Our Own Derby Dash at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort

 

Last week my sister and I ran what was probably the last Derby Dash at Disney's Saratoga Springs resort.

 Prior to 2020, select Disney resorts would host Resort Races/Fun runs. They were organized events and each race was themed after the resort they were at.  You would meet at your respective resort, pay your registration fee, and run the mapped out course with other Disney guests. Sometimes there would be fun props and photo ops. When you finished, there was water and snacks available.  As a finishing prize we were often gifted with a themed medal, a water bottle, a resort pin, and in some cases we got vouchers for snacks such as a Goofy's Glacier, and Mickey beignets! 

Races we've done in the past include, The Beignet Dash at Disney's Port Orleans resort,

 The Southern Most Point Run at Disney's Old Key West resort, and the Seas Side Sprint at Disney's Boardwalk resort.  The next one on our list would have been the Derby Dash at Saratoga Springs resort. Saratoga Springs resort has a horse and horse race theme to it, so the name Derby Dash is fitting. 

Since we were staying the week at Disney's Saratoga Springs resort, we thought we would at least inquire about the derby dash.  When we were at Boardwalk Inn last month they had a family fun run/walk, so we thought maybe Saratoga Springs would host something similar.  We talked to the cast members that were in charge of recreation at Community Hall. Just as we suspected, the Derby Dash was no longer available and nothing had replaced it.  However, the wonderful cast member there said they had two Derby Dash bibs and medals left over and that we were free to put on our own race!

So that is exactly what we did. After a long day at the parks, we pinned on our Derby Dash bibs at 10:00 pm and set out on our own Derby Dash. We thought it would be a little cooler running this race at night, but it was just as humid!

We started in front of our building, the Carousel, which was the furthest away from everything...lol. There was an actual running trail we could have followed, but we wanted to run a little longer, so we ran a loop around the resort ( which is quite large). 

 We ran down by the water and saw the lights of Disney Springs. While there we came upon Disney Security, which was nice to know that we were safe while running in the dark.  

We  ran past the boat dock, and the boat was still unloading and loading guests for Disney Springs. We ran by the tennis courts and golf course until we made it back to the Carriage House. We appropriately finished at the Winner's Circle! 

We had a fun time celebrating our run, just the two of us. We took a few pictures with our new medals, but of course it was dark so we made sure to come back and do some more in the morning when it was daylight. 

The swimming pool was just a few yards from the Winner's Circle, so of course we jumped in there.  It was the perfect way to end another perfect Disney day. And even better, we have another Disney resort medal to add to our collection.

Maybe this medal wasn't exactly "well earned" but we had fun. We know lots of runners who do the virtual Run Disney races, so we didn't think doing this race on our own was too far fetched!

Now this gives us ideas of some other Disney races we can run on our own! 

Till next time, M & L

You may also like to check out all our other organized  Disney races HERE.

                                         We are linking up with the gals from Fit Five Friday.