Goofy, Dopey or not yet? Advice appreciated!

[pluto377]

I ran a marathon 6 months after starting running, having never run any kind of organized race before. So you can definitely do it! I agree with others that I'd do the marathon as stand-alone, but that's just me. One thing I would really consider is the time commitment for training, particularly with your pace (which is pretty much the same as mine). It's really grueling to fit in those 3-4 (or maybe longer?) hour long runs, especially in the holiday season.

 

[The Expert]

Lots of people run the Disney marathon standalone as their first marathon and if you go that route, you probably need to be prepared to have some FOMO about Goofy/Dopey!

I think this is probably valid for some people, and I worried about it happening, but it was not the case for me. When I did the 10K and marathon, I knew I wasn't ready for either of the challenges. I wasn't even certain I'd get through the marathon! So when I finished, I was so proud I had done it that it didn't diminish my celebration one bit to see others had done Goofy or Dopey.

Once I knew I could do a marathon, I was definitely motivated to go for Dopey but I never felt like I should have done it that year.

 

[Popo]

Hi!

How did you know that you were ready to run a marathon?

What cues should I look for pls? (just make my mind into it… or finishing a HM feeling that I can keep going, or finishing a HM with no pain and have easy recovery.. any other?)

In 2003, I signed up for my first race of any distance, the 2004 Disney Marathon. On race day I was 52. I survived what I thought would be a one and done endeavor. Since then I have been blessed with reasonable good health and run several Goofy Challenges and one dopey Challenge. The biggest clue, imho, is the desire to give it a try. Your question leads me to believe you have that desire. The challenges are so physically and mentally demanding, I would never recommend doing them as a part of your first Marathon Weekend.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

When I did Dopey (as part of my second full), I took it very, VERY easy on the half in order to save energy for the full, basically did a steady jog on the way to MK and walked a lot of the way back.

This is something I wish I had shared. It's very important to make sure that you are pacing appropriately for the shorter race(s) if you're running Goofy or Dopey. When I run them I want to feel like I put almost no effort at all into the 5K and 10K and just enough effort to not be swept during the half. While my slower pace is usually well in front of the balloon ladies when I'm taking it easy, I will absolutely slow down once I know I'm safe during the half.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer! Loved it!

You're welcome. And thank for reading my very long post. I'm glad it helped.

I think this is probably valid for some people, and I worried about it happening, but it was not the case for me. When I did the 10K and marathon, I knew I wasn't ready for either of the challenges. I wasn't even certain I'd get through the marathon! So when I finished, I was so proud I had done it that it didn't diminish my celebration one bit to see others had done Goofy or Dopey.

I love this. It doesn't matter what someone else did during their race weekend. But it matters what you did. I will forever remember the lady at the 2017 Avengers Half Marathon weekend who ran her very first 5K and was so excited to proudly wear her 5K medal the day of the Half and share with anyone who wanted to celebrate with her how proud she was of her accomplishment. She achieved her goal for the weekend and was right to feel wonderful about having achieved an important milestone.

While there will be hype around those who choose a challenge, that should never diminish you achieving what you set out to do should you choose to only run one race of any distance. Or two races that will not result in a challenge medal.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Lots of great advice about thinking about doing your first marathon, Goofy, or Dopey.

FYI, I've coached many many runners who have run standalone marathons, Goofy or Dopey. A very important consideration is the additional time that it will take to finish the marathon after the proceeding races if you do Goofy/Dopey. In my experience, a good place to start is an estimated marathon finish time + 10%. This becomes an important consideration when you're on the slower end of the spectrum and at risk for being swept during the marathon. The cutoff is 7hrs from the last starter, and if you happened to be in the first corral at the start line (not advisable), then you'd have around 7:30-7:45hrs. Let's use 7.5 hrs just to give a little extra time assuming first non-POT corral and a little longer corral release.

A person that completes a Goofy/Dopey marathon in 7.5hrs as a max effort would complete a standalone marathon in ~6:50 hrs. Using Williams/Vickers conversion of the average marathon runner converts their HM into a M at an exponent of 1.15 gives us a ~3:05 HM runner. In my experience with many runners on the slower end of the spectrum, my cutoff for attempting Goofy/Dopey is usually around a 3:08-3:10 HM fitness level. I recently had a runner finish Dopey with a 3:45 HM fitness level, but that was the exception and not the rule.

