Doing a RunDisney Event has been something that has been on my bucket list for awhile.
Perhaps I just want to relive the glory days of being on my high school’s indoor track team.
But, as luck would have it, these events never coincide with my children’s school schedules. Sure, I could pull them out of school for a few days. It’s not like we haven’t done it before.
But, now that the boys are older, there are more tests and band concerts and other things that make it hard to get away.
So, when I saw that runDisney had a VIRTUAL half marathon, it was like the stars had aligned.
Would it be as much fun as being in a real runDisney event? I had no idea.
But, I loved how I could participate from anywhere in the world…including my own home.
RunDisney 2020 Star Wars Virtual Half Marathon
Signing Up
Signing up was very simple and can be done on runDisney’s website.
To make things “official”, they also give you a race bib to print out, if you’d like. As someone who has never raced in a real runDisney event, this was just the thing to get me excited to get started.
Half Marathon
The rules state that you can break up the 13.1 miles over as much time as you need. It does not need to be finished in one day.
Since I’m usually pretty busy (and lets face it…not in the best shape), being able to go out when I was able to was amazing.
Of course, it would be much more fun with Mickey on the sidelines to cheer me on. But, the beauty of the virtual half marathon is not worrying about keeping up with a pace or seeing just how far back you’ve fallen.
It’s also worth noting that everything is done on the honor system. You don’t even need to prove you participated. But, once you’re finished, they will ask you to mark down low long it took you to finish. So, you may want to keep track.
I just used a free app, called Strava, to keep track of my miles and how long it took for me to complete.
At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to try and run part of the way.
Luckily, my husband wanted to walk with me, even though he didn’t sign up for the virtual half marathon. Since the boys were in school, we spent the time talking and walking through parts of the neighborhood we’ve never been to before.
When he had to work, my favorite little girl accompanied me for short walks.
Receiving Your Medal
Receiving my medal did take longer than I anticipated.
RunDisney does tell you that medals don’t ship until you’ve finished your miles. They also warn you that it takes about 30 days after completion to receive you medal.
However, my medal took 40 days to reach me. And, let me tell you, the wait was rough.
The 2020 Star Wars Virtual Half Marathon is only open until March 31, 2020. And I was starting to worry that I wouldn’t be able to get this post out on time. Luckily, there are more scheduled for this summer.
While it’s possible that recent events have played a part in the slight delay, I think the “about 30 days” time is still a pretty accurate timeline.
Would I do a Virtual Half Marathon again?
I would absolutely do another virtual runDisney event. While I do think that the $59 price tag is pretty expensive, I really did have a lot of fun.
Had I actually done a runDisney event in Walt Disney World, I would have paid a lot more. So, I guess I shouldn’t complain too much. After all, I did get an awesome medal.
And since we’re not able to go to the Parks right now, a virtual half marathon is another fun way to bring some Disney fun into your home.
