Ms. Cups and I are running a Disney marathon in November, and in order to get a better starting block they want us to submit a time we have run for a 10k or something.
There’s one we can run on Aug. 1, but Disney wants the official results to be told to them by Aug 4. I would hate to spend the money /take the time to do this 10k if the official results aren’t tabulated/posted until after our 3 days later deadline, but she and I are new to running and don’t know how these things work.
If we run a 10k on Aug 1, will we be able to send official results to Disney by the 4th?
Are you submitting the results? You should be fine. They usually print the official times out and hang them up as people are still crossing.
Posting on a web site is a little more variable, but still think you should be fine.
Most of the races I have run have unofficial times posted online within a couple hours of the finish. Often the website for the race has a notice buried somewhere about when the results are available.
ETA: Can I just ask, you’re signing up for a marathon, want a better starting wave, and you haven’t run an organized race before? Is there something I’m missing?
This.
Unless you’re contending for an age-group win/high placing, you have no need for a better starting wave. Start with the wave they assign, it should closely match your expected finish time. In a marathon, there’s loads of time and room for the crowd to spread out. If this is your first, your main concern should be finishing.
Runners are pretty easy-going as a group but one thing that pisses off the faster runners are slow runners crowding the front of the pack and hindering their race.
If you’re running 9:00/mile, you have no business starting with the sub 5 crowd.
As noted, unofficial results are available hours (or minutes) after you complete the race. Official results are typically available within a day or two.
Not to pile on, but I’m also confused about the desire for a “better” starting wave, unless you have some good reason to believe you will be competitive in your age bracket. Unless you are running well under 6:00 miles, you’re going to be running in a crowd anyway. And if you’re really training for a marathon*, running a 10K is going to be the least of your time commitments this year.
I see a Disney half marathon in November, but no full marathons. But maybe I’m looking in the wrong place.
I actually work for a company that builds timing systems that are used for all sorts of races. Timers that use our products generally upload the results instantly either during the race on a monitor, online, or both. It very rarely would take over a day to get the final results up for people to see.
Other companies can take longer, but 3 days is pretty generous for a small-mid sized race. You could also finish your 10k, then call the timer and ask for your specific time. They should be able to look it up and give it to you sooner.
It is only a half-marathon yes, I forgot to type the “half” portion.
As for a better starting wave, I have no idea why we would want to do that, but she does and I’m going with the flow. The logic behind it is if we have a better starting wave than it gives more time for us to get a head-start on the golf cart thing that would force us to quit ahead of time so that if we would happen to run into endurance issues we have more time to recover
Then I wouldn’t sweat it. If you are truly in danger of being caught by the golf cart based on your start wave, you probably aren’t going to improve your position much with your 10K time. Just enjoy the race.
We’re over into opinion territory, but this isn’t a good plan. Many races have a van that will pick you up if you haven’t managed to keep up a certain pace (maybe around 15 min/mile) after the halfway point. Moving up in waves means that you cross the start line maybe a few minutes earlier than you ought to.
Worst case scenario, this means in all likelihood that you are probably making several hundred runners dodge you so that you could run a half mile longer before being picked up. Moving up in waves simply isn’t going to give you the time to finish if you are struggling with a 15 minute pace.
My advice is to train hard, have fun, and be courteous to your fellow runners and start where your skill level would indicate.
Besides, it isn’t like you’re going to crush a 10k if you’re worried about finishing a half marathon two months later.
I was curious and looked. The time limit for the race is 16:00/mile - a moderate walk. So there probably isn’t much risk of being caught by the cart.
But I did see that if you don’t have an official proof of time, you are put in the very last corral. I can see why you’d want better placement - you’d be fighting through a lot of walkers even if you’re only jogging. So yes, the Aug 1 race should be fine for an official time.
Cool, I’ll let her know.
We’ve been training for 5 and 10ks since late December/Early Jan, and have a week-by-week way of training for the half that’s still a whole 8 months away. We’re really excited for it and plan to have such fun.
(especially since it starts at 10 at night and Disney is open until 4 that night…drunk at Disney at 4 in the morning? With permission?? Hell yeah)
That was my initial thought, until I saw that the rules for this race put you in the last corral if you don’t have an official timed event. So the 10K is the only way he can start where his skill level indicates.
I started in the very last corral of the very last wave in the Boston Marathon. Frankly, it’s a lot of fun back there - lots of nervous people about to set off into the unknown. It’s not a big deal, and really won’t have any impact on getting picked up by the sag wagon.
If you have a 10K time and get put in a faster corral that’s fine. IMO, you’re probably better off better off in a slower corral so you don’t get sucked into starting out at a faster pace than you want for the half marathon distance. Start slow, then back off your pace as needed.
Not familiar with the Disney events specifically, but most longer events (half and full marathons) that I’m aware of start re-opening roads on a rolling basis - basically following the field at something between a 16-20 min/mile pace. Fortunately, I’ve never been back there to observe the details, but that’s what they claim.
Runners who get caught by this are free to continue on the sidewalks, obeying traffic signals and behaving as normal pedestrians. (Actually, how could they stop you?) Race documentation usually points out that people getting to the end after the cutoff time may find timing shut off and the usual finish line services gone, and won’t be classified as official finishers.