So I like to see at least a 3:08-3:10 HM fitness level before attempting Goofy/Dopey with the goal of not being swept. If you did the marathon as a standalone, then I'd like to see at least a fitness level around a 3:23 HM or better. Does this mean you HAVE to meet these criteria in order to finish without being swept? No, as my recent 3:45 HM fitness level proved being literally one of the very last people to finish Dopey 2024. Just that these are good benchmarks to use when making decisions about registering and being honest about expectations. I told the 3:45 HM runner that realistic expectations when we started 9 months prior to the race was that she had a very tiny chance to finish Dopey without being swept, and yet she did after all the hard work she put in.

 

[DianaMB333]

Lots of great advice about thinking about doing your first marathon, Goofy, or Dopey.

FYI, I've coached many many runners who have run standalone marathons, Goofy or Dopey. A very important consideration is the additional time that it will take to finish the marathon after the proceeding races if you do Goofy/Dopey. In my experience, a good place to start is an estimated marathon finish time + 10%. This becomes an important consideration when you're on the slower end of the spectrum and at risk for being swept during the marathon. The cutoff is 7hrs from the last starter, and if you happened to be in the first corral at the start line (not advisable), then you'd have around 7:30-7:45hrs. Let's use 7.5 hrs just to give a little extra time assuming first non-POT corral and a little longer corral release.

A person that completes a Goofy/Dopey marathon in 7.5hrs as a max effort would complete a standalone marathon in ~6:50 hrs. Using Williams/Vickers conversion of the average marathon runner converts their HM into a M at an exponent of 1.15 gives us a ~3:05 HM runner. In my experience with many runners on the slower end of the spectrum, my cutoff for attempting Goofy/Dopey is usually around a 3:08-3:10 HM fitness level. I recently had a runner finish Dopey with a 3:45 HM fitness level, but that was the exception and not the rule.

So I like to see at least a 3:08-3:10 HM fitness level before attempting Goofy/Dopey with the goal of not being swept. If you did the marathon as a standalone, then I'd like to see at least a fitness level around a 3:23 HM or better. Does this mean you HAVE to meet these criteria in order to finish without being swept? No, as my recent 3:45 HM fitness level proved being literally one of the very last people to finish Dopey 2024. Just that these are good benchmarks to use when making decisions about registering and being honest about expectations. I told the 3:45 HM runner that realistic expectations when we started 9 months prior to the race was that she had a very tiny chance to finish Dopey without being swept, and yet she did after all the hard work she put in.

This is super helpful Billie, thank you so much!

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Lots of good advice so far. Definitely listen to @DopeyBadger and his numbers. "Da numbas don't lie." (Picture bad accent with that quote)
As for me, check out my training blog under training blogs, and the link in my signature.
On one hand, I was/am a poster child for "doesn't look like a runner" and I tend to undertrain in terms of distances. My training is a lot of shorter runs.
And my first full marathon was part of my first Goofy; so much for a stand-alone. (My only standalone full was the MCM, the other 3 have been part of a Goofy or Dopey). And no lie, the first few miles of that first full, I thought I had a stress fracture in my feet (yes, one in each foot). No, turns out they just hurt from the prior day's half.
A lot of better training and better footwear since then has meant not repeating that level of pain for a challenge. Some fatigue from having run the prior day, but not pain.

Like others on here have mentioned, if you do a challenge, take it much easier on the race(s) prior to the full so that you leave plenty in the tank for Sunday. Can't run it the whole way? I don't. Run or jog the initial miles to build up a buffer ahead of the balloon ladies and walk the rest; a brisk walk is a 15-16 min/mile pace for most. You may not have time for a lot of photo stops, but you'll finish without getting swept.

Marathon weekend registration is 6-7 weeks away. Do you think you are ready ready for a half? If so, see if you can find a local half and see how you do. If not, then train and at least do the full.

One last tidbit: my first ever half was at Disney, and at the time I thought it was one and done. But AORD (adult onset running disorder) set in and I've been back several times. At the moment, I hate the idea of driving down to Orlando for just a single race, which is why subsequent visits have been challenges. That may change when I get older, but it is where I am now.

As always, YMMV. Good luck.