Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend 2021 (April 15-18, 2021) - Now Virtual Only

[Krandor]

Now that they have my money, I would like to have a say if they want to do a modified race. IF they do that, I hope they give us the option to cancel and get a refund.

That would be nice and I think a lot depends on how much they change. If it is minor adjustments like normal course but no characters (though yes I do know characters are a big portion of why people come) or re-routing of the course some (no course maps have been released) they might not. Major changes like moving everything to ESPN they probably would. I'd bet in most cases they would offer options to cancel. They have been good about stuff like that through this whole thing.

Unless disney starts allow character M&G in the parks between now and april they are not going to do them for a race. That is a given and right now it doesn't look like nomal M&G are returning anytime soon. So if you want characters on the race watch what they are doing at the parks.

 

[fatmanatee]

I can see them doing distanced character encounters, you can make something work along those lines and I think most runners would be ok with it, given the circumstances. I can't see them going forward with a race that doesn't include time in the parks, it's just not a RD race at that point. As it is I have an eye on the next Marathon Weekend in case this one gets cancelled (or if I decide to bounce bc I don't feel comfortable with the situation), but if they did the ESPN plan I'd prob bail.

 

[Krandor]

I can see them doing distanced character encounters, you can make something work along those lines and I think most runners would be ok with it, given the circumstances. I can't see them going forward with a race that doesn't include time in the parks, it's just not a RD race at that point. As it is I have an eye on the next Marathon Weekend in case this one gets cancelled (or if I decide to bounce bc I don't feel comfortable with the situation), but if they did the ESPN plan I'd prob bail.

If they find a way to put on the race I could see distanced character things and they have always done some of those like princesses on the castle or somebody on a bridge waving. The normal "stand in line for a pic with Luke sky walker" are the ones I don't see in April even being possible. Something like BB-8 or R2 might be possible.

The characters though are still the "easy" part to decide. The corrals, start, port-a-potty, narrow sections of course, and ability to stagger stars with the very tight timelines for park/road opening is the hard part. If they can figure the latter part out they can find a way to put some characters out but not in the normal manner.

 

[SheHulk]

If they find a way to put on the race I could see distanced character things and they have always done some of those like princesses on the castle or somebody on a bridge waving. The normal "stand in line for a pic with Luke sky walker" are the ones I don't see in April even being possible. Something like BB-8 or R2 might be possible.

The characters though are still the "easy" part to decide. The corrals, start, port-a-potty, narrow sections of course, and ability to stagger stars with the very tight timelines for park/road opening is the hard part. If they can figure the latter part out they can find a way to put some characters out but not in the normal manner.

I only ran one Star Wars weekend, 2019, but I was struck by how many of the character M&G were "distanced" anyway. Like Rey up on a platform while you stand on the ground and get a pic. I thought it was because with the Star Wars "human" characters, it's pretty obvious you aren't Daisy Ridley or Mark Hamill when you get close, but from far away it's less obvious at least. Characters from animated series, it's easier to just say Oh yeah that's what that character would look like live. Harrison Ford is Harrison Ford however.

 

[fatmanatee]

I only ran one Star Wars weekend, 2019, but I was struck by how many of the character M&G were "distanced" anyway. Like Rey up on a platform while you stand on the ground and get a pic. I thought it was because with the Star Wars "human" characters, it's pretty obvious you aren't Daisy Ridley or Mark Hamill when you get close, but from far away it's less obvious at least. Characters from animated series, it's easier to just say Oh yeah that's what that character would look like live. Harrison Ford is Harrison Ford however.

Looking this up (last time I did a SW race was 2017 and I don't recall Rey being part of the photo ops back then) and found a pic, that's kinda wild, all the pictures I had taken back then were next to the characters. But yeah that's what I picture them doing for photo ops if they go forward with the race next year.

 

[DurangoJim]

The majority of the general public won’t have the vaccines available to them until April. I would be shocked if this race doesn’t change to virtual.

 

[Krandor]

Looking this up (last time I did a SW race was 2017 and I don't recall Rey being part of the photo ops back then) and found a pic, that's kinda wild, all the pictures I had taken back then were next to the characters. But yeah that's what I picture them doing for photo ops if they go forward with the race next year.

I remember most character stops in the parks being close There were a few farther away like the stage at dhs or having some stormtroopers up on railings Above you like they are guarding. Star wars also always had the 501st as well which are never distanced. Some of my best Star Wars race pictures are 501st pics.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Meanwhile I'm still begging for a medal based on the Star Tours vehicle.

The 2011 Disneyland 5K featured the Star Tours starspeeder to celebrate the relaunch of Star Tours. Little did we know what would be announced in October 2012.

I do agree the characters and atmosphere are a lot of what make a rundisney race a rundisney race and why I love to do them and while disney could find a way to pull off *A* race in april, I don't think they can do a rundisney race like people expect in april and that is when you have to ask and decide "if this is what it takes to pull off the race is it worth doing".

