Thanks for the heads up. I registered since this Saturday's race was cancelled (and I am getting a refund) and I am still hoping to sign up for the DLP half in September. I am also on deck for the W&D 10k, so these will be great preps.
I used both the 2018 and 2019 virtual summer series to prepare for the ramp up to Dopey training. Worked well in both years!
This is an unusually fast sell out for the virtual series, right? Currently only the challenge remains. Wonder how long that one will last.
Extremely fast, but I suspect the various race cancellations really played a part in this. If you've been training for a now cancelled race, this is at least an opportunity to have something to show it for it if that interests you.
I think the popularity was based on 2 things, 1. the theme was fun and 2. most of us have nothing better to do/people had tons of races cancelled.
I agree that people loved the them. Then add all the race cancellations in.
For sure, this theme is the best of the five they have done. They definitely win too with everyone being home.
And then choose of the most beloved attractions in Disney theme park history for the medals.
Serious question - why would a virtual run sell-out? The only physical capacity-constraint I can think of would be medals. Is the lead time really 4-5 months? There's a local virtual race (#RunningNotCancelled) that came up with some nice medals in just a few weeks. Granted, it has far less participants than a runDisney race. Is there a chance registration opens up again?
The Star Wars virtual half also sold out this year, but it did not sell out until after they cancelled Rival Run weekend. I think a virtual race is more likely to sell out when races across the country cancel because people who have been training for races are looking for something to commemorate that race.
It is possible that they may be able to get more medals, but will have to delay shipping those until later.
In the toy industry, all orders for Christmas are made late winter/early spring which is why every year there ends up being a hot toy that is hard to find--no time for the factory to make more and get it to the US without air freight (which destroys the profit margins).
This is the single biggest reason why baby Yoda from The Mandalorian was not available last year after the show debuted. I think they had a very good idea of what they had, but chose to not make toys, et all until after the show debuted. It was so much more awesome to see that on the show when it aired instead of having it spoiled by a toy release weeks before, which is exactly what would have happened.
Maybe someone else can remember whether the Challenge did indeed sell out last year.
It did, but not until after Avengers Endgame was released in theaters. I signed up for the challenge after the movie.
Signed up for the challenge this morning. I was going to do the challenge anyway, but I absolutely love the medal for it.
I was always fairly certain that I would do the Space Mountain race, but decided that I liked the Haunted Mansion medal and challenge medals well enough to go for the whole thing.
It just occurred to me that the three races aren't set to specific months like last year. The race completion timeframes all start today and end August 16th. Also, there doesn't seem to be a way to enter finishing times. You can download a blank finisher certificate for each race right now, but it won't have your name or runtime printed on it. I get the logic since many of us have a lot of time on our hands, but still... I liked my printed finisher certificates from last year. Am I just jumping the gun? Is the time submission portion of the site yet to come do you think?
They just announced the registration date for this yesterday so it will likely come.
Am I wrong to think though this is quite expensive for basically a medal?
I just finished a virtual race through a different company, and it was $20 (medal included). Plus $20 more if you wanted a shirt with that theme.
I have seen virtual races out in California that are not much cheaper than the live race. Granted they came with all the shirts, swag, etc. However, I think there's a decent number of people who will look at the medal first and foremost. If I'm going to run a virtual race, I would spend more for a medal that I liked better even if it did not come with any other swag.