and the first time the race was held in the morning)
2016- Inaugural Disneyland Paris half marathon.

2017- The Glass Slipper Challenge has been re-named the Fairytale Challenge. 

We also found that Disney Endurance series use to hold Triathlons (and yes they would actually swim in Baylake). In addition there were also a few cross country events. There were also in-line skating marathons and half marathons. Could you imagine seeing a bunch of athletes zipping through Disney on skates? How fun!

Have you participated in any of these discontinued events? Are there other Disney Endurance running events that we missed on our list?



21 comments:

  1. I've only run one Disney race, the 2011 WDW half. I did it as part of a family vacation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've never run a Disney race. Just not that into Disney, sorry! If I did do one, I'd do the one around the food festival. :) Except night race . . .

    All those races -- before I even started to race!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Wine and Dine half marathon sadly is no longer at night. It now takes place starting in the wee hours of the morning like all the other Disney races.

      Delete
  3. A Disney race has always been on my bucket list! Someday!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I definitely think a Disney race should be on every runner's list ( at least once)!

      Delete
  4. I always said if I run a marathon, it would be at Disney. Well, that didn't happen LOL Not sure if it ever will happen. As much as I love everything Disney, I'm not a fan of the huge crowds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you should try a Disney race, you would love it. I wonder how Disney will control crowds going forward?

      Delete
  5. Wow! I never heard of an in-line skating marathon. That is crazy! Only Disney.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I always thought I'd run the Disney Princess Half when my kids were into princesses but it ever happened. The day before the Berlin Marathon there is an in-line skating marathon. It is crazy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe someday you can take a mother daughter trip and run one or all of the Princess races. I'm sure your daughters would enjoy it. I didn't even think people did inline skating anymore...lol

      Delete
  7. Wow, interesting to see all the changes! I had never heard of that Minnie marathon weekend before. That sounds like it would have been fun :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yea, makes me wish I would have known about Run Disney earlier than I did!

      Delete
  8. I do remember that they used to have triathlons and I was hoping to do one until they discontinued them. I still have not ever done a Disney race. I sure hope they come back next year along with all of the others

    ReplyDelete
  9. I ran the TOT13K in 2009, its final year. I really enjoyed running it but the entertainment factor was a bit lacking. The medals sure were cool though! And I also didn't register until about a month beforehand. Those were the days!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment Jill! I would have loved to have ran the TOT 13k but I wasnt running longer distances back then. I did run the TOT 10 miler the last year it was put om!

      Delete
  10. Crazy to see all of the discontinued races! I wanted to run the ToT 10 Miler but never got around to it. Oh well! I also loved Wine & Dine at night and prefer it that way! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. And then there was the 1994 Tour d'Fun. Disney's one and only cycling event was a 101 mile ride from Tampa -> Magic Kingdom.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I signed up for the Tower of Terror 10 miler one year but then ended up being out of town and I missed the race. Then the next year it was gone...

    Wasn't there an ESPN the Weekend 5k?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, there was a 5k trail race up at wide world of sports the same weekend as TOT. I actually ran both of those.

      Delete

Fairytales and Fitness is a personal blog authored and edited by us, Meranda and Lacey. The thoughts expressed here represent only our own and are not meant to be taken as professional advice. Please note that our thoughts and opinions change from time to time. We consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind in an ever changing society. Any thoughts and opinions expressed within our out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those we may express today. Some links may contain affiliate links. Some links are just to pages we'd like to share.