I may be in the minority, but I would be okay with distanced character opportunities during a race if the race happens. While I understand those who would not want a bucket list race under such circumstances, I could live with that.

I can see them doing distanced character encounters, you can make something work along those lines and I think most runners would be ok with it, given the circumstances. I can't see them going forward with a race that doesn't include time in the parks, it's just not a RD race at that point. As it is I have an eye on the next Marathon Weekend in case this one gets cancelled (or if I decide to bounce bc I don't feel comfortable with the situation), but if they did the ESPN plan I'd prob bail.

If you put a character up on a platform and then place the photo marker six feet in front, I think that would work okay. Last month, I was able to get a socially distanced virtual half medal photo with Rey in Galaxy's Edge that way. She knew what I was trying to do and was kind enough to oblige. And you should be able to put droids like R2-D2 or BB-8 out without too much issue.

Looking this up (last time I did a SW race was 2017 and I don't recall Rey being part of the photo ops back then) and found a pic, that's kinda wild, all the pictures I had taken back then were next to the characters. But yeah that's what I picture them doing for photo ops if they go forward with the race next year.

I ran Star Wars Dark Side in 2017 and 2018 and they did not have Rey on the course. There were some cosplayers from fan groups along the course dressed as Rey, but no official runDisney stops. Rey first became a meetable character in Disneyland in May 2018. I don't think WDW ever had a designated meet and greet for her.

I remember most character stops in the parks being close There were a few farther away like the stage at dhs or having some stormtroopers up on railings Above you like they are guarding. Star wars also always had the 501st as well which are never distanced. Some of my best Star Wars race pictures are 501st pics.

Almost all of my race photos with characters are close, much less than 6 feet. Same with the 501st pics. My favorite of those is 2018 Dark Side around mile 12.5 or so with the Emperor, Vader, royal guard, and a bunch of Imperial officers and stormtroopers.

They can do distanced character photo ops during the race. Whether or not enough people would be okay with that is a different matter.

 

[1lilspark]

Gaspirilla just made the call to move from Feb (same weekend princess would of been) to Mother’s Day

 

[Drewferin]

I'm shocked runDisney hasn't canceled the physical StarWars race in April. They have changed all other races to virtual which is fine for some people but this is now almost 120 days away... They have to announce something here shortly since people need to be able to plan accordingly.

 

[rteetz]

I'm shocked runDisney hasn't canceled the physical StarWars race in April. They have changed all other races to virtual which is fine for some people but this is now almost 120 days away... They have to announce something here shortly since people need to be able to plan accordingly.

We are in that window for an announcement now. They aren’t going to call it too early but also not too late. They want a decent buffer in both directions.

 

[1lilspark]

We are in that window for an announcement now. They aren’t going to call it too early but also not too late. They want a decent buffer in both directions.

I know the official training plans for this race start on Monday so I would bet once investors day happens today the next BIG announcement will be this race being virtual

 

[camaker]

We are in that window for an announcement now. They aren’t going to call it too early but also not too late. They want a decent buffer in both directions.

RunDisney made the call on Marathon Weekend and Wine & Dine 15 weeks prior. Backing up 15 weeks from SWRR would put a similar notification right around December 30th (if I count correctly, which isn’t guaranteed). The holidays are a bit of a wild card, so my guess is that if the decision has been made to cancel, notification will come the first full week of January so they don’t get inundated with questions over Christmas and New Year when a lot of staff will be off. Alternatively, they could try for next week in hopes that the flood of questions will abate by Christmas, but I’m betting on the former.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I could see them holding off until late January or even late February before making the final call just to see how things go with the vaccine. They will make more money if the races are live because of heads in beds and people in the parks before and after the races. Obviously, what happens with the vaccine is key here.

 

[Krandor]

I could see them holding off until late January or even late February before making the final call just to see how things go with the vaccine. They will make more money if the races are live because of heads in beds and people in the parks before and after the races. Obviously, what happens with the vaccine is key here.

vaccine should affect things. no estimate has general pubic getting vaccine before the race.

 

[rteetz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1337415220290052099

 

[camaker]

Apparently the correct answer was “before Christmas”.

 

[rteetz]

Apparently the correct answer was “before Christmas”.

And note this race weekend is gone forever.

 

[camaker]

And note this race weekend is gone forever.

I read “re-themed”, but not necessarily gone entirely. They could still keep it Star Wars, just not “Rival Run” or go a different direction entirely. I wonder if they're considering something more rotational, since the Star Wars theming didn’t seem to be a compelling draw, given its lack of sell outs. They could easily do a year of Star Wars, then Marvel the next, then a Villains without having to shoehorn it into W&D, etc. it’ll be interesting to see how it shakes out.

 

[huskies90]

Ugh!! I hate being right all the time. At least they let people know early because they knew there was no way they were running this race. And now W&D is on the clock